| Bitterballen and Sardine's |  | 29 January ’06, Sunday.
After breakfast of some “sweet rolls” we had purchased at the market yesterday, we “unhitched” Bumble Bee and went to find our hotel room for Wednesday and Thursday. We were looking for a hotel close to the airport so that we could drop off our luggage prior to taking “Bumble Bee” back to Donna, and also have close access to the airport with transportation. Having that done, we headed off to the coast for one last time. Destination, Zandvoort. The first time to the coast two years ago was to Zandvoort, and I wanted to go back to find some of the food I had experienced there. Zandvoort is just around the corner from Haarlem, which is just do west of Amsterdam. When we pulled into town, it was very apparent that half of Holland had the same idea…people and cars were everywhere. We were very fortunate to find a parking place without too much trouble. A short walk to the beach and into the center of town made it really great. Louise asked me which direction I wanted to go, so I told her my motives for coming to the coast…FOOD!!! Not just any food, but seafood from one of the beach restaurants on wheels that you can find all along the beach. So, turning right, we headed off to the beach in search of FOOD. There were a lot more of the “beach wagons” here than there were last time, so finding what I wanted didn’t take much time…a raw herring, onion, and pickle sandwich!!! Lou wouldn’t join me, but did I care??? I scoffed it down, all on my own. The beach was filled with the locals from one end to the other. The sun was out, it was Sunday, and it was COLD!!! These Netherlanders are tough!!! Having all I wanted of my herring sandwich, we headed back up to the boardwalk and into town. I mean every Hollander was in Zandvoort today…it was amazing. Every store was open (and being a Sunday, this was interesting in it’s self), and the boardwalk was full. We walked down the main pedestrian sidewalk area from one end to the other, made a couple of deviations off and then back on. All of this was to find a “special” place for Lou to find something for her. Finally (after walking by it twice) she chose one. She ended up having a bowl of hot mushroom soup (all of that looking, and she just had a bowl of MUSHROOM SOUP???), and I had a “tapas” plate of bitterballen’s and a beer. Now tell me, who had the better meal??? Now I’ve had 3 of the dishes I’ve wanted…bitterballen’s, raw herring sandwich, and cod kibblings…I’m a happy camper now… This day really went by fast, so we joined all of those that were at the beach and jumped onto the very narrow and bitterly full streets and headed off to our campground. Oh yes, I forgot to tell you about our parking meter...we didn't notice that the parking place we had chosen was one that had a "pay station" located about a half block away, that needed to be fed money...we didn't. Another fortunatate day...we got away with it. Tomorrow…it's Monday
| |
| January 29, 2006 10:35 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| Cod Kibbling's.... |  | 27/28 January ’06, Friday/Saturday.
Getting up and out this morning was a little tough. I’m really glad we parked as close to the showers as we did, because it was another morning of DEEP FREEZE !!! Besides that, it was time to pack up and head for Delft. Just as we pulled onto the entry area of the “Circle Road” (the highway that completely circles Paris) we were in stop and go traffic. You know, you start out with 3 lanes and then it quickly goes down to 1, and then just as you get on, there is a lane that wants to cross over to get off…what a system…they must have learned it from the US. About 45 minutes later we were just approaching Charles DeGuille Airport and the traffic started to open up. It is amazing to us that you can be in Paris France, turn North a couple of hours and you are in Belgium. Then within another 2 hours of 55mph travel you are in Delft, Holland. The sun was out, but we still have the deep freeze weather pattern to put up with. When we pulled up to DELFTSE HOUT Campground we were met by the staff at the desk with: “How are the Goodman’s, we’re glad you’re back with us again?” Heck, it’s been a year since we were here, and they must have thousands that come through every year and they remember our name…I’m impressed. Now not to put this any other way, it is a pleasure to come back to one of the top 5 campgrounds that we have been in the last 2 years of nightly camping. It has to be the management of Michel and Wilke that makes it so successful.
Today was the “small market day” in Delft, so we bundled up for the cold and headed out for a little shopping. I thought we had left all the bargains down in Spain, but I was wrong. We found a number of “bargains”. Fact is, Louise found another pair of boots and I purchased a great coat and sweatshirt at great prices…we couldn’t leave them behind. Then it was off to the fish market stand. The last couple of times we were here, we had cod “kibbling”, and we had to have them again…they are fantastic !!! Little mouth-sized pieces of fresh cod that has been lightly battered, quick fried, and served with some great tartar sauce and all for $3. Last time I also had one of the national dishes of “a herring and onion” sandwich which I really liked. Now the next couple of days we are going to find a place to have another wonderful Dutch dish called a “bitterballan” (probably misspelled). We have some catching up to do.
| |
| January 28, 2006 02:46 PM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| APK !!! |  | 20 April ’05, Wednesday.
It’s been 6 days since we checked into this campground and 5 days since we took “Bumble Bee” into Donna’s so that she could get the APK (Safety Inspections in Holland) taken care of for us. Any time you have to go in front of a government agency for something like this, you know that they will find something to hit you with. This was no different, but then not too bad either. The biggest item was a broken coil spring in the rear-end, and a new muffler... It wouldn’t have been that long, except that it ran over a weekend. This afternoon we checked out of our bungalow campground, and rechecked in with “Bumble Bee”. With all the mess of 3 duffel bags we brought back, 3 backpacks, makeup case, and too many bags of “new bargain items” we found in town, and a stop at the grocery store, we had our job cutout for us storing everything into it’s proper place. By the time we had 98% of everything stored, it was time to start dinner. The idea of having dinner and sleeping in “Bumble Bee” tonight was our highlight for the day (it doesn’t take much for us to get “high” over here…). We’ve had a lot of rain the last week and today started out the same. By noon the rain had stopped and by tonight the sun was out. Now that doesn’t mean that it was warm, it just means that the sun was out. This morning till about 11, it was down-right cold, but tonight it was just about pleasant. We’ll hope for more for the weekend. Well, we knew that it would probably happen to one of us, and wouldn’t you know it would be me…I’ve come down with a cold…I know, it’s only a cold, but I was doing so well. I’m going to blame it on stress or possibly, those little kids at Ikea, with their coughs and runny noses running all over the place. Lou is trying to get those vitamins down my throat, but they are sooo damn big…
Tomorrow is “Market Day” in Delft, so we will probably head up to see what kind of deals we can find there.
| |
| April 26, 2005 04:11 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| Back to Holland |  | 27 February ’05, Sunday.
