Monday 23 September
Again I will try to summarise the week as best as I can.
Monday was dedicated to a day with Wim. Our almost annual brother/sister day. We spent the day in Rotterdam. We both took the train and met at Central Station from where we walked around in more or less familiar places, like Coolsingel, Blaak, Lijnbaan, etc., while taking pictures of course. Wim knows Rotterdam even better than I do, because I don't visit so often anymore, but I did when I was young, and my father has left there many footsteps and memories as he lived there during his childhood.
A lot has changed over the years, but then a lot is still present. Rotterdam has been virtually wiped out during War II and been re-built, thus becoming a modern and vibrant city, the complete opposite of Amsterdam, which has its own attraction. So, many buildings I show in the pictures are modern and high rise buildings.
We had coffee at Donner, Wim's favourite bookshop. After that we walked a bit more, sightseeing on foot ( 😉 ), and then we arrived at the terminal for the Spido sight-seeing boats. The weather had been great, but during our boat trip it rained and we were a bit sceptic about the rest of the afternoon, however, by the time we got off the boat the sun was out again. Although we didn't go all the way to the out part of this huge port of Rotterdam, it was interesting enough to see what was going on closer to the city.
Next we walked to the Market Hall, a huge under cover market place with apartments all around the arches of the hall, looking in and looking out. Of course I had to eat my traditional fresh herring with onions. Can't help myself!
Then a last round around the city and we find a nice spot at Kade 4 (the old harbour) to have dinner. After dinner we search for and find a geocache nearby and then it's time to walk back to the railway station and say goodbye for the time being. Will we ever be able to spend more of those days together I wonder?
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| Market Hall |
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And this is how you eat fresh herring...
Duly recorded by Wim. ;-) |
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| The Hall's ceiling |
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| The walls with the apartment windows looking in |
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| The Hall is 5 years old this year |
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| Dinner time |
#2108 - #35 KUBUSWONINGEN Rotterdam-Architectuur (cache)
Tuesday was a quiet day at home, but I could log the cache that 'we' had found in St. Oedenrode, because the group of women-geocaching friends had gone out together and found it. They kindly logged my name too. :-)
#2107 - OMG75 - Hell's Highway, de gevechten rond Eerde (cache)
Wednesday I spent the day in Houten with Wim and Gerrie. I actually stayed until Friday night, but wasn't all the time at their place. After coffee and lunch Gerrie and I went to a big plant nursery in Utrecht, Intratuin. We looked around, Gerrie bought some plants and we had coffee and.... yes, cake!
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| A corner with real birds |
Thursday I visited geocaching friend Nicole, who also visited me in
Emsdetten a few weeks ago. As it was a rainy day neither of us felt like going out, so we spent the time talking while having morning tea with a lovely piece of
appeltaart. How am I ever going to loose all that extra weight again???
In the afternoon I went on to Heidi's place where Wim and Gerrie were looking after the grandchildren, Guido and Nils. The little boys, Guido turning 5 in November, and Nils not far behind, still recognised me, even at their young age. It's nice to know that Heidi keeps the connection going, even if I am so far away.
I stayed for dinner, as Wim did the cooking and later Tom and young Julia (other granddaughter, turning 7 in January) came to see me as well. Julia had made a beautiful drawing for me, which I will take home and hang on the fridge for a year. I always do so.
Friday was our biggest day. Wim, Gerrie, Heidi and the boys, and I went to our favourite theme park, the Efteling.
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| Train ride |
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| The old fashioned carousel |
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| Carnivale |
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Looking in at the scene of the 'Wolf and the 7 little goats'
in the fairytale forest |
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At the tree of the Troll King. When you stand on the big
square tile the ground moves under your feet.... |
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Nils loves looking into the little houses.
There is so much to see. |
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And the big bad wolf outside the door
is quite impressive |
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Wim's task of pulling the cart has been
made a bit lighter by Nils. ;-) |
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| The boys showing their gifts at the end of the day |
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Saying goodbye.
Hopefully for only a year. |
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| I love those 'mannekes' |
Saturday is supposed to be a quiet day, but Fred and Chantal have caught the geocaching bug and want to go out again. For some caches we took our bikes (and Chantal her wheelchair), for others we walked. At the end of the day we had something to eat at a nearby snackbar. I didn't mind. I like the things that I can't buy at home. Unfortunately all unhealthy, fried stuff, but who cares.... ;-)
#2109 - Elmo (cache)
#2110 - Bruggen in de Zuidplaspolder de Vlonderbrug (cache)
#2111 - Duizend bomen bos #1 (cache)
#2112 - Duizend bomen bos #2 (cache)
#2113 - Duizend bomen bos #3 (cache)
#2114 - Die Schat van Nuwekerke (cache)
#2115 - Huron (cache)
#2116 - Historisch Nieuwerkerk Het oude station (cache)
#2117 - Historisch Nieuwerkerk Molen Windlust (cache)
#2118 - Historisch Nieuwerkerk Aquaduct de Waterdrager (cache)
Sunday I can't go out, because Fred and Chantal need their car, but Erna from Liempde, with whom I have done earlier house exchanges, comes for a visit. It's a rainy day, so we stay in and have coffee and lunch first. Later it seems to clear a bit and we go for a walk. After a lengthy search for a coffee shop we end up at the snackbar where I had dinner the night before. We stay for a long time. Enough material to talk about. ;-) (Do I ever have a problem with that?) We go for another walk, but go back again, this time for dinner. No problem! After dinner we walk home where we have another cup of coffee before it's time for Erna to leave.
And that's the end of another week in Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel. Two more days to go...
A few miscellaneous pictures of thex week:
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| Windlust |
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| Searching for caches |
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| Some fungi being eaten by snails |
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| It's autumn, well and truly |
Monday is the very last day of my stay. As the weather has cleared enough and Fred and Chantal are keen to go out for some more geocaches we get on our bikes and wheelchair and make for an interesting cache I had hoped to get, and even a few more. The last one was the best of all.
#2119 - Nieuwerkerk aan den Ijssel, la belle. (cache)
#2120 - miniLOG -6.74NAP (cache)
#2121 - Werk aan de Winkel bij Verbree (cache)
And let me finish with mentioning that I am literally standing here at the lowest point of the low lands - the Netherlands. It's hard to imagine that the spot is -6.74 NAP, which roughly means nearly 7 metres below sea level! And look: my feet are dry! ;-)
That's it. Next time see you in Portugal.
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