A rainy Monday

Monday, July 13, 2015

As to be expected the rain would come sooner or later.  Unfortunately it was sooner! So, we stayed indoors for most of the morning trying to decide were we going out or not.  In the end I got in touch with Jose in Den Bosch and since it looked like clearing up a bit we had lunch and made our way to Den Bosch.

As we were early we parked the car opposite the units where my parents used to live (and me too, a much longer time ago!) as that was the closest place near the city where we could find a free parking spot. I knew it to be a 20 minute walk to the city, so that was fine.

I also knew that we would pass an earth cache, the watermeter, which would be a good opportunity for Patricia as she could claim her first virtual souvenir of The Netherlands. :-)

Patricia with the earth cache

I discovered newly built units on our way to the city and we also passed the hospital where Stephen was born, which is now being demolished, and what a job that is!

Changes everywhere, but happy to see that old buildings are also being restored, and possibly heritage listed.  The building below, de Moriaan, was built in 1220 or even earlier and is the oldest brick building of Den Bosch, if not the country.  It was nearly lost in 1956 when the council wanted to demolish it to make room for traffic.  Luckily they didn't get approval.  What a loss it would have been... Restoration happened in the 60s when the stairs and tower were added again. There are numerous stories about the building and its name, but the above seems to be the most plausible.

Further on our walk through the city we encountered an Australian icecream shop.  We were going to have one, but Patricia thought it would be more appropriate to get a Dutch one.

We walked further down the street where I new to be another one, but not far enough as it later appeared.  I couldn't find it.  Instead we bought some stationery on our way back and passed the town house, a great souvenir shop and a few other interesting buildings.

 

Townhouse where Frank and I got married 45 years ago

And just a pretty picture of me... ;-)

So, we'd seen some of the city sights and with the clock ticking (and some rain coming down again) we decided to walk back, pick up the car and make our way to Jose, who was no doubt waiting for us.

Lovely to see my old friend back and we had a lovely time chatting, catching up and of course including Patricia in most of the talk, as Jose speaks English very well.  We not only had a lovely cuppa, but Jose had gone out of her way to get the delicious nogatines that I love so much! Patricia didn't mind them either. ;-)

After dinner and another cuppa it was all too soon time to go home again.  Thank you so much, Jose and we'll see you soon again when we make another trip to the city, hopefully in more likable weather so that we can see more of this beautiful town and surroundings.