We’ve just about made our first circle complete. On the 15th or March last year we flew into Amsterdam and the next day we took the train to Utrecht and saw “Bumble Bee” for the first time. This afternoon, we pulled into Delft, in the Netherlands, after visiting 19 countries. It has been one heck of a journey so far, and we are looking forward to our return in April to finish with those countries that we haven’t visited yet.
After leaving Paris, we continued heading north. Our next campground was in Tournai, which is about 50km outside of Brussels. We had pretty good traveling weather, as it was mostly cloudy with a snow misting once in awhile to keep us informed that it was still winter. The campground in Tournai, was one of the best winter camping’s so far, and it wasn’t because of the 12.50 Euro cost per night either. The owner lives on the site and it shows, it’s well maintained...almost luxurious! Tournai was a pretty little town with a lot of history behind it. It just happens to be the 2nd oldest town in Belgium. The town with it’s narrow streets, all being hugged by the 2 story buildings, and in the middle, a huge town square, that was surrounded by at least 5 large church buildings and a beautiful cathedral with 5 spires. Unfortunately, we didn’t take a lot of time to visit all that there was to see, but hopefully, when we come back, we will take it all in. This morning, we had a large breakfast and got on the road so that we would have plenty of time to set up camp here in Delft. The sun was out bright this morning, but it was COLD !!! About the time we arrived in Brussels, we started to encounter snow flurries and heavy side winds. I fought the winds for hours, and let me tell you, I’m damn tired of them !!! Hopefully, with a couple of days camping here, the winds will have diminished and we can continue into Utrecht with out them. We have a few things to do before we leave for the airport, and it would be “real nice” if we could do it all in nice Spring weather…(wishful thinking). This campground also ranks up there with the one in Tournai. It is spotless, very close to everything (walking), and is well within the budget for our stay. As we drove into Holland, it was really amazing how the architecture changed, and also it was good to see the canals. On our walk into town, we must have crossed over 5 or 6 canals, and that was within a 3km walk. But our walk back, well, it was HELL !!! That COLD WIND I had mentioned before, was right in our face, and it wasn’t pleasant.
| |
| March 09, 2005 08:17 PM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| Beautiful Bredevoort !!!! |  | | 9 May ’04, Sunday…Happy Mothers Day !!! Today we awoke to a sun filled sky and we used it to knock down the campsite and head West to Utrecht. We even celebrated breaking down with a breakfast of Steak N Eggs. It was all worth it. Our hosts at Vreehorst Camp Ground at Winterswijk really treated us well while we were there. On checking out I asked them if there were any spots that we shouldn’t miss before we get to far West. They told us about a little town about 5 km down the road that we would probably like a lot. Well they weren’t wrong. We pulled into Bredevoort about noon and I know that it was Sunday but, the streets were without a car, bicycle, or person in site. The church bells ringing, the buildings, the gardens (the Dutch really know “How to Garden”), the roadway (all hand laid brick) were all stunning. The town also has a BEAUTIFUL Windmill that was built in 1632. It sat on a little knoll overlooking the town and with all the towers of the churches made for a picture book view. We pulled the van off to the side and walked into the town so that we could really get a feel of what we had to look at. I took so many pictures that I ran the batteries out. As we came to the far end of the road and walked around a corner we finally saw life. There was a town square and at one end of it were hand sawn tables and benches. These were serviced by a little restaurant/pub right across the street. Seeing as how it was noon, and we hadn’t had anything to eat for the last 3 hours and, it was just one of those settings that you just had to sit down and enjoy what ever they were serving, we ordered….THE BEST ESPRESSO’S, and APPLE COFFEE CAKE we have ever had. We had to go looking for a piece of property to buy right then (just kidding about the property Kids..). The restaurant/pub was originally built in 1704 and it still had ALL the ambience of the past. It was just like walking into a fiery tale. The rest of the town did start to SLOOOWWWLLLY wake up. It seems that this little town is known for it’s International Book Fair every year and there are little book shoppes everywhere. Some are even unattended little book cases that line a wall outside and they have a slot in the door or wall that you drop your fifty cents or Euro into. Really quite a stop along the roadway of our journey. We loved it. The rest of the trip to Utrecht was really uneventful but the country side was as usual quite beautiful. Tomorrow….Donna | |
