This morning
the weather was typical Dutch, cloudy, but spots of blue sky. The forecast was for rain later in the
day. Since it is nice this morning we
decided to take the ‘back roads’ to the city of Utrecht. Our hostess, TJ, went
with us today. Cal drove and she told him which way to go, while I relaxed in
the back seat, not having to navigate maps today.
On our way
to Utrecht, we drove along the Vecht River and on the opposite side of river
from where many Manor homes are built.
We were able to get some good photos of those lovely homes. The ones on the side of the river where we
were driving were in the shade and we did not photograph any of them.
This road
took us through the village of Bruekelen (Brooklyn). Brooklyn, New York was named after this town
and the spelling was changed to English. We have been to this town before, in
fact we have good memories of this town, but today we continued to drive to
Utrecht.
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| Crossing the Vecht River |
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| Houses along the Vecht River |
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| Nijenrode Business University, along the Vecht River |
We parked in
Utrecht and walked around the old city, enjoying their unique canals. The canals are lower than the street, thus warehouses
are below the streets with doors opening to the canals Some of these warehouses are now shops,
restaurants, etc. We stopped and enjoyed a cup of coffee at a café along the
street where we could sit in the sun (like the rest of the Dutch). The temperature was chilly this morning, but
being in the sun was perfect. Also before we left Utrecht we bought some frites
(French fries) with traditional sauces (sate sauce & frites sauce). This is the last for traditional Dutch food!
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| Famous Dutch Street Organ |
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| Marriage Couple in front of the Church Tower |
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| Church Tower |
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| Cloister with Church and Tower |
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| Utrecht Canal |
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| Canal Ride |
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| Those Marvelous Dutch Bakeries |
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| One Last Dutch French Fries (Friets) with either Mayonnaise or Peanut Sauce - Lekker |
After
leaving Utrecht we drove more ‘back roads’ along canals, to the small village
of Haarzuilens, where a lovely castle, De Haar, is located. But oh did we get into a traffic jam in this small
village – traffic was simply stopped! They were having a medieval fest on the
grounds of the castle. Cars and people
were everywhere – about 20- 25% of the people were dressed in costumes.
We finally
were able to leave town and went through the villages of Kockengen and Portengen
before following the Amstel River north to the main road back to TJ’s home. It was a beautiful charming drive today. Old Dutch landscapes, villages, and lush
green countryside.
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| Country Scenes along the Canal |
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| A Lazy Afternoon |
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| Jams for Sale by the Honor System |
This evening
we drove about 20 minutes to a location where we could watch a parade of floats
made of flowers grown from bulbs, grown in this area. It was lovely. They used the hyacinth blooms for the white,
purple & pink colors; tulips for the red and orange colors; daffodils for
the yellow colors; bulbs themselves for the brown color; the featured flower
this year was the black tulip (dark purple) made with deep purple
hyacinths. The parade was lovely, but it
was chilly – about 45 degrees!
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| Angry Birds |
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| Little Dutch Boy and Girl |
We are leaving for home in the morning. We have seen and done a lot in the past month
- there has been something new each day with a variety of experiences. All has gone very well. It was great to spend
time with our daughter, and to see special friends.
We are leaving for home in the morning. We have seen and done a lot in the past month
- there has been something new each day with a variety of experiences. All has gone very well. It was great to spend
time with our daughter, and to see special friends.
