Please tell me more about your trip!
This is a request from friends and family who are keen to hear and see more of the beautiful Netherlands, a country full of surprises.
I shared most of my trip, a gift from my son and his girlfriend, in the Pinmapple Community, but others were snippets shared mostly with my fellow Silver Bloggers, so it's kind of all over the place.
I missed sharing some of our jaunts, so to get a timeline, this will be a compilation sharing highlights from my trip, note, no copy/paste here!
My late hubby Arthur and I had our Visas, but he tragically did not make it, and although I left South Africa with a heavy heart, it turned out to be the best therapy after this immense loss.
22 Sept - Arrival at Schiphol Airport
I was exhausted after two flights with no sleep but super-excited on arrival at Schiphol Airport. That's when the walking/running started, hopping on and off the train to take a connecting train to Hilversum Media Park.
A tip - when traveling by public transport, you will need to get an OV-chipkaart, which can be used for train, bus, tram, and metro; ferries are free. My son preloaded my card with trip credits, gave me a Netherlands sim card, and told me to install the 9292 App on my phone, which makes trip planning a breeze!
And importantly, when walking/running...
Stay off the bicycle lanes!
On our days out, I averaged around 10 000 steps, not bad for a sevenT-year-old!
It's only a five-minute walk through a tree-lined pathway to their beautiful spacious apartment. A basket filled with Dutch munchies sat at the foot of my bed. I'd give anything for a Stroopwafel, or two, right now!
23 Sept - Hilversum Farmer's Market
A quick stop was made at Dille & Kamille, a homeware store before we headed for the farmer's market in Hilversum. I never realized this small country, along with Spain, is the leading exporter of fruit and vegetables in Europe. Seeing the perfect and stunning flowers, I was not surprised to learn that the Netherlands is the world's largest flower exporter.
What other produce did we see? A diverse range of the very best Dutch Cheeses, a sea of fish, smoked sausages and meats, delectable breads and pastries, fruits and vegetables, of course, all kinds of berries, and mushrooms, some looked like they'd sprung from a fantasy world.
We ended the day with a delicious meal at the vibey Foodhall MOUT.
24 Sept - Sailing on the Ketelmeer
I realized that I never told you about the wonderful day when my son's 'buurman' (neighbour) took us sailing on the Ketelmeer. His yacht was anchored at Ketelhaven in the province of Flevoland.
This was the only time I travelled by car while there. It was a fairly long drive, but beautiful driving past forests, and open areas with wind turbines; surprisingly for me, not many windmills, but bodies of water everywhere.
The Ketelmeer borders on the Ijselmeer, and once was part of the Zuidersee until it was reclaimed; all those lakes are now fresh water.
It was 'buurman's' last trip before winter when it's time to do maintenance work before moving the yacht to an indoor storage facility.
26 Sept - An oasis of serenity in the ancient town of Weesp
Weesp is a magical ancient town, a hidden tranquil gem with pretty canals. We had brunch at a cafe alongside a canal, and watched bicycles of every kind going past, as well as the canal boats. The draw bridge brings 'traffic' (cyclists and pedestrians) to a standstill to allow boats to pass underneath. The town boasts three windmills, but we only saw two - one is used to grind grain, and the other one has been turned into a pricey Airbnb. We saw two fishermen sitting beside the River De Vecht.
Very pretty, typical Dutch-style homes overlook some of the canals, I'm sure they come at a steep price as well!
The 19th-century Ossenmarkt fortress with a moat around it, was used during the 1870-71 French-German War and the First World War. An ancient canon is still there as a reminder of the building's historical purpose.
We ended the day with a light meal and craft beer from the Wispe Brouwerij, a beautiful old church that's now a brewery-cum-restaurant.
27 Sept - Amsterdam - Pannenkoeken Boot
When stepping outside Amsterdam Centraal, one is greeted with beautiful historical buildings as far as the eye can see. The historical ornate train station building stopped me in my tracks; my cell phone camera did not do it any justice.
We were heading for the Pannenkoeken Boot, a pancake boat cruise on the IJ River, which was a fulfilling experience in more ways than one. It's self-service - special racks holding plates with freshly cooked pancakes and fillings galore. You could eat as many pancakes as possible; apparently, the record is 17! We could only manage 2 each; they were big, light, and fluffy with delicious fillings.
We saw many sights while sailing - Botels, cruise ships, luxury yachts, buildings like the EYE Film Museum, and the A'DAM Lookout where one not only has stunning views of the city, and the harbour, but can see as far as rural areas. OverTheEdge, the highest swing in Europe is here for those adrenaline junkies!
28 Sept - It smells like Amsterdam
Even though I walked over 13,000 steps in the streets of Amsterdam on this day, one for sure needs way more time to explore the whole of the city. It was overwhelming, with too many tourists, buses, trams, bicycles, and cars, and way too much to see and do!
I started that blog with:
Amsterdam is a city abuzz with sights, sounds, and scents.
Abuzz it was, impossible to do a synopsis of what we saw, so it's best to head over to that blog if you want to read more.
What did I enjoy the most about this city?
Everything - the beautiful canals and boats, bicycles in designs of every kind, the gracious historical buildings like Madame Tussaud, narrow Dutch-style buildings, some leaning quite precariously, but they have been propped by engineering methods.
I loved the marble and bronze sculpture, Two Immovable Heads that's found in Rokin Square, and
actually, it is a water fountain!
I would say the highlight for me was visiting the Anne Frank Museum, It's dedicated to the young Jewish girl who together with her family and other Jewish people, was given shelter for two years by a Dutch couple. Walking up the steep narrow staircase into the stifling room behind the door that was made to look like a bookcase, made one realize just how difficult it must have been.
Of course, the smell from the coffeeshops is not coffee, it's cannabis, which has been decriminalized in the Netherlands. Coffee is found in cafés!
The end of the first Six Jaunts
I have to stop here, I was going to try to squeeze the whole trip into one blog, but realize it's near impossible. It has been way more work than I realized, but at least I managed to share the first six expeditions in date order with you, and it looks like the coming week will give me more time as the Easter guests will be departing. Both my BnB units will accommodate long-term guests, which is much easier to manage, giving me more time to have the synopsis of my trip done, in two or a maximum of three blogs!
I've been getting lost trying to find where I was, and on what date!
I'll now easily refer everyone who asks about my trip to 'My Tale of Eleven Dutch Destinations.'
Hive truly is my forever memory bank!
Map from Google Earth depicting our Destinations
Note Ketelhaven is way up North-East.
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