| May 10, 2004 04:17 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| There Really Is A God Watching Over Us | | | 8 May ’04, Saturday. Picture this…Heavy Rain last night, Cold as H..eck, and we have a van that has no windshield wipers. Well, this morning arrived and the rain stopped and lo and be hold our wipers have decided to work just fine….Thank You Lord!! As it was, this has turned into a “Wash Day, Clean Up Day, Sewing Day, and Finish the Cabinetry Day. Yesterday while out shopping we found some material that Louise is working on right now. She is making new draperies and re-covering the bench seat. It’s looking great. For dinner tonight, we went over to the restaurant located on the site. They only open for the holidays, some weekends, and high season. We had no idea what would be offered but thought we would try it anyway. Louise had “Chicken Bits” and I had something like a hotdog. Serving sizes were small with 4 pieces of “Kitkorn” for Louise and I had a “All Meat” deep fried hotdog missing a bun, but had a cheese and currie ketchup sauce with chopped onion sitting on top. We both had a Warsteiner Beir, not too bad. We topped that off with an ice cream bar for desert. I’ll bet you will have to go some to beat that… We’ve heard that the weather is going to break and we’ve seen the last of the rain for a few days so, we are going to break ground and head back to Utrecht. The 12th is the end of our 30 day warranty so we are going back to have a couple of things looked at. We want to wish a “Happy Mother’s Day” to all!!! This is a nice camp ground with lot’s of things for the kids to enjoy. It’s fun to watch. | |
| May 10, 2004 04:15 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| Do They Really Come In Three's ? |  | | 7 May ’04, Friday. Cold Rain, Rain, Go Away…. Well, it is not only raining but because of the problem with the van we weren’t able to attach to the addition as well. Now this may not sound like much of a problem but you would have to see it to believe it. Prior to the van not starting we arrived back to the campgrounds and I pulled up close enough to attach to our addition. I didn’t make it. Close but not close enough and with not being in the right position we couldn’t go out the side door or the passenger door. We had to crawl through the drivers side. On top of that it was raining. So let me recap…. Raining, Van wont start, Raining, Slide through drivers side, and yes, Raining. Up and out by 9am and I was ready to hike to the Volkswagen Dealership here in our small town. It was just over 40 minutes to walk and it was still (Yes you guessed it) Raining. They were all very nice and told me it was going to cost $70 Euros per hour but they would give me a ride back to the campgrounds and have a look. They brought a tow rope just in case. The young man was right on top of what he should be looking for and within 15 minutes he had us running and he was on his way with $30 Euros in his pocket. Louise and I both thought it was a bargain. Now what to do with our day. After going into town we decided to head off to Germany for lunch. We took the back roads and really enjoyed a ride through the countryside to Bocholt. This then turned in to one of our better days. The parking lot that we found was on the top of a store in the downtown area. The first try was on the first floor but we were too tall to get in so we had to back out and try for the roof. We were really glad they had a roof because the drive up was very narrow, steep, and had a curve in it. We wouldn’t have wanted to back all the way down. After parking we went into the first floor and found just what we had wanted to find for the last 3 days and it was even on sale. As it was, we found a number of things (all on sale) and a great bowl of hardy soup in their Café. Then the quest was to find a Internet Café. Luck was on our side again. Found one and put it to good use by up-loading to our site and taking care of our emails as well. Now unfortunately, we encountered another problem with the van. They say bad things come in three’s. Well, here is number 2. Here we were about 20 Kilometers away from home, Raining, and our WINSHIELD WIPERS QUIT!!! A little scary riding home and really wishing the wipers would all the sudden start working but, we made it back, got hooked to the addition and settled in for a movie, bottle of wine, and popcorn for dinner. Some really good news, our laundry that was washed 2 days ago is almost dry…socks should be dry by morning. | |
| May 10, 2004 04:13 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| Not The Best Day!!!! |  | 6 May ’04, Thursday. We found out real quick that if the ground has a little moisture in it, or the dew point is just right, we will get condensation build up in our new enclosure.
Well something else to put into the “learning file”. After breakfast of bacon (Netherlands style bacon) and eggs done on the barbecue we headed off to Obelink once again. You never know if you saw everything the first time so off you go again…. After a couple of “necessary” purchases, we went into town to get some groceries and a drill. Now if I had any idea that I would have been purchasing a drill while on this trip, I wouldn’t have sold mine in a garage sale back in December. A quick stop to have a board cut at Gamma’s and we headed back to camp. Oh yes, I for got to tell you about lunch….we found an excuse to celebrate so we ordered a great cup of espresso and an apple strudel with ice cream, whipped cream, and vanilla custard….Oh My God !!! Well, “That Was Lunch”.
Upon arriving back at our camp site we were arranging the van into position so that it would fit right up to the new addition and the van wouldn’t start. It wouldn’t even turn over. There was no indication that we were having a problem but, here we are with a vehicle that wont start, it’s now raining, and night is moving in fast. “Crap”. Oh yes, I fixed a problem, (I thought it was a problem) and in doing so, I now hit my head just about every time I get in to the van or lean into the seat/bed area. Another irritation, Louise hand washed a load of clothes this morning and more than half of them are still not dry. We hung them in the “New Addition” thinking that they would dry quicker….No!!! Not one of my (our) better days!!!!
