Don and Joan's Visit - Part II

Don and Joan weren't the only parents visiting Europe in April.  Mark Sechler's parents, Dale and Carol, were also spending time on the continent.  We were lucky enough to host the Sechler family on Good Friday after they visited the Dutch flower fields. 




Good thing we have a long table.  Sorry about cutting you off, Carol.


Market
Every Tuesday, our town of Wassenaar holds their market where people sell fruits, vegetables, meat, breads, clothing, flowers and of course, cheese.  This market isn't like a farmers markets in the states where people sell their own produce.  Rather, these folks have large trailers that serve as mobil grocery stores.  They buy the products from a wholesaler or other supplier then travel to different town markets to sell them retail. 



It's tough to beat a warm stroopwafel. 



It's always busy at the cheese shop.

One of the fruit and vegetable stands

This is an automatic white asparagus peeler.  You put the asparagus stalk in the left, it travels past the knives and comes out on the right ready to cook.  I'm sure that you'll be seeing it in Williams Sonoma catalogs soon.  Known as Holland's White Gold, white asparagus is grown in the dark and has a very mild flavor. 

Leiden
If you're a loyal follower of this blog (and who isn't), you've already heard plenty about Leiden.  It's a great Dutch town with lots of history.  Needless to say, when you come visit us, you're going to see Leiden and Don and Joan were no exception.  However, we did add a new twist...we took them on a tour by boat

Lori, Don and Joan by one of the old gates to the city of Leiden



View of the canals and bridges from the water




This home or warehouse used the lifting beam at the top to move furniture or materials to each floor. 




Don and Joan.  The windmill in the back is the design where the entire "house" rotates to catch the wind. 




Getting on our tour boat.  It is specially designed to fit under the bridges.


Delft
Another great historical town is Delft.  We happened to hit this town on their market day, so the town square was pretty chaotic.  We toured the Niewe Kerk and enjoyed a sunny lunch at a sidewalk cafe. 




Note all the market stalls in the town square.  It was packed.  The Niewe Kerk is in the background. 

Dordrecht
Dordrecht, or Dordt as it is sometimes called, was Holland's first town, founded in 1220. It has a prime location for commerce as three rivers meet  -- the Oude Maas and two branches of the Rhine, the Merwede and the Norde -- before flowing into the North Sea.  The location has had its advantages.  In the early days,all wine from Germany and France had to be unloaded here and taxed prior to being shipped elsewhere in Holland.  There were downsides as well.  German paratroopers landed here in the 40's to secure the prime spot.  Due to its historical wealth there are a number of attractive canals and waterfront areas. 

Some of you may recognize the name Dordt; it's a College in Souix Center, Iowa affiliated with the Christian Reformed Church.  You may also recognize Dordt from the Canons of Dordt, one of the three major confessional statements of Reformed churches, that came from a synod in that town in 1618-9.  The Canons of Dordt were a response to statements made by the followers of Jacob Arminius, and emphasized the sovereignty of God through his electing grace.



One of our many lunches at outdoor cafes. This one was in Dordrecht.  Note the teenager in shorts & t-shirt compared to his colleagues. 





The Dordrecht harbor was filled with some very nice boats.




The Dordrecht Cathedral


On a lighter note, Dordrecht is the location of the Huis Bever-Schaep (Beaver Sheep House).  Supposedly, three brothers had a wager to see who could build the most beautiful home with the most controversial decorations.  The first brother's home was decorated with a mermaid.  The second brother decorated his home with a statue of a naked boy.  The third brother won the wager, but his decoration was so scandalous that it has not survived and no one knows what it was.  These fellows must not have read their Canons.


The Sheep and Beaver House.



Close up of the Sheep and Beaver



The Mermaid

Oosterbeek
This town is located near Arnhem and was one of the major sites in Operation Market Garden -- the largest airborne operation of WWII.  This was British Field Marshall Montgomery's plan to quickly end the war in late 1944.  Thousands of allied troops were dropped behind enemy lines to secure key bridges and allow British ground forces to advance quickly and then move into Germany.  Unfortunately, the Germans had significant forces in the area, the strategy failed and the war lasted another seven months.  The events were made into a movie, A Bridge Too Far. 



Put a tank in a park and kids will climb on it.  I guess they're not going to hurt it.




An artillery gun outside the museum

Louman Museum
This museum, located about three kilometers down the road from us, houses over 250 cars collected by the Louman family.  It opened last summer and is very well done.  Don, Grant and I spent an afternoon there while the girls went shopping, an arrangement that suited everyone well.



The museum has an amazing collection.  They begin with things like this old Dutch farm wagon. 



They move onto this Stanley Steamer automobile. 




And they go all the way to Formula I racing cars. 

 

A Cord from the 30's.  I had a Revel plastic model of this car when I was a kid.  It was too complicated for me to put it together so the parts were cannabalized into other home-made models. 



The Aston Martin used in James Bond's Goldfinger



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