The Netherlands - last impressions

We leave the Netherlands tomorrow and these are my last visual impressions.

Having a cheese fondue with Sieska and Hendrien.  We had a wonderful month living with Sieska.  She provided us with very warm hospitality and she even gave up her bedroom so we could be more comfortable.

Returning from a little cycling jaunt and arriving back in Sieska's street in Heiloo.

Queen of night tulips.

Ron's paintings. His use of vibrant colours - yellows, reds and greens.  This one is a homage to Gauguin.  If I had the space I would like to have bought one.  He is very talented.

Big clogs in the little village of Zaanse Schanz in the area of Zaandam.

Windmills in the same village.  These are historic windmills which were used for various specific industries.

And finally, this carefully tended small garden at the side of a house.  An illustrative example of the nice gardens Dutch people create in a very small space.   This is a country full of people yet you don't feel hemmed in.  They live cheek by jowl but maintain their individuality, their privacy and their dignity.  We enjoyed ourselves a great deal here.

Brugge - last impressions

Brugge also has a fine collection of medieval and early modern art including a world famous collection of Flemish primitives.  Various masters such as Hans Memling and Jan van Eyck lived and worked in Brugge.

A famous portrait of a burgher's wife by Jan van Eyck in the Groenings Museum.  Van Eyck was considered one of the most significant Northern European painters of the 15th century.

There was only one Hieronymus Bosch in the museum.

Sandstone centaurs from the top of the town hall by John de Valenciennes 1376.

The following photos are an attempt to capture the charm and bonhomie of Brugge.  It was a wonderful two day visit to this lovely city.  We are told that Ghent is also very beautiful but we had time only for one visit and it had to be Brugge.

A green city performer.  Every city has one and this charming one was very apt for the city and it medieval character.

Horse and carriage are a frequent sight and sound along the cobbled streets.  Note the considerate poop bag fastened between horse and carriage.

We had dinner at Tom Pouce Bistro in Burg Square under the canopy of this lovely building.

We ended our visit to Brugge with a lovely hot wine with dark rum for me and a boring old capuccino for Andrew.  It was raining outside and not too warm but it was cosy and warm inside the little bistro just up the road from the railway station.

Brugge continued

Belgium does not have quite as many canals as the Netherlands, nevertheless there are many.  Here is a view of the canal as you walk from the central railways station into the old city.

This lovely building was unmarked on our map.  Not famous for anything it seems, nevertheless it completely captivated me.  It resembles a fairy tale castle.

Canal view with belfry in the background

Canal view with Church of Our Lady as background

Gentepoort, one of the three remaining preserved old city gateways.  There were 6 originally but only 3 remain.

Another beautiful old gate, the gate at the Gruuthuse Museum.

Gruuthus Museum

The tower of the museum

A streetscape.  Everywhere one looks are beautiful old buildings.  Once again, not unlike the Netherlands, where too lovely old buildings abound.  But Brugge is special.

Basilica of the Holy Blood

Closer view of its spire

This beautiful old building provides accommodation and hospice for the elderly. Hopefully it is also as beautiful and gracious inside as it is outside.

The back of Old St John's Hospital the 11th century hospital, one of Europe's oldest surviving hospital buildings.  The hospital grew during the Middle Ages caring for sick pilgrims and travellers.

In Bruges (Brugge, Belgium)

The historic old city center in Bruges has been a prominent Unesco declared World Heritage site since 2000.  Since seeing the film In Bruges it has been my dream of going to see for myself the wonderful buildings. 

The old city is about 430 hectares in size, oval shaped and reasonably easy to walk around in a day. The cobblestones are wonderful to look at but an absolute agony to walk on all day I have to say.  The city has most of its medieval architecture intact and great efforts have been made to preserve and upkeep the lovely old buildings, allowing the visitor a glimpse of the cultural and commercial significance Bruges had around the 15th century.

The skyline is dominated by two towers.  The brick spire on the left is one of the tallest, that of the Church of Our Lady.  The photo below is taken from the top of the other tower, the 13^th century belfry whose carillion contains 48 bells and concerts are given at 11:00am and 9:00pm each Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.  The climb to the top encompassed 366 steps and apart from the wired windows and the rain - the persistent rain in the low countries - allowed a great view across this lovely old city. 