| |
| May 07, 2004 07:07 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| Is This Really A Candy Store ? |  | | 5 May ’04, Wednesday. Obelink…. The candy store for those with camping in mind !!! This could be were the term “One Stop Shopping” comes from. We had some idea of what we might be looking for prior to going into Obelink but my goodness, what we found was amazing. First off, we got there about 11am and the parking “lots” were either filling up or were already full. As you walked into the building you found it was loaded with more product than you could ever imagine and every aisle was packed with people who were already buying. They couldn’t get their wallets out fast enough. We did find that all the items that we were familiar with, was priced well below the previous pricing we saw. As it was, we did spend some of our hard earned money. We had been discussing the possibility of buying a room addition to our camper van and that’s just what we did. What we found was a tent with 2 large and 2 smaller windows and a zip up front door. It is 200cm X 350cm and more than doubles our usable living space. It actually attaches to the camper van along the sliding door side so that you can use both the van and the addition as one. If time comes when you want to drive off in the van to buy groceries or whatever, you can disconnect from the addition and drive off. The problem comes when you have to leave one campsite and move onto another. Space has and will always be tight and now, it is going to be really tight after we take everything down and store it in the van. This new addition wont be put up each time we go into a new campground. More than likely it will come out when we spend more than 3 nights in one place. Flags were flying throughout the Netherlands today because it was their “Liberation Day”. May 5th, 1945 the day that they were “Liberated” from the Nazi’s. There is also a beautiful memorial here in Winterswijk with 2 towers about 12 feet high that burn continuously and the listing of all the Jews that were taken to the camps and killed. It lists their names, birthdates, and the camp that they were last know to be. Really very moving to see…. Today the sun was out most of the day but the wind kept it a little to the chilly side. We barbecued pork chops tonight for dinner and I used a rub that we bought in Seattle prior to leaving…. It is great !! Thank you Chef Tom Douglas… | |
| May 07, 2004 07:06 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| Our First Castle !!! |  | | 4 May ’04, Tuesday. Up and out of Olst and looking for either castles or ruins on our way to Deventer and beyond. The books that we have (and we have quite a number) continue to give us good information if we are looking at one of the largest or more popular tourist town and areas. The problem comes when we are away from all that and we see on a map that somewhere along “this” road there is either a castle or a ruin. The same symbol is used for both. The first one we saw ( we had already passed 2 that we couldn’t find) was a large old “Plantation” type home with lot’s of character and style, sweeping grass fields, and beautiful secondary buildings. We’ve been driving secondary roads for the last day and will continue today as well. These roads are quite narrow from our standards in the states, listed speed limit of 50-80 Kilometers P/H, lined up close to the road with tall deciduous trees, and parallel with a bike/walking trail for miles (kilometers) on end. Once we arrived in Deventer we found a parking place right in the middle of a Street Market. After a walk through we decided to partake in lunch at one of the fish vendors. We had an order of Cod. Really good…. Then off into town for a look see and also see if we could find an internet café. Luck was with us in one respect as we did find a internet café but we could only use their computers. This left us with having access to reading and sending email. We will have to find another location for up-loading to our web page later. It was good to hear form the family at home !!! Our final destination was decided so back in the van and off we go on our secondary roads again heading to Winterswilk. We were really lucky this afternoon. When we pulled in to our parking spot during the street market we didn’t notice the parking meter. Well after being gone for about 2-3 hours and getting back to the van…there it was…the parking meter…NO TICKET !!! I just remembered, we also went into a church and lit a candle while on our walk. Was it luck or ??? Winterswilk has been one of our destinations from day one when we heard about it. It seems like there is a store that specializes in camping gear and anything that makes camping easier in your camper van or caravan (trailer). We checked into our campsite about 6pm this evening so we will go out to see what all the “big deal” is all about. Now to back up a little…. We did come across a castle, complete with moat. It was really very exciting and beautiful. Pictures to come. Also late this afternoon we came into our first real growth of Fir trees. The trip is taking on a newer look. The land is still very flat, the soil is the most rich brown, plants and trees thrive, dikes are getting a little scarce, and the flowers are getting more mature and the bicycles are just as plentiful as before. | |
| May 07, 2004 07:03 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| The New Land... |  | 3 May ’04, Monday. It will never be said that we missed Flevoland… We drove it from one end to the other, filled the van with gas, and we even went grocery shopping there in Lelystad. We would have done a lot more but nothing was opening until 1:pm and we just couldn’t wait. Our destination was Kampen, Zwolle and Deventer. Well we didn’t make it to Deventer but found a campsite in a small village of Olst. We chose not to go any further today because of a small number of Castles and ruins close by Olst. In 1440 Kampen became a member of the Hanseaic League. This was 120 years after Kampen was in it’s prime and the town center expanded considerably with large buildings. Brick houses were built into the town wall and there were over 20 gates that were surrounded by a moat. Today there are only 3 town gates remaining. When we pulled into town we saw what look liked a large street market going on so we looked for a parking space and walked into town. Well, the market was there but, they were closing down… They had been there all of Friday, Sat, and Sun and Monday everything was closing. A little disappointed but with our bellies telling us something we went looking for something to eat. We found a nice outdoor café right across from the City Hall building. Attached to the City Hall building was the Oude Raadhuis which was the seat of the administration in 1545. The Oude Raadhuis is very ornate and has quite a tale to tell. It seems that a farmer long ago thought he saw some grass growing on the roof of the building. Well, he decided to tie one of his cow’s to a rope and lift it to the roof to eat the grass off. The only problem was, after the cow had been hoisted about ¾ of the way up, it died. They have a re-creation of this each year and there has been a bronze made that sits outside of the Oude Raadhouis right now. One of the hopefuls of coming into Kampen was to find an Internet Café. Well we were given a lot of directions but after searching the entire town we finally gave up. Our hopes are to find one tomorrow….
Just a note about our camping sites; Our first site was in Utrecht and we would rate it about a 2, our next site was in Amsterdam…9, Zandvoort….5, Groningen….6, and tonight’s stay Olst….5. We have found some that we’ve had to pay for a hot shower and others not. We have had mowed grass to park on and we have had sandy grass spots. We have had co-ed shower/toilets but most separate. We have had one that smelled all the time and the others were great. There have been restaurants at almost all, but we haven’t partaken in any. There has also been some type of grocery store available on site. All the parks have been quite secure. Some have been really convenient to town by bus, train, tram or walking. Over all it has been a good experience and we look forward to those to come.
