Day 5 and we're off to Beusichem just south of Utrecht to see
other friends.
It's less than an hour on the motorway as Holland is smaller
than you think, but there's so much to see in this country.
Frieke and Florian live in a house surrounded by countryside,
in another area of Holland with so much history.
Florian's home, now lived in by his daughter . . .
. . . as he lives in a home they built in the extensive garden.
The reason for the new house was the fact that he was
an avid collector and trader in far eastern items and needed
a suitable house to display them.
|
|
|
|
Loes and
Florian, whom she has known for quite some time. |
Their other guests today
were a little less talkative. |
Meet Frieke, a friend of Loes for 61 years, here at the table
in their garden.
I first met Frieke when she came over to Loweswater in 2021
for a short holiday.
The table was furnished with a delightful lunch soon afterwards,
then we went out sight seeing in the afternoon.
Welcome to Buren, an old walled town with the
local river De Korne acting as a protective moat.
Now a modern bridge leads you across into the
town.
|
|
|
|
The Church
of Sint Lambertuskerk with the statue outside. |
'Museum Buren en Orange'
complete with replica cannon. |
A must for visitors is to have their photo taken
with William of Orange (and his family).
The particular reason the statue is here is
that William married Anna van Buren in around 1557.
|
|
|
|
Chance for
a little light retail therapy . . . |
. . . in one of the
lovely craft and clothing shops. |
This one even had a year round Christmas Decorations
display.
Buren had a large number of delightful, small
specialist shops including . . .
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Butcher
. . . |
The Baker . . . |
. . . and yes a Candle
Maker. |
|
|
|
- - - o o o - - -
The village also has a large windmill
The Molen De Prins van Oranje.
This working windmill has been part of the village
for hundreds of years.
The windmill drives a stone mill for grinding flour
but is undergoing slight renovation at present,
hence the crane.
- - - o o o - - -
|
|
|
|
One of the grand buildings of the town advertises
itself as the Military Police Museum.
It can be found on the edge of town next to
the defensive wall and moat.
The day concluded with a meal with Frieke and
Floriaan in 'De Buren Beusichem' restaurant before driving back
to Haarlem.
|
- - - o o o - - -
Next morning, as we were "self
catering" in Haarlem,
we needed to visit the shops, if only
to buy something for our breakfasts.
It was beautiful weather as we walked along the canal
side
and over to the shopping centre, still quiet at this
time early hour.
|
|
|
Off to Zaandam . . .
One of the first tricks you have to learn about
town driving in Holland is the roundabouts.
Okay, you made it this far so you've mastered
driving on the wrong side of the road and even doing the roundabouts
anticlockwise.
Now on entering and especially on leaving you
have to give way to any cars already on the roundabout, any
bikes on the outer red bike lane
and then pedestrians on the outer grey pavement,
which forms a third tier of the 'roundabout' circle.
Pedestrians are easy as they don't move to fast
. . . but just watch out for those bikes . . . they take no
prisoners !
- - - o o o - - -
Suitably provisioned, we headed out to Loes's
brother Eddie at Zaandam.
This was the weekend of the "Dam to Dam"
sponsored walk and run where participants walk, or later run
from Amsterdam to Zaandam (hence the name).
The event is similar in nature to out Great
North Run, but with 90,000 people on a shorter course, spread
over two days.
We got there early and the walkers gradually
increased in number as the afternoon went on.
The blue and red tee shirts were linked with
the walk's major charities.
Eddie fancied walking part of the route across
the causeway into the town centre so we followed the stream
of people.
I held back to take a few photos, only to find
the barriers down on the causeway and Eddie and Loes on the
other side.
The bridge was lifting, to let a sailing cruiser
through into the harbour area.
Once the bridge closed again, the walkers who
were also delayed began to stream across the bridge . . .
. . . and on through town towards the finish.
In the evening the runners had their turn, reaching
us as the light began to fade.
Disco music from the lady in the Disco Ball
encouraged the runners on their way over the causeways.
Interestingly the promoters had commissioned
a water spray feature
not to keep the competitors cool but to project
light images onto it and so add atmosphere to the event.
[ It appears back to front . . . because it
was designed to be read from the other side.]
Many of the competitors also had their own personal
light displays.
|
|
|
|
Eddie's daughter Karin
was taking part in the 10km event . . . |
as was her partner, but sadly no
picture of Martijn as he came through earlier. |
|
|
There's the full effect of the water-spray advert
seen from the correct side . . .
Zien . . . translates as : " We'll
see you in the after party in the Dam to Dam Park "
Sadly not for us . . . we have to get back.
|
- - - o o o - - -
Click
here or on the picture above for a short video.
[
Right click and open to view in new window ]
[
or left click to view directly , then backspace from
Youtube to return here ]
|
|
|
- - - o o o - - -
Technical note: Pictures taken
with iPhone 11pro mobile phone camera.
Resized in Photoshop, and built
up on a Dreamweaver web builder.
This site best viewed with
. . . the chance to meet up with family and friends we didn't
see properly last year.
Go to Home Page
. . . © RmH . . . Email
me here
Previous
walk -
2 - Utrecht and
Almere Haven
A
previous time in the area
- Last year 2022 -
Naarden and The
Hague
Next
walk -
17th September - 4.
Hofgeismar and Kassel
- - - o o o - - -
Missing
your Lake District photos . . . don't panic . . . read on
. . .
|
Now
is your chance to have your favourite
web site pictures
hanging
on your wall all year round
and
to support a good cause.
- - - o o o - - -
" We've
done it again.
We've brought you twelve months of Loweswater
pictures,
Lakeland scenes and your favourite mountain dogs."
Yes
. . . The
2024 Loweswatercam Calendar is
now on sale
- - - o o o - - -
Click
here or on the photos
for
full details of how to buy your copy.
|
|