Netherlands - Another Visit

Figure in One of the Canals at s'Hertogenbosch (Frog is the City's Symbol During Carnival)

I’m continuing on the “same old, same old” theme, in a way. One reason why I was too busy last week to do my blog was because I had spent the weekend in the Netherlands visiting Idette. I did this two years’ ago, although of course this time it was a little different because we did other things.

I arrived easily enough, despite the threat of a “work to rule” at Amsterdam airport. I flew with Swiss and took advantage of the fact that they still offer free alcoholic drinks en route; I was sitting near the back, so by the time they got to me they only had cheese sandwiches left (the meat ones had all been taken). Since I don’t eat cheese, I had to decline (so didn’t get my money’s worth on that score!).

The only thing that went wrong is that I left my kindle on the plane and it hasn’t been found yet (well, I have had a message to say that it hasn’t been found; I’m not sure if that means they delete my notification now). However, the kindle is a few years old and I don’t lose the content, so it’s not too much of a burden (although it’s quite strange to be reading a physical book now).

Anyway, I was met at the airport and Idette had planned a lovely itinerary for me, which she revealed when we’d arrived back at her house and were eating the Dutch equivalent of apple turnovers. We had a bit of a discussion about this because they thought apple turnovers were peculiarly Dutch and had been quite surprised to find a British equivalent. I’m not too sure if either they or we have a particular specification for an apple turnover. It’s not actually a word I think I’ve ever used before, although I know what they are, or at least I thought I did. I think in the UK it’s just apple wrapped in pastry; I’m not entirely sure if it has to be a particular type of pastry or a specified shape. Looking it up on Wikipedia seems to indicate that there are no such strict demands!

Idette has a beautiful garden with a lovely round table around the trunk of a tree for dining. We sat there for a large breakfast on Saturday morning (not too early, I was relieved to hear!). I enjoyed the chocolate sprinkles again and a lovely selection of bread. Of course, the summer this year has been fantastic, so it was wonderful to sit outside in the shade and enjoy the weather.

In the afternoon we went to s’Hertogenbosch. I was surprised to discover that it was actually a city (I should have known!). Even though I came from Switzerland, which is notorious for being clean, I was struck by how ordered and free from litter or graffiti the city was. I had the impression it was cleaner than Switzerland.

We went on a trip on the canals (this is the Netherlands, after all!); a surprising number of statues (maybe better described as comical figures?) were hidden at various places. I chose one as a photo for this blog since that will explain better than my writing! The boats navigated through some very narrow tunnels running under some of the buildings, but it was also surprising at one point to come out into quite a large expanse of water.

The journey took an hour, which shows just how many waterways there are (and I don’t think we did them all). Afterwards, we went to a café to enjoy my favorite Bossche Bollen, which I’ve mentioned when I was there before.

In the evening, we sat outside to have a barbecue in the garden with food aplenty.

The next morning, after breakfast/lunch (again, not too early, phew!) of the Dutch version of a sausage roll (also very tasty – the Dutch do pastry things par excellence!), Idette, Fabienne (her daughter), and I went for High Tea in a local café/restaurant. It was a fine combination of soup (garlic soup!), some wraps, some sandwiches, and then a plate of desserts. And, of course, tea (only I had coffee).

It was then time for me to go home. The whole family was incredibly kind to me and our new-found yearly visits to each other are now a fine tradition! Thank you, Idette and the entire family. You are all wonderful.