| |
| May 07, 2004 07:01 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| Camp Westerbork, NL |  | | 2 May ’04, Sunday. Checking out of our campsite in Groningen we headed over to Gamma’s (small Home Depot) to pick up some laminated lumber and other small construction type supplies. Then onto the highway heading South. Our first stop was in Westerbork. In 1933 when Hitler came into power in Germany, he started to systematically expel the Jewish population. In 1940 almost ¾ of the Jews had already escaped the Nazi’s. 20-30,000 of these went to the Netherlands but only a few entered with permission – the majority were illegal refugees. Those that were illegal went into various refugee camps. In early 1939 the Dutch government decided to build one central refugee camp….Westerbork. In the first year over 800 refugees could be found in Westerbork. They had to build their own community, cultivate the heath and shape their life inside the camp. After the invasion into the Netherlands by the Nazi’s, the Jews tried to escape to England but that failed. They went further north into the Netherlands only to have the Nazi’s turn them back to Westerbork. In 1941 & 42 they tried to maintain “life as normal with the kids going to school, adults had to work on the land or in one of the services of the camp. During leisure time inmates could go to specially organized cultural events or attend classes. In July of ’42 the SS corp. of the Nazi’s took over. Barbed wire and watchtowers appeared around the camp. In the same month the first deportation train with Dutch Jews left for the Death Camps of Auschwitz. This is the first camp that Anne Frank and her family were sent to after being betrayed. They too rode the deportation train to other camps. During the war more than 100,000 Jews, Gypsies and resistance fighters were carried off from Westerbork. Most people remained there only a few days or weeks before being deported to the death camps. The journey in cattle wagons used to last 3 days. A mother, a father, a son, a daughter, a brother, a sister, a grandfather, a grandmother, an aunt, an uncle, a cousin, a niece, a nephew, a friend was murdered by the Nazi’s 102,000 times. On April 12th, 1945 the Canadians liberated 876 Jewish prisoners in Camp Westerbork. It was very sobering but also an honor for the 2 of us to visit Camp Westerbork and have a chance to learn what went on there and to remember those that had to live and die because of Hitler and his Nazi’s. It was a quiet drive for quite awhile. We headed further South. Finally found our next stop at Flevoland and in a campground just on the other side of the dike form Harderwijk. Tomorrow a little South and then East…. (we think) | |
| May 07, 2004 06:59 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| Assen, Holland | | | 1 May ’04, Saturday. Quite a different day than yesterday. We decided that we should find a grocery store and if possible find a street market as well. As it was, we were able to do both. The office here at the campgrounds suggested that we go down the road about 30 km to Assen and we would find both of them there. We have been so lucky, the weather today is sunny and warm and that about calls out what we have been having since our arrival back in the Netherlands just about a month ago. I don’t want to say we haven’t had rain, wind, and clouds because we have, but during the day time almost everyday has been right back to the warm and mostly sunny days. We were able to find Assen with out problem and also found all that we needed to fill the refrigerator once again. Assen is a nice city of about 60,000 and in the main street of town there are no cars allowed. Lots of sidewalk eateries and pubs, shopping in nice stores was not a problem, and the people were really great. As far as the people in the Netherlands, they all have made us very comfortable, made our lives easier in helping us through the language difference (almost everyone speaks English), and being there when we need directions. Just a note about the grocery stores; They all have the little hand baskets that you can pick up throughout the stores and they all have the grocery carts. But the difference is with the grocery carts….you have to put $.50 into a coin box on the handle that releases a lock from the cart in front of it. You use the cart as usual and after you have checked out and loaded your groceries you take the cart back to the cart location and after you connect it to the cart in front with that chain mechanism again your coin comes right back out of the same slot for you. That way it seems no one will take the carts down the street and dump them into the ditch somewhere. One more difference, the grocery stores do not bag your groceries for you and they do not supply bags for what you have purchased. They do have bags available for you but, they cost an average of .15 cents each and you want to keep bringing them back with you for the next time. Among the things we brought back to the van today was a nice Salmon fillet and that’s what we barbecued for dinner tonight. Louise had given me a salmon rub (by Tom Douglas) that she picked up in the Washington Store last December and this was the first time we had had a chance to use it. It was dynamite !!! It not only tasted good it looked it as well…. | |
| May 07, 2004 06:57 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| Oranje Day '04 |  | | 30 April ’04, Friday. Happy Birthday Queen Beatrix !!!! Well, we were there and so was the whole country of the Netherlands. We caught a shuttle bus up the street that took us right into town and smack-dab in the middle of the whole nation in celebration. The City was all decked out in ORANJE !!!!! Oranje, oranje, and still more. As you know, the Queen descends from the “House Of Oranje”. It was beyond our imagination (otherwise we would have STAYED HOME !!!). I would imagine this was what you would find in New York City for their New Year’s celebration. Solid shoulder to shoulder, butt to butt, chest to chest and everyone suffocating and looking for air….. Quite a kick for a while (actually a short while). We wanted out and there were those that still wanted in. We tried to tell them what they were getting into but they didn’t speak English and we didn’t speak Dutch so it was a push and squeeze 20-30 minutes until we broke back out for good. Now we will take some credit for being dumb but this was our first time to see the Queen…. We did make it out and we did find a place to sit down for a while and we did have a lot of fun listening to all kinds of bands on just about every corner and we did some shopping and we did find the bus for our return so in retrospect a great time was had !!!! Just after we left the bus we found another happening just outside of the campgrounds. They were having Harness Racing. Well neither Louise or I had had this opportunity before so we got in on “Senior Passes” ($4 EU ea.), bought a couple of beers and sat on the grass, leaning on the fence (race track side) and watched the races….. GREAT FUN was had !!!! This was like having the race track right in your own back yard. For a fact you wouldn’t be allowed to get on that side of the fence in the States. Birthday Celebration still going on (we can hear the pop bands all this way), races over and hamburgers from the barbecue done…. Tomorrow….? | |
