From Bruges, we headed on into the Netherlands, heading toward Delft, where Calin's brother lives. We stopped en route to check out the dam works, and to go for a refreshing, windy walk along the water.
Also (somewhat) on the way, we stopped at Kinderdijk, a village where a bunch of windmills were built around the 1740s in order to drain the area which is surrounded by dykes. It's now the best preserved group of old windmills around, and made it onto the UNESCO World Heritage list back in 1997. Walking out to see them, there were a bunch of really pushy geese.
It's really quite picturesque...
...and then the sun came out from behind billowy clouds, to make it even more ridiculously beautiful.
Most of the windmills were the round type (I don't know the right terms for this), but this is an example of the other kind, where the whole little house part on top is moved around to better direct it into the wind.
By the time we left, the sky was almost completely clear and sunny, thus providing us with a good variety of light conditions for tourist photos. Good work, Holland!
Then we headed to the apartment of Calin's brother, Emile, and his girlfriend (and their three rabbits), where I was greatly amused by the incredibly high coat hooks. I might just be too short for the average Dutch household. From their apartment in Delft we could see Rotterdam in the distance if we looked out one side of the building, and The Hague out the other side of the building. I found this great proof of both how small and how flat the area is - that we could see three cities (that we'd actually heard of) at the same time. We spent a lot of time while there playing Mariocart, trying out the new steering wheel accessory that Calin brought along from Germany, as they were sold out in the Netherlands. We also got to sample some typical Dutch Chinese takeout, which is heavily influenced by Indonesian food, and which is something that Calin really misses while in Germany. (Unfortunately the standard dishes were all pretty meat heavy, so I had to screw up their standard order by slipping in a vegetarian dish, but everyone liked that one too!)
We drove into the Hague for a nice walk along the beach there. For me, the highlight was our stop by one of the beachside cafes for some really delicious apple pie with coffee. The pie is a bit different than North American-style pie, in that it's a bit deeper, with more vertical sides, and the pastry is much sweeter, but it's equally as delicious. Really, how can apple pie be anything but good?
After walking for a bit, the three of them also stopped for some snacks at the fish and chips place, where Jeremi got to try the traditional Dutch treat of brined herring, eaten like a pro.
That evening we headed into Delft, where Calin when to university, and met up with his brother and her girlfriend for a nice supper at a trendy restaurant with really good food.
After supper we went to a square with several bars with patios. After starting at one place with rather poor service, we moved to another with an extensive beer list. Many beers were sampled, but the favourite by far, due mostly to the novelty glass, was Dikke Mathile (fat Matilda). Here Calin can't believe his eyes! (Actually, he'd just bumped the glass on the chalice in front of him, and Jeremi just happened to catch the picture as he reacted to the surprise.)
Here Emile's girlfriend is inspecting the anatomy of the glass...
...and Jeremi is checking how it tastes.
If it isn't clear by now, the glass is shaped like the body of a naked woman, or really more like a dress-maker's dummy, with no arms or legs. This was incredibly amusing at the time, and much fun was had by all.
Also (somewhat) on the way, we stopped at Kinderdijk, a village where a bunch of windmills were built around the 1740s in order to drain the area which is surrounded by dykes. It's now the best preserved group of old windmills around, and made it onto the UNESCO World Heritage list back in 1997. Walking out to see them, there were a bunch of really pushy geese.
It's really quite picturesque...
...and then the sun came out from behind billowy clouds, to make it even more ridiculously beautiful.
Most of the windmills were the round type (I don't know the right terms for this), but this is an example of the other kind, where the whole little house part on top is moved around to better direct it into the wind.
By the time we left, the sky was almost completely clear and sunny, thus providing us with a good variety of light conditions for tourist photos. Good work, Holland!
Then we headed to the apartment of Calin's brother, Emile, and his girlfriend (and their three rabbits), where I was greatly amused by the incredibly high coat hooks. I might just be too short for the average Dutch household. From their apartment in Delft we could see Rotterdam in the distance if we looked out one side of the building, and The Hague out the other side of the building. I found this great proof of both how small and how flat the area is - that we could see three cities (that we'd actually heard of) at the same time. We spent a lot of time while there playing Mariocart, trying out the new steering wheel accessory that Calin brought along from Germany, as they were sold out in the Netherlands. We also got to sample some typical Dutch Chinese takeout, which is heavily influenced by Indonesian food, and which is something that Calin really misses while in Germany. (Unfortunately the standard dishes were all pretty meat heavy, so I had to screw up their standard order by slipping in a vegetarian dish, but everyone liked that one too!)
We drove into the Hague for a nice walk along the beach there. For me, the highlight was our stop by one of the beachside cafes for some really delicious apple pie with coffee. The pie is a bit different than North American-style pie, in that it's a bit deeper, with more vertical sides, and the pastry is much sweeter, but it's equally as delicious. Really, how can apple pie be anything but good?
After walking for a bit, the three of them also stopped for some snacks at the fish and chips place, where Jeremi got to try the traditional Dutch treat of brined herring, eaten like a pro.
That evening we headed into Delft, where Calin when to university, and met up with his brother and her girlfriend for a nice supper at a trendy restaurant with really good food.
After supper we went to a square with several bars with patios. After starting at one place with rather poor service, we moved to another with an extensive beer list. Many beers were sampled, but the favourite by far, due mostly to the novelty glass, was Dikke Mathile (fat Matilda). Here Calin can't believe his eyes! (Actually, he'd just bumped the glass on the chalice in front of him, and Jeremi just happened to catch the picture as he reacted to the surprise.)
Here Emile's girlfriend is inspecting the anatomy of the glass...
...and Jeremi is checking how it tastes.
If it isn't clear by now, the glass is shaped like the body of a naked woman, or really more like a dress-maker's dummy, with no arms or legs. This was incredibly amusing at the time, and much fun was had by all.
1 comment:
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