Ten things for which I give thanks this week…
1 – So we are currently on holiday in the Netherlands in which case, this is a TTOT travelogue…
https://youtu.be/ltd34wDpnTE sorry the embed is not working but click the link please to see the massive port of Rotterdam…
2 – Gouda is the nearest city and here is its impressive Town Hall…
3 –
3 – https://youtu.be/B3xx5dH8u0k sorry the embed is not working but click the link please to see a street organ playing the Rolling Stone’s “Satisfaction (I can’t get No…)”
4 – Barbara in handbag heaven! She had purchased a suede handmag some weeks ago and asked me to get some waterproofing spray. I duly sprayed it and thought that the darkening was the wetting effect of the spray – only to find thar, in very fine print, the spray was labelled “Black” – so I owed her a handbag…
5 – After a quick trip to the local supermarket to practise on her new “Boot-Scooter”, Gouda was her first experience of driving round a busy town and she passed with flying colours! Note all the bicycles outside the Library/Cafe… Bicycles often have a separate, parallel road and where they crossover the car roads, each a re traffic-lighted. Families drive bikes with large child pods and youngsters graduate to riding at an early age! This is a country where cycling is truly important…
6 – The Gouda LEGO shop…
7 – Just to prove I know how to take a selfie – still working on the smiling bit…
We drove to look at the flower growing area and these are fields of Hyacinths. Whilst buying some tulip bulbs nearby (its a bit too early to see the tulips) the shop owner told us a lot of interesting stuff including the fact that these hyacinths are being grown for the bulbs, not the flowers – so all the flowers in the bicture will be picked and thrown away in order for the bulbs to grow quickly – its still a three year plus project to grow them to a saleable size…
Note the windmill in the background – these windmills are for pumping water, not grinding corn and there is water everywhere, here – all in the process of draining the land (largely below sea-level) and raising the water to higher and higher channels before pumping it into the sea!
Even in the centre of town – nearby Leiden – there is a large windmill for pumping – they are kept working as a backup for the electric pumps – the Netherlands are very flat – we have yet to see a hill – and there is a lot of wind!
8 – Monday we drove to Amsterdam (under an hour away) to visit the Rijksmuseum. We had discovered that the Van Gogh Museum is booked up ten days ahead which was a disappointment, however we did see four Van Goghs in the Rijksmuseum…
9 – The A to Z Challenge 2026 started today (April Fool’s Day – perhaps because many participants are wondering why they have let themselves in for this – again!) – ! have got 16 0f the 26 posts in the bag though… https://how-would-you-know.com/all-you-need-to-know-about-weaving/
10 – And we visited Utrecht…
Needless to say, we did not attempt the 465 steps despite the promise of an unparralel view from the top…
Wishing all of you a very happy week ahead…
Beautiful photos of Netherlands. Informative write-up too. I can’t imagine pumping up water to throw into the sea.
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Thanks for making and sharing this travelogue.
Thanks for letting me know – I hadn’t finished the publishing properly – it should work now.
Oh yes that last building!
Loving the roundness and the scallops.
The path below that same building is what a brick path should be in my opinion
[alternating – and it feels like weaving/sewing or the results of same].
A very comprehensive travelogue.
So glad Barbara got to be in handbag heaven.
I know I would go those 465 steps quite against my better judgement [and my sense of balance].
And oh my fishtails! The destruction of the storms of the past.
If you have a museum attendant who loves to tell stories – listen!
[whether or not they are part of an organised tour]
[also it is fun to eavesdrop on one’s fellow gallerians].
Glad you enjoyed it, Adelaide – just wondered how you came upon my A to Z as I see you are not participating yourself…
I remember well the ‘plein’ in Gouda; we were there during a summer festival, and it was packed with people. Lovely cheese. And aren’t those windmills amazing! Enjoy your holiday, Andrew.
I visited Gouda for work in about 2008 with a colleague, we went to measure up for a potential staircase job – there was no market the days we were there so the ‘plein’ was very empty – memorably so. We shall go back there today – checkout of Airbnb is at 11 and we don’t need to be at the ferry till 4.30…
one of the things about this bloghop (among the throngs of more traditional Grat ‘hops) is the presence of mind of travelers to not only record (their adventures) but add the kind of insight into the places that makes this the next best thing to being there.
very cool
Grat #7!! thanks for that*
*in the reality of the Wakefield Doctrine, your picture is providing a perfect example of a smile characteristic of one of the three personality types! ty
Thanks, Clark, Not much point taking and sharing pictures without saying what inspired you to take them, lol
Thank you for sharing your vacation with us. It’s too bad that more people weren’t interested in listening to the museum docent; it is the little tidbits of information that guides share that add insight and interest to a visit!
I love to strike up conversations with people who are often ignored – checkout staff etc.