| May 07, 2004 06:54 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| THE QUEEN IS COMING HERE??? |  | | 29 April ’04, Thursday. Heading North this morning started with a “Detour”. Finding this camp site last night was somewhat of a challenge but when we did we found it to be a very nice location right on a canal and bay front. Out of the way, Yes but worth it. Now getting back to leaving, just as we passed around a corner there was a barricade that we just couldn’t get around and we had to back up, turn around, and go off on a unmarked path following a dike for a looooonnnnggg time. Pleasant drive, wonderful day and we were still heading North. Not much of a change in plan. Our trip today was to take us to Denoever, across the Afsluitdijk and finish up at Groningen. Now the Netherlands is small and just about everywhere is flat, flat, flat. This is going to be the longest one day trip so far. We’ll travel about 100 miles today. The real find for the day was the Afsluitdijk. For literally 3 centuries the Dutch thought of draining the South Sea and create a huge tract of valuable farmland. So in 1927 construction started and in 1932 their job was done. They had divided the North Sea from the South Sea and Ijsselmeer was born. This is a large body of fresh water and another large body of land right out of the sea bottom. The river Ijessel flowed into the void as the salt water was no longer coming in. Fishing really took a hit but the farming industries prospered and still do today. The dike (dam) is 30km long and 90 meters wide with a series of locks at one end to allow ships and boats in and out. We had a chance to stop in the middle of the dam to see and read all about this project and we were really impressed. Our trip them took us to the “Lakes Area” of Sneek (Snake) and on to Groningen. We did pull of into a small village and made a sandwich about 2 and then headed on. On arriving in Groningen and finally finding our campsite we went to the Reception and the first thing they ask was “Do You Have A RESERVATION?”…. Why heck NO!!! Why would we need a reservation, it’s early Spring, North Netherlands, and only Thursday? Their reply was “It’s the Queen’s Birthday and SHE’S COMING TO TOWN IN THE MORNING !!!!” But, we do have a couple of openings so “that will be alright”…. We lucked out. We did know it was the Queen’s Birthday and we THOUGHT we had taken care of not being anywhere close to were she might be but, we were wrong. After setting up our pitch we donned our backpack and computer and headed off to find our internet café and check out the town before all heck was to break out in the morning. Well, we mis-calculated how far Centro was and we had a heck of a walk setout for us. We were finally fortunate in finding a internet café so we spent over 1 ½ hours up-loading over 2 weeks of journal. Then off to explore Groningen prior to the Queen’s arrival. The city was hopping!!! Banners, balloons, music stages, large TV screens, outdoor pubs, street vendors, TV cameras and all the equipment, and a lot of gawkers (us included). Tomorrow, The Queen Arrives and we’ll be there…. | |
| May 07, 2004 06:52 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| Spring in Keukenhof |  | 28 April ’04, Wednesday. Last night we decided to hole up one more day to see if we could get ourselves feeling better prior to Keukenhof. Well, that was last night… we did sleep in till 9:30 but after our hot shower and breakfast we were all checked out and heading off to see the gardens of Keukenhof and all the flower fields on the way. Very impressive sight with all the tulip, daffodil, and hyacinth. It truly was a rainbow of bulb variety all set among the huge trees, ponds, falls, and lakes. This was all put together by a sculpture of fine art. The sun was hidden until we arrived and when it came out we were shown a unique and magnificent display. I even hate to say it but the only disappointment was the food. Expensive and I wish I could say tasteless but, I can’t. We spent about 4 hours at Keukenhof and Louise got the map out and back on the road we went. We headed N, NE and ended up at Edam on the shores of “Markermeer”. First I would like to tell you about the Markermeer. This was a “Sound” of the North Sea until the Dutch decided to seal off the mouth of the inlet with a very long dike. Now this large body of water is all fresh water and is about 10 feet below sea level (North Sea). They also developed a large land mass and this became “Flevoland” (New Land). More on both of these later…. Edam used to be a renowned whaling port. Now it is not only known for it’s beach location, unique canals, hand operated draw bridges, but during the summer it is famous for its cheese market. Would you believe 250,000 pounds of cheese is marketed each year? The cheese industry and the whaling go back to the 15th Century.
As we were just getting into putting the meat on the barbecue the cloud cover started to build real fast and all of a sudden lightning and thunder started to let go on us. This was soon followed by rain of course. We were able to save everything just before the rain came in and as we sat down to eat we were treated to our second large thunder and lightning show in 2 nights. Tomorrow we will leisurely head North.
| |
| April 29, 2004 10:05 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| Harlem is not only in New York |  | | April ’04, Tuesday. We boarded the train for Haarlem at 10:59am. Alright, I know, the morning hours start a little earlier than 10:59…. First, I either caught my second cold or, because everything is in full bloom around here I’ve got an allergy problem. I just could not get to sleep last night…. my head felt like a stuffed medicine ball. Unfortunately Louise isn’t feeling up to par either so we’ll let all that answer our tardiness. Attached to the Haarlem station is the VVV (visitor information center) so we went in and purchased a map of the 2 walking tours of Haarlem. It seems that Haarlem was in a 2 year siege beginning in 1572 and lost most of their inhabitants. That was when the Flemish came into the picture. By 1621 the Flemish had established themselves at 51% of the inhabitants of Haarlem. The architecture shows us that today. Our walk took us to the Grote Markt. This Markt is were they had among other things, competing knights in tournaments. The town hall dates back to 14th century and was a hunting lodge belonging to the Counts of Holland (Now tell me, why is it that we HAD TO HAVE a new City Hall in Seattle? This one even looks better and it is a couple of years older…. Someday I’ll understand I’m sure). We then walked across the Markt and entered the Great Bavo’s Church. This is a late Gothic cross-shaped basilica with a slim-line wooden crossing tower. This church was built in 1445-1446. If you are in to the arts, Frans Hals the portrait-painter is buried here. Also in this church is a large Muller organ and was played by Mozart during his tour of the Low Countries. Walking further. we came upon one of the museums that we’ve wanted to see. The Teylers Museum with a striking neo-classical façade from 1878. This is the oldest museum in the Netherlands. There is a large display of fossils, coins, an electrostatic generator and a very nice collection of paintings and drawings which included Rafael and Rembrandt. This day was done for both of us so we decided to call it and head back to our pitch. As I mentioned yesterday, it is amazing just how much later it stays light here. When we arrived back it was already just before 7:30pm and the sun was still high in the sky… Well, hope we sleep better tonight. Tomorrow we are off to the tulip fields of Netherlands and the nationally known gardens of Keukenhof. | |
