Netherlands to Germany and Then Home

Driving to Germany

Our last week in Doesburg was pretty quiet due to my catching John's cold virus and the weather was not great either so we kind of took it easy and rested up for our little trip to Germany.  On Saturday morning, in the rain, we picked up a rental car in Arnhem.  I carefully printed out a lot of Google map instructions to get us where we were going in Germany but we did not have a real map.  The one given to us by the car rental agency was written for eyes with built in magnifying glasses and it had no details.  So, off we went towards Zeven in northern Germany east of Bremen.  We did o.k. with very few wrong turns and arrived at the Ringhotel Paulsen in Zeven where John's genealogist friend and his wife live.  They do not speak much English, John's German is a bit rusty so we were glad that their daughter, Hella,  was there to help us out with translations.  They picked us up at the hotel that evening and we took them to dinner in a nice country gasthaus where we had a delicious schnitzel dinner and good conversation.

Typical north German architecture

The Ringhotel Paulsen was very nice and the owners/operators were 7th generation at the hotel.  We stayed two nights and enjoyed two very hearty German buffet breakfasts there.  In case you haven't had a German breakfast, it consists of rolls and breads, cold meats, cheeses, smoked salmon, musli, jams, Nutella (of course), juice and coffee.  Also they had scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage.  You really don't need lunch after one of these breakfasts.

On Sunday we visited our friends at their home and discussed genealogy - Germans who went to Missouri from this particular area of Germany and particularly to Concordia where John was born and Cole Camp where John's mother came from.  John and his friend Ewald have been collaborating for many years on this subject.

Late in the afternoon, they took us to a charming cafe in the country where we had the most fantastic cake you can imagine - full of whipped cream and other yummy ingredients.  I wondered how much cream they use per day in their small cafe and Hella found out for me that it is about 30 liters.

On Monday morning we drove over to another village about 30 minutes from there to visit John's German cousins in Grasburg. We also stopped at the Lutheran church there where many Schnakenberg's have been members.  Several members of the family gathered at the ancestral farm and we had a nice visit - showed them some pictures of Mexico and enjoyed coffee and German pastries.  One of the cousins speaks fairly good English and she helped the conversation along.

Monday evening we drove to the outskirts of Bremen in the village of Borgfeldt where we had reservations in a country small hotel.  It turned out to have a very nice restaurant where I had a delicious dinner of brisket with a mushroom sauce and John had a schnitzel that was so big it was falling off the plate.  They had their own micro-brewery so we tried some of that and it really hit the spot.

Amsterdam Centraal Station

So now it is Tuesday and we have arrived in Amsterdam at the Airport Hotel.  We found our way here quite easily with our Google map directions.  We checked in and then returned the rental car at the airport and from there took the train into central Amsterdam where we took a combination bus tour around town followed by a boat tour on the canals.  The bus tour wasn't much but the canal tour was very nice.  The weather was actually decent with the sun poking out every once in a while.  Before heading back to the hotel we ate in a pizza joint near the train station and it was o.k. but not great.  However, the beer was cold and good.

Amsterdam was buzzing with activity, people, buses, trams, boats and BICYCLES.  It is incredible to see the bikes everywhere.  On the tour they said that there are over a million bicycles in the city - more bikes than people.  It is a little tricky walked because you have to watch out for cars, bikes, trams and busses when you cross the street - kind of scary for the uninitiated.

Our plane leaves at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow afternoon so we can have a good night's sleep and a leisurely breakfast and take our time to prepare for the 10 hour flight to Mexico City and then bus ride to home sweet home.

We've made some great memories from this epic home exchange extravaganza but 8 weeks is a very long time to be away.  We enjoyed all of it - all the exchanges were successful but we have to say that we enjoyed France the most - even though we didn't speak the language.  The weather, the house, the area, the wine, the people - it was special.  Scotland was interesting and we stayed in a very nice house but the weather was kind of depressing and the driving difficult.  Doesburg and Holland were interesting and we enjoyed it but again, the weather leaves much to be desired and both of us coming down with colds kind of put a damper on our activities. We didn't get around as much as we had hoped there.

Now we will enjoy San Miguel for about 3 1/2 months before our next travel adventure which is to be a month in Buenos Aires, Argentina in January.  I guess I will have to do another Blog.

PICTURES OF ZEVEN AND GRASBURG

PICTURES OF AMSTERDAM

Bronkhorst and Deventer

Here are the picture links which I forgot to post at the end of the Blog - so this is the update:

BRONKHORST

DEVENTER

John was not up to going to Delft on Sunday but felt that we could do something close by - and the sun was shining brightly!  So, we decided on the little city of Bronkhorst - said to be the smallest city in Holland (170 inhabitants). It is a very short distance from Doesburg - if we were cyclists - we could have pedaled there.  There wasn't much to do - just a few shops, a chapel with an art exhibition, a little Dickens museum and some cafes.  But it was a nice little walk through the town and a little different architecture to admire.  Just outside of Bronkhorst we found an operating windmill and stopped to take a look.  They continue to grind various grains on a regular basis and sell the flour.  However, I believe the man said they only operate on Saturday - I guess Sunday was just for the tourists.