View of the Groote Markt below. 

and also of the old city spread out below.

The Church of Our Lady towers above the other buildings.  Its spire reaches 122m, making it one of the world’s highest brick towers. 

 The belfry from the ground level in the Groote Markt.  It is on three levels, each level having been added in different centuries.  In its present form, the 83 metre high belfry is made up of building layers.  The bottom two square sections in brick were built around the 13th century.  The top octagonal towers in Brabant limestone were built between 1482 and 1486.  Until 1741 it had a graceful 19 metre high wooden spire but it was burnt in a fire, one of many during the centuries.

The Provincial Court building also in the Groote Markt.

The City Hall in Burg Square.

A feeble attempt to capture the towering spire of the Church of Our Lady from street level.  It is just impossible.

The view of the back of the Church of Our Lady.  It is even more beautiful than the spire isn't it?

Inside the Church of Our Lady.  Once again, impossible to capture the sheer size and grandeur of this tall tall church.

Still inside the church.  Looks like a Roman archway doesn't it?  It has always been my view that the best things about religion are the architecture and the music.

The sculpture of the Madonna in the transept of the church.  It is believed to be Michaelangelo's only sculpture to have left Italy in his lifetime.  It was commissioned for a wealthy man and intended to be housed in Venice but he donated it  to the city of Bruges.

The joys of bicycling in Holland

At last the sun came out and we were at long last able to get on the bicycles and explore the countryside.  In a country of bike riders who are everywhere you go, all ages, shapes and sizes, it was very frustrating not to have better weather where we could cycle more often.

How fantastic is this - cycling with the fields of tulips as a background.

and with the cows this time.

                               These are some of the bicycles we saw with a variety of fitted child seats.

and another below with just one seat + a carrier at the back.

and below, this time caught in the act.  A woman with child and pushchair too.

and another with one child + carrier.

Epe - another family reunion

We travelled to Epe in the province of Gelderland where another cousin lives.  Gerard is the son of Andrew's father's sister Frouk.  He lives in a particularly lush and verdant part of the Netherlands with his partner Monika.  Once again we enjoyed wonderful hospitality.  As well as all her other accomplishments, Monika is a fantastic cook.  In spite of her generous serves, both she and Gerard are slim and they both look youthful.

Gerard is a wonderful piano player and he played for us a number of times during our visit.  Monika Ligteringen is an accomplished artist who does sculpture, painting, jewellery, felting and quilting and she has her own website. The photo below is of Gerard at the piano surrounded by Monika's sculptures.  The sculpted head in the photo is one of her three sons.

Part of Monika's garden.  If you click on the photo you may see more of her sculptures.

Gerard and Andrew standing on stepping stones in the garden pond.  By the way, for the English speakers -  when Andrew and Sieska were talking about Hierat I did not realise his name was Gerard.  It was only when I saw it written that I twigged to the connection between Hierat and Gerard :-)  I am slowly getting used to the Dutch language.

Inside the Protestant church in Epe.  The organ is apparently a very good one and quite well known organists welcome the opportunity to be invited to play it.

I was intrigued by the two pulpits side by side.  One is a very old one and the other a modern one with microphone.

A delightful sight of a mother duck with her ducklings.  As we watched, more ducklings emerged from under her.  She was still sitting on some eggs.  The drake came by frequently bringing food for the young ones.  Notice the adventurous one down by the water on the left?  All this was in a dyke and under a bridge.

The gateway in Elburg a 14th century former walled city we visited.

 

Below is the the tall church tower in Elburg.  Gerard and Andrew are walking towards it.

The synagogue in the walled city of Elburg.  It had a congregation of about 100 people.

An unexpectedly sunny afternoon and we grabbed the opportunity to have coffee in the town square.

This is the town square in Elburg in front of us in the cafe.  Unfortunately I failed to capture the grandmother cyclist with her grandson in the carrier behind who had just passed us.