| April 29, 2004 10:03 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| Zandvoort by the Zee... |  | | 26 April ’04, Monday. Hello from Zandvoort, NL. We pulled away from Amsterdam after breakfast and headed West past Haarlem and on to the North Sea and Zandvoort. We stopped in one of the suburbs of Haarlem for groceries and didn’t stop until we found the gates of our next “pitch”. This was a short trip and we saw some beautiful countryside along the way. As usual for the Netherlands we enjoyed the architecture of all the homes and businesses and of course the wonderful canals. Our campsite is right across the road from the North Sea beaches and about 2 blocks from town center. We got “Bumble Bee" settled and headed out to do some exploring. The boardwalk is just across the street, so we walked towards town looking for lunch and exploring all the new sites before us. We came upon a sea food vendor in his outdoor kitchen/trailer. Let me tell you, everything that he had looked great so our decision wasn’t easy. The only thing that Louise and I totally agreed upon was next time we would only order 1 meal and split it. The portions we received were huge, with a capitol “H” and tasted fantastic. After filling our stomachs we continued our walk, looking out at the beautiful sea, the sunbathers (a few topless and still others completely nude), and some hardy bathers who even late this evening (8:45pm) headed into the cold waters. Zandvoort is celebrating it’s 700th Birthday this year. Heck, we think 100 years is a lot. Zandvoort was first settled on the 25th of April 1304. It started out as a fishing village and now, well, a “Sea Side Resort” complete with real nice Casinos, hotels, great restaurants, and one of the worlds best racing tracks. This afternoon there were time trials going on for national motorcycling competition. Zandvoort is a cozy village with lots of sidewalks and very few roads in the village it’s self. The beach has “Pavilions” all along the beach front. The first 7 are for those that want to bath in the “all together” with the remaining 28 to handle the rest of those that enjoy the beach. Now a Pavilion is a space that has a restaurant/bar with raised seating and bathing areas that are sheltered from the winds by being surrounded by glass. They also have private wind shelters that will handle 2 beach lounge chairs that line the beach area in front and down to just before the water high tide. Louise wanted to see the sunset tonight so about 8pm we wondered over to the beach to watch. Just around 9pm we saw what was just about “Sunset” as the sun went behind some low clouds and eventually went below the sea. Now this isn’t the 26th of April back in Seattle with the sun still shining at 9pm. Tomorrow Haarlem and then back here for the “Nudist Beaches”. | |
| April 29, 2004 09:59 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| Chore Day.... |  | | 25 April ‘04. Sunday. A full day at the van. Cleaning, arranging, airing out everything, laundry ($14.50 for 2 medium loads self serve), haircuts for both of us at the van, and a run to the bank machine. Even had a chance for a little sun bathing…. Over all, nice day !!! | |
| April 29, 2004 09:57 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| Purmerend |  | | 24 April “04. Saturday. On our first trip into Amsterdam we came upon a small shop that was selling antique bath hardware. She had some of the most beautiful and unusual bath and kitchen sinks, tubs, and hardware we had ever seen. Anyway, she told us of a side trip that we might want to take. Well, today’s the day and we will be going out to Purmerend. We got off the tram at Central Station and looked for the bus that would take us to our destination. It wasn’t long and we were boarding and I asked the driver if our passes that we had been using for all our transportation would cover this trip as well. He said it would so off we went. Purmerend is a nice little town with some wonderful architectural styling all over town. This town has a lot of single family and duplex type of housing. They are small and have small yards in most cases but are really a wonderful site. After a lot of site-seeing and shopping (what else) we boarded the bus back to Amsterdam. Well, this bus driver saw our pass differently and we had to pay to get back…. Well it was a good day anyway. | |
| April 29, 2004 09:56 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| Who Says There Ain't No Free Ride ? |  | | 23 April “04. Friday. We heard that we could ride the city ferry “FREE” so guess what we did first thing this morning? Yep, we jumped off the tram and immediately headed through “Central Station” and jumped on the ferry. The ferry takes you across the river to the islands of Amsterdam. The long ride took about 10 minutes but IT WAS FREE!!! When the ferry landed we chose a direction to walk in and just enjoyed the great weather that we have been having and a wonderful community on the other side of Amsterdam. Another site that we have been wanting to see was the “Flower Market”. What a wonderful market. It was set up for about 3 city blocks all along one of the canals. You can’t imagine all the different flowers, trees, and bushes that were all on display. It was really wonderful for at least 3 of our senses. The rest of the day was just exploring the city street by street, and store by store. | |
| April 29, 2004 09:54 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| Van Gogh...Genius or Crazy? |  | 22 April ’04, Thursday. Today our first stop is The Van Gogh Museum. This is one of the most modern buildings in Amsterdam and has the world’s largest collection of works by Vincent van Gogh in the world. It was really great to be able to see over 200 paintings by one of the worlds greatest artists. As it was looking at Rembrandt’s works, seeing a print or picture of one of the “Greats” work has nothing to offer as does the original right there in front of you. My personal observation was Van Gogh had his good days and he had his other days and his work would show it. When he was in the grove he was really in it…. Van Gogh had a troubled early start in his adult life. He started out working in a gallery but was fired. He then gave the ministry a go as his father did and he failed at that. He really wanted to paint so he fought hard and long and finally sold his first painting. After a little success, experimenting with different lighting and color mixes, a long fight with a rare type of epilepsy with a long stay in a hospital, staying with his brother over and over again he took his own life at an very early age. What a tragedy.
