Saturday, October 22, 2011

Cherie Visits Us in The Netherlands

She's arrived!  We met Cherie at the "Energy Wheel" (human hamster exercise wheel) at Schiphol airport on October 6th.

Whew!  Thank goodness she made it here safely.  How fun for us!

We decided to go somewhere we'd never seen before so we took a little trip to Volendam - a catholic fishing village from the 1700-1800's that has been restored to its former glory.  This little country market sold cheese, eggs, and other local produce.

I love the feeling of stepping back in time to an era several centuries old.  Cherie and her dad stopped to admire some of the old Dutch buildings we saw here.

Being a fishing village, it is obviously located on the water.   
Cherie's new best friend in Holland. 

She was fascinated by the beautiful doors on the houses.

Each had its own personality and beauty.


What a pretty street.  A perfect place to do a little window shopping.

Hey, we make a good looking couple - don't you think?

It was a pretty, clear day and lots of people were out enjoying the sunshine and the ambiance.

Looking across the water we could see Marken Island.

This area of town looked newer than up around the harbor.  The presence of this statue of the Virgin Mary made the area have a definite Catholic feel.

Another pretty house with another pretty door.

Mother and daughter stop for a Nikon moment with the statue.

This was a fun side-trip into a new little piece of Holland.

Our next stop was Marken Island to see another Dutch fishing village - the difference here was that the inhabitants were of the Dutch-reformed religion.  The Klompen factory showed how wooden shoes were made in earlier days before the advent of machinery.

All of the houses on Marken Island are painted the traditional green and white that we see here.

This beautiful black swan was watching over her two babies as they stopped for lunch.

Very picturesque.  This pretty harbor is used mainly for pleasure sailing now, but in earlier days over 100 boats left this shore every morning to earn their livelihood in the fishing trade.

On Friday we drove to Arnhem to the Open Air Museum.  We were greeted by this pretty windmill that was actually operating when we arrived.

Inside a typical Dutch farmhouse.

I love the windmills that have thatched roofing on the sides.

We enjoyed a traditional Dutch pannekoeken lunch.  Cherie's holding up one that had bacon pieces baked into the pancake.  We also tried cheese and apple pannekoeken - they were delicious! 

At the cheese factory we observed the mode of travel that was used to gather the milk cans and bring them into the plant.  Whoever brought this load would need pretty strong leg muscles! 

Even though it is October, the gardens are still lovely.

These were heart shaped.  How cute!
We had a very pleasant day until it started to rain.  Even with our umbrellas we got soaking wet!  We stuck it out until we'd seen all we wanted to see, then we ran back to the car through a parking lot that was a river of rainwater.  We were glad to be back inside the car as we drove to Zoetermeer to attend a session in The Hague temple.  What a perfect way to end the day.  (And a good excuse to get inside, out of the rain.)

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