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
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