Our adventure to Heerde

We are off by train to visit friends of our friend Karen Laino.  They are Ton and Margo van Osch and live about an hour train ride to the east of Amsterdam.  We arrived in Zwolle where Terry thought we were supposed to be picked up by our hosts.  Oops, turns out she didn't have that quite right.  They were fifteen minutes away at a different train station.  They told us to stay put and they would come to Zwolle.  Margot was still smiling when she came to fetch us, so that was a good sign.  Off we went to their lovely home for coffee and dutch treats before the events they had planned for us.  Their home is lovely and built just in the last year or so since Ton's retirement.

After coffee they told us they had planned a bike ride through the national park area to a restaurant in the park where we could have a nice lunch.  Well we were game, so Ton broke out the bikes and did all the man stuff like putting air in the tires and adjusting bike seats, etc.

 Now it was time for Terry and I to see if we can still ride a bike.  After a couple of false starts and readjustment of seats for short legs, we were off 

I  was doing just fine, although I will admit to a death grip on the handlebars.  We had been biking for about twenty minutes or so and my confidence was building.  I was thinking hey this old lady isn't doing so bad.  It really wasn't my fault.  Ha. As we went to make a right turn on the path there was a bike parked in the middle of the path.  I went right, Terry went left.  I hit a little ditch and ended up on the ground.  Terry managed to stay upright.  Once we checked for body parts that might not work, Ton laughed and said he was sorry but it was pretty funny watching the two of us veer off in different directions.  I had to agree it was amusing.  Ok once the adrenalin rush was over, I decided I could get back on the road.  

As I started out the bike was really slow and I couldn't get going and thus fell off the daggone thing again.  It had popped into a different gear when I fell the first time and I hadn't noticed.  Well how humiliating is this??  My ego and self-assteem were literally in the dirt.  Margot and Ton were so concerned they said we need to come up with a new plan.  Ton took my bike in tow and took his and mine back to the house and picked up the car.  The three ladies walked back to the nearest auto road to wait for Ton.  

When he arrived Margot and Terry went on their way with the bikes and Ton and I drove to the restaurant.  Humiliating, but I guess I should be thankful that no damage was done to me or the bike.  Next time I'm going for the training wheels.  

We weren't at the restaurant long before Terry and Margot arrived and we had a lovely dutch pancake lunch.  Note Terry has two pancakes.  That girl worked up a appetite on that bike

Really the first one they brought her wasn't what she ordered so they brought her the right one and left the other.  You can see that the rest of us politely waited for her to get hers. Ha.

After lunch the girls took a short cut back to the house and we took off to visit a couple towns around the area.  First was Hattem

A clever business sign

The beautiful Church

It's five o'clock someplace so it must be wine time.  A little respite before moving on 

Next up Elburg (an old fishing village).  Once again the closing of the Zuider Zee affected the fishermen and their livelihood.

Looking toward the old harbor

The ladies

Local Herring for Ton and Terry.  Nope I don't do herring.

The old light house for the harbor

Part of the dike

Whats left of the old harbor after the sea was closed off by dikes

Flat bottomed fishing boats for shallow water. The stabilizers on the side could be let down to stabilize the boat in rough seas

Other small fishing or sailing vessels.  The EB on each craft indicates it is from the village of Elburg

From here we decided it was Happy Hour time, so we headed back home where Margot promised us a typical Dutch dinner.

A stew that had pieces of a dutch cinnamon cake to thicken it served over mashed potatoes and red cabbage.  Sounds a little strange, but it was really delicious.  

After dinner we had a nice fire in the fireplace and just enjoyed chatting with our new friends.  we didn't turn in until almost midnight.  More tomorrow.

Woke to a lovely breakfast which Margot whipped up for us

After breakfast we headed out to Deventer.  Deventer was probably founded around 768, and one of the oldest in the Nethelands.  

The Brink (market square) with houses, shops, and cafes dating from 1575-1900. 

The Waag (Weighing-house) on the edge of the Brink square, built in 1550 and restored in 2003.  It did house the city museum, but was recently closed.

Learning some history.  The industrial area and harbor were bombed heavily during WWII.  The city centre was largely spared and so remains largely unchanged for the past few centuries.

Alongside this square there is the Bussink "Koekhuisje", where you can buy the famous Deventer Koek (honey-cake.  It has been produced in Deventer for over 500 years, is still manufactured locally and sold all over the Netherlands and beyond.

Very cute.

This made us thirsty and hungry for a sweet, so off we went to a cafe for coffee.  We ordered Coffee Royal, which consisted of a Cappacino, cookies and a liquor made and sold in the above "Koekhuisje".  It was quite chilly (see the fire heater behind Terry) so we poured our potent liquor in our Cappacino and that warmed us up nicely.

Following our break, we wandered on through the old city

The Saint Lebuinuskerk (St. Lebuin's Church) in Gothic style, with remarkable ceiling paintings and a beautiful organ.

In the 15th century, Deventer had a common mint, where coins for the three IJssel cities Deventer, Zwolle, and Kampen were made.  It was through this archway.

As we drove across the river into Deventer, Ton was telling us that the bridge we were crossing was used in the movie "A Bridge Too Far".  During the production of the movie, all of the scenes taking place in nearby Arnhem were filmed in Deventer - as Arnhem itself had lost its historic center.  Here is a picture of it.

We decided to take a drive across the dike and out in the country to a museum housed in an estate previously owned by a wealthy family (something like a manor house) with a sculpture garden on the grounds.  The Museum de Fundatie.  If the house has a name, I missed it, but it was beautiful.  Reminds me of the old Southern plantations.

As we walked along the road we saw this dove house.  Margot was telling us that only the wealthy could keep doves.  Too expensive for the poor folk

The Garden

The Queen Mother Wilhelmina.   When we mentioned that it was not very flattering to the Queen Mum,  they say she looked like this when she went walking in her big long coat and hat.

The silver ball, a favorite of Ton's 

Some of the mirrors made you upside down (Margot, Ton and I)

Some you could take pictures of each other taking pictures ( Me and Terry)  A fun piece of sculpture

This tunnel of trees was planted in 1892

The moat

Beautiful woods

Monument to family dogs

Three kinds of mushrooms growing on the same tree stump

Dapper Ton on the bridge

The Table

Not sure what it represents

It started to rain so we went inside to have a look at the museum and then have lunch.  We didn't take any pictures inside.  After a lunch of hot soup and good bread, we headed to the train station.  

We are so appreciative of our new friends Ton and Margot for hosting two strangers for two days.   It was such a pleausre to get to know them and have them show us around their area of The Netherlands.  Thanks so much.