Tulips, tulips and more tulips! We actually missed the height of the tulip farming, by days. We still were floored by the fields we did see. I have travelled to Holland many times but have never seen tulip season. My Dad liked to tell stories of 'back in the day' when he used to work in the tulip fields plucking the heads off. I thought it was 'back in the day' but then my cousin Tessa was also telling me of her experiences in the tulip fields and I realized that this would have been a part of my youth too if my parents had stayed in Holland. Instead of working in tulip fields however, my first job was in a dutch owned flower shop in Canmore, at the age of 12. Same same but different.
Another very dutch scene; rain and bikes. I think we had 3 maybe 4 sunny days in our three weeks away. I was so glad for my bright orange rain jacket I bought the day I left. I made Geordie and his Mom, Trudi wrestle through rush-hour traffic in Calgary the day of our flight to pick up the rain jacket, and therefore I am glad it was worth the slug, although I'm not sure I was that glad for the rain.
The sound and sight of a street organ is so Dutch. I was so proud when we found one chugging away in Groningen. Unfortunately I did not get a photo of the front of the organ, but to fill you in, a Dutch street organ is a large organ that plays book music. They are sometimes equipped with pipes, horns and even percussion instruments. We used to have a toy version at home which would only play one song. This young man was changing the music. No digital here.
We meandered through the back streets of Muiden and came upon this brilliantly Dutch scene. Although in all honesty, the grass was fairly un-kept for a Dutch household. The Dutch are remarkably tidy and their windows are all organized in twos; two plants, two candles, two bird statues, two pots.... absolutely everything in twos.
During one of the days it didn't rain, Geordie an I went exploring. Can you see that he has the road map attached ever so handily onto his bike handles? Geordie was always observing that the Dutch are so sensible. (Notice my orange jacket!)
hmmmmmmmmm.... coffee. We must have stopped twice a day for coffee. It was so convenient and so quick. No extra tall, non-fat, soy, extra hot, caramel latte's here... oh no...it was a quick stiff cup with a cookie and you were back on your way. A quick boost.
Get ready for the next image... you'll never guess....
The quintessential tourist image. Photographed from the INSIDE OF A WINDMILL... raise your hands!! (I know it was crazy!) We had to give Geordie the history of the windmills and the dykes which meant a tour. It's quite intricate. I wish I had taken more pictures but I was so caught up with this whole window deal ;) and photographing Geordie in wooden shoes that I forgot.
We went to a castle! Well, it was a castle way back when. We hurried through the ruins one rainy day. The view to town was quite remarkable and worth the scramble.
Another great Dutch moment. We had to wait for the boat to pass through in order to cross the bride. My Grandfather used to raise and lower the bridge in the town where my Mother was born.
Guess WHAT?
We went to Belgium. For a day. We were pretty excited. Geordie will probably be very upset that I only post silly pictures of him (and us) on my blog. I love this picture though and we had so much fun in Belgium, we snuck into Germany briefly as well. That's the beauty of Holland, it's so spectacularly small that you can zip from one end to the other in a day. Well, we think you can, my family thinks it's crazy, but what they don't realize is that the length of their country is the distance from Brooks to Canmore.
I love the cobble stone streets and the brick houses.
One more for the road.
Geordie took this image of me and my Dad.
I don't often post anything of me, but I liked the composition and the conversation we were having and the memories of that day... oh and my long 'Boekel' nose! My Dad has the same nose. It's like a ski jump. I usually HATE profile picture of myself for this reason. This one isn't too bad.
We spent a lot of time be-bopping around with my family. We jumped from one family to the other and spent 3 days at a vacation home in the south of Holland with my parents and my brother. Luckily after having met my whole family Geordie is still sticking around. I have a wonderful family. Both sides. I was proud to be there with my brother, Mom and Dad and to show Geordie where my history is.
I will have more photos the wedding soon and then lots of newborn images to post. Apparently lots of babies were born while I was away!
Thank you if you read everything I wrote and for always following along.
Happy Monday!