Windmill near Bronkhorst

Back in Doesburg, we decided to have lunch at De Waag.  John ordered ravioli while I decided to try their hamburger accompanied by a glass or two of Warsteiner (German beer).  I suppose we could have tried a local brew but we'll do that another day.  We also order one small bowl of Mustard Soup - it was very unusual - I didn't care for it much but we finished it - not high up on our list of favorites. The hamburger was interesting but very different from what we are used to.  It tasted like meatloaf and had a fried egg on top - good, but not really a hamburger to me.  The fries, however, were outstanding - crinkle cut, thin and crispy - too delicious with mayo for dipping!  I don't want to think about the calories (so I won't) but at least, I ate the hamburger and left the bun behind.  As mentioned in a previous blog post, this building is the oldest continuously operating public space in Holland.  John enjoyed his ravioli.  

De Waag hamburger

Monday, we thought about a trip to Delft or the Kroller Museum but when I check into hours, etc. for various options, it turned out that Monday is kind of a day off from tourism.  All the museums seem to be closed on Mondays and we noticed that shops don't open until after lunch on Mondays.  But the day was again sunny so we chose a little journey to Deventer - not too far from here - about a 45 minutes drive.  

Deventer is another medieval Hanseatic city on the Ijssel.  We had no trouble finding it as the signage and street markings in Holland are excellent.  And, traffic is not bad either.  Even  the narrower 2 lane roads have a nice shoulder so that you can pull over to let someone pass.  

In Deventer, we crossed the bridge into the city and immediately went on to a ring road and found a parking lot at the edge of the old city.  In fact, it was right next to the big gothic church:  Lebuinskerk - Protestant and originally started by a missionary monk from England - Lebuinius in the 8th century.  The current church is enormous and grand with a beautiful main organ and a smaller one at the other end of the nave.  The aisles on both sides of the nave are extra wide.  The windows are huge and let in lots of light making this much lighter inside than most large churches we've visited.  We were lucky to find this church open because the other big church in town is closed on Mondays.  We took in the whole church with its old paintings on the walls and monument markers for those buried under the church from very early times.  There was the usual  gift shop near the entrance with books, postcards, etc. as well as honey cake.  We needed some coins to put more money in the parking lot machine so we bought a honey cake.  This type of cake has been made in Deventer for 500 years.  The purpose of using honey was so that the cakes could be taken on sea voyages without spoiling.  We haven't tried it yet - we'll let you know how it is later.  

Side Aisle of the church

From the church we headed out to the rest of the city center with its large plazas and many pedestrian streets.  It was lunch time so we selected a nice looking restaurant - all the tables and chairs were outside on the street.  It was interesting to see all the customers sitting at their tables facing directly into the sun and none of the umbrellas were open.  We arranged our chairs just the opposite since we normally try to avoid getting too much sun but we can certainly understand why the Dutch need to grab all the sun they find - especially on a cool but brilliant sunny day like today.  

Our waiter spoke a little English so gave us some assistance in translating the menu.  I did not need help because I spotted Caesar salade met kip - Caesar salad with chicken - one of my favorites.  John ordered something which we were not sure of but it turned out to be a sausage and a fritter made of mashed potatoes and  ground meat (maybe) along with french fries and mayonnaise.  The Dutch put mayo on the fries instead of Ketchup.  My salad, however, was a big surprise because it was nothing like Caesar salad as I know it.  The only similarity was the lettuce.  It was delicious but here is what was in it besides the lettuce:  pineapple chunks, tomatoes, walnuts, pine nuts, black and green olives, really, really tiny croutons, pieces of chicken breast which had been cooked in curry seasoning and finally - a light balsamic vinaigrette   It was accompanied by a slice of dark, very fresh and tasty bread.  

Caesar Salad?

Now fortified, we continued our stroll through the city.  The old weigh house (De Waag) is now a museum (but being Monday, closed).  On the outside of the building there is a large copper kettle hanging.  It is said that it was from the 1400's and a man was punished for counterfeiting by being cooked in the kettle. A bit extreme, wouldn't you say?  The building, however, dates from the 16th century.  

All-in-all we spent a pleasant few hours visiting Deventer. 

We haven't decided what we are going to do today - weather is not like yesterday.  John's cold is still hanging on.  I may be catching it - bummer.