We needed lunch so we headed for the deli and got what we would need. Out the door to a close by park and enjoyed a wonderful picnic. Then off for a tour through the canals of Amsterdam. We have heard over and over that we “had” to take this tour because it is one that even those that live here never tire of. The countless, lavishly decorated facades standing side by side boarding and somewhat protecting the canals. The unique bridges, each and everyone unique to the other, crossing at all angles and making those that go under them feel like they must duck or loose their head. The greenery of all the trees whose branches hang low over the water help make these 17th Century canals a wonder of their own with the lure to come back because you didn’t see everything. Then heading for the tram and back to “Bumble Bee” for a great barbecued dinner, a bottle of good wine and making plans for tomorrow.
| |
| April 29, 2004 09:52 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| Rembrandt Reigns |  | | 21 April ’04, Wednesday. Hard to get to the showers this morning but we make it. Back to Bumble Bee for breakfast of eggs, bacon, and “Nescafe Espresso”….can’t beat that can you? Do a little pick up around the pitch and the van and head off for our second day in Amsterdam. This day was planned and made us both “happy campers all day long. Our first stop was going to be Rijksmuseum. They have on display the very best of it’s collection “The Masterpieces”. One of the many was “Rembrandts “Jewish Bride””. Other artists without naming them all were, Jan Sateen, Frans Hals, and Vermeer. Over 400 masterpieces are in view. But, before going on I must tell you we came across a great street market just prior to the Rijksmuseum and we spent at least 1 ½ hours there. Now back to our leaving the museum, we headed east for a couple of blocks for our third stop for the day…. The Heineken Experience. The Heineken experience started May 17, 1867 and is still going strong today. This is the second largest brewery in the world. The tour was a “self tour” with 2 stops on the way to taste the cold refreshment of a “Heineken”. We felt that we really got our monies worth out of this tour. This wasn’t going to be a long day so after stopping off at a grocery store we caught our tram back to the camp grounds and fired up our barbecue. Tomorrow….. Big day planned. | |
| April 29, 2004 09:50 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| Hello Amsterdam |  | | 20 April 04, Monday. I guess we will have to really buckle down and get the heck out of bed if we are “going to get an early start”….. as it was, we boarded the tram at 10:30am and headed into Amsterdam. Our first time in the big city and we kind of felt it too. We hadn’t really set an agenda for ourselves and that was our first mistake. We kind of pulled at each others strings all day long and that didn’t make live easy. One of the first “agreed upon” destinations was the home of Anne Frank. I think we all remember the story of Anne Frank and her family as they hid for more than 2 years from the Nazi’s. The outside of the home was really just about like any other home here in Amsterdam. The interior is pretty much like it was except there is no furnishings at all. The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to figure out just were we where and “discussing it”. I think we both were looking for night time and then we could check out the “Red Light District”. Let me tell you, we found that the whole tourist community was waiting for the same thing. After 7pm everyone was heading over to the district to check these girls (and from what we understand men as girls) out. It was really quite interesting as they set up their business in a very narrow window. It was completely occupied by a stool/chair and themselves. Behind them was their place to do business. Once a deal was made a curtain was drawn and it was business as usual for them. As we all walked the narrow streets looking in on them they would look back, some would jester, and some would dance to the music that was playing behind the windows. I must admit, the girls weren’t the only things that we saw all day long. We really enjoyed the architecture, the canals and the boats of the canals, the little pubs and the espresso shops. We even stopped for a ride on a huge Ferris wheel that was set up in front of the Royal Palace. This was only one of many rides that were available and it was in stark contrast to the rest of the surrounds like the Palace and all the rest of the historical buildings. Our leg muscles aching and really tired we headed back to the tram and onto the van. We got home just after 10:30pm and it felt like it. | |
| April 29, 2004 09:48 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
| Lost AGAIN ??? |  | | 19 April ’04, Monday. Is Monday still “Laundry Day”? Well, it was for us this morning. A couple of loads of wash and dry and we checked out. Leaving Utrecht is to us “Getting Started” on this journey through Europe. We really don’t have a schedule or a destination to follow but we are heading to Amsterdam for our first stop of many on our trip. We had to stop by Turner Campervans on the way out of Utrecht and wouldn’t you believe it but we got lost trying to find her. I was very glad that I had my second cup of coffee before leaving. Then off to find our new campgrounds in Amsterdam. It was a short trip and luck would have it and we drove right to our next destination. As we pulled in to the Gaasper Camp Grounds it felt good right from the start. Going into the reception area, checking in, and being guided to our “pitch” was more than I could have expected. Even checking out the restroom/shower areas, the grocery store and the bus stop just outside of the gate. We didn’t get here until 3:30 so we decided to spend the rest of the day hanging close by and getting some work and reading done right in the van. Tomorrow we will make a day of it in visiting and exploring Amsterdam. We hope to start early and end late. Wish us luck…. | |
| April 29, 2004 09:46 AM
By Joel and Louise
Location: Netherlands
|
|
Locations
Egypt
Austria
Belgium
Bosnýa
Croatia
Czech Republic
England
Estonia
France
Germany
Germany 2
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Scotland
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Switzerland
Turkey
Utrecht NL
Wales
Mexico
Mexico BCS
MX - Cabo San Lucas
USA - Seattle, WA
USA - Snohomish, WA
USA-Alabama
USA-Arizona
USA-California
USA-Florida
USA-Georgia
USA-Idaho
USA-Indiana
USA-Kentucky
USA-Louisiana
USA-Michigan
USA-Mississippi
USA-Montana
USA-Nevada
USA-New Mexico
USA-Oregon...
USA-South Dakota
USA-Tennessee
USA-Texas
USA-Utah
USA-Washington
USA-Wyoming
Countries
Archives
August 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
July 2006
June 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
Galleries
Austria
Belgium
Bosnia and Serbia
Croatia
Czech Republic
Egypt
England
Estonia
France
Germany
Germany 2nd Time
Greece
Holland...
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Mexico
Mexico BCS
Moselle Valley Germany
Poland
Scotland
Slovakia
Spain
Switzerland
Tangier
The Giza Pyramids of Egypt
Turkey
USA -Nevada
USA-Alabama
USA-Arizona
USA-California
USA-Florida
USA-Georgia
USA-Idaho
USA-Indiana
USA-Kentucky
USA-Louisiana
USA-Michigan
USA-Mississippi
USA-Montana
USA-New Mexico
USA-Oregon
USA-South Dakota
USA-Tennessee
USA-Texas
USA-Utah
USA-Washington
USA-Wyoming
Wales
|
