26th Anniversary Celebration

Ed and I will celebrate our 26th wedding anniversary on the 30th of this month so we went on a quick getaway to Galena for the weekend. It was sooooooooooooooooo cold! -13 degrees! We had a great weekend regardless of the weather. Ed was a good husband and heated up the car and dropped me off at the door so I wouldn't freeze my toes. We stayed at a victorian mansion built in the 1880's called the Cloran. We would highly recommend it, the owners were gracious and the breakfast was the best!!!

We had some wonderful meals, not particularly in line with my attempt at healthy eating these days but I guess it could have been worse!


Of course there was a quilt, bead, and yarn store in the agenda!!!! Phat Quarters Quilt Shop was very nice, had a great selection of fabrics and patterns and a nice and helpful staff. The more I move and travel, the more I appreciate kindness and helpfulness in stores!!! Galena Bead is a very fun store. Nicely layed out, fun owners and staff and they have a great selection of beads and supplies. My other favorite store in Galena has to be the yarn store. Though I don't knit as much as I used to, I still love wonderful yarn and will still answer the call to come into a yarn shop!! Fiber Wild! does not have a web site yet, but said they were working on it. This is a beautiful yarn shop. The owner is very, very friendly and helpful.

On the way back to LeClaire on Sunday we stopped at the Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque. This is really a great museum, very well done! We kind of hurried through it to get home to watch football, but well worth the visit if you are ever in the area!

We had a wonderful weekend in Galena and I really look forward to going back when it is maybe 75 degrees!!!! Thanks Brad for watching Bear and the kitties!

Visit to Mannheim, Germany

A couple of weeks ago we visited our friends Steven, Susan and Jonathan in Burstadt, Germany. They are our long time friends from when we lived in Mannheim. It's always wonderful to see them! Ed and I spent almost 7 years there raising our kids. We have so many wonderful memories. The military community in Mannheim is like a ghost town now, so many young men and women deployed to Iraq. I believe allot of their families have gone back home. I think I would have done the same.
Ed worked at Coleman Barracks in one of the aviation units. He arranged the placement of this Huey helicopter in the front of the installation when he was stationed there and it is still there!!!

Sorry for Not Posting

Sorry for not posting to my blog in a couple of weeks, I've been in major denial. That is usually how I cope with change and stress - denial and lots of carbohydrates! Those of you that have seen my hips know I'm not kidding!!!! Anyway, not a good example for my now grown up children, but I do the best I can. I guess I could have worse coping skills! The big news is that we are headed to the Moline, Illinois area at the end of July. I was hoping for the southeastern United States to be closer to the kids, but Moline is only a couple hour plane ride away or a very, very long days drive.

I was born and raised only about 45 minutes from Moline, and after living all over the world it seems strange to me to be heading "home." I have many bittersweet memories, as I'm sure most people do. It will be wonderful to reconnect with family.

Ed and I have been looking at real estate sites in the Quad Cities area (Moline, Rock Island, Illinois and Davenport, Bettendorf, Iowa) for houses. Housing prices seem to be more affordable than they were in North Carolina. It's hard to tell since we are not checking out the whole neighborhood though. It has always been a dream of mine to have an old house. Now, I know that is a relative term, old to me is 100 years old, I know that is nothing over here in the Netherlands, but that is old enough for me. I love the craftsman style prairie houses of the early 1900's. They have such beautiful wood work in them. I haven't found too many Victorian houses. That's ok, I think I saw too many horror movies that had Victorian houses in them as a kid and I think they are all haunted! Ed is really drawn to brand new homes, which are fine, they definitely have their pluses. I'll let you know who wins!

So it looks like the end of July we will be headed out of here with our three cats. It will be crazy, we will have to buy 2 cars, a house. I don't think Ed will want to ride his bike to work in the States like he does here!

We are planning one last mini trip - "mini" due to the costs of the above paragraph!!! Ed wants to go to Normandy and I want to go see Giverny where Monet lived and then spend a day or two in Paris. Looking forward to it!

It's Been Quite a Week!

Ed has always teased me that the week between Mother's Day and my birthday has always been a week long celebration, but I do have to agree with him this year! He really spoiled me this year! We went away on Mother's Day weekend and stayed in Maastricht Saturday night after seeing Luxembourg and drove around Belgium. We saw Bastogne where the Battle of the Bulge took place and the American cemetery in Luxembourg city. It was nice to see that the cemetery is so beautifully kept but sad to see so many young lives cut short. We also saw the German cemetery and was reminded that they too lost sons and fathers.

We stayed in Maastricht that night on the river and had a wonderful dinner.
The next morning we headed to Tongeren for my favorite thing to do - checking out flea markets!!! Ed found a great painted trunk and lamp made out of an old surveyors tool. I picked up some wooden bowls and some white stoneware potties (yes, I know that's weird.)


Thursday we headed to Amsterdam by train and checked in to our hotel. Kelly, our daughter had arrived in Amsterdam the day before with a group from her church. We met up for lunch and then took a tour of the Van Gogh museum. I think he was my favorite artist. The museum did a great job of displaying how his style progressed over the years of his life. We then went out to dinner with Kelly and then Ed and I headed down to the Red Light District. It was kind of sad actually. I couldn't look the young woman in the eye's. It sickened me to hear men making obscene remarks at them and laughing at them, but most of all I think I'm not happy with my self for going down there.

Friday was totally a fun, fun day!!!! Coffee with one of my daughters, two quilt shops, a bead shop, a canal boat tour, apple pancakes, and two English book shops, need I say more!!!!!!
This is a picture of Den Haan & Wagenmakers in Amsterdam. It is such a beautiful store! It is not a traditional quilt store, but sells mainly the traditional reproduction Dutch fabric that I just adore!!! I learned that the fabric is actually made not to far from Enschede, it would be great to go see it made, hopefully I can figure out how to make that happen.

We got back home Friday night and then Saturday morning, the day of my birthday we headed to Munster, Germany for the first big flea market of their Summer season. It's a great flea market and huge! Needless to say, I took a long nap that afternoon! Saturday night Ed took me out for dinner and boy was I surprised when several people we knew were there waiting to surprise me! I felt very honored and loved this week!!! Thank you honey!

More pictures of Germany

We've had three straight days of rain, I know we need it badly but I am missing the sun so I thought I would post some recent sunny pictures from our trip. We drove through miles and miles of beautiful fields of yellow. I've learned that the fields are actually planted with rapeseed. I had never heard of that before, but I guess it is used to make vegetable oil and is also used in the production of diesel fuel. I'm partial to olive oil, but the rapeseed fields sure are pretty.

Back at Last!

Sorry for the long absence! My sister and her husband were visiting for 2 1/2 weeks and we were traveling much of the time. I also ended up with a cold that turned into a sinus infection so I was not feeling the best. It was wonderful to see my sister Laraine and her husband Gregg. We had a great time, got to see allot and catch up with each other since we saw each other last year.


We spent 5 days in Germany traveling all the Martin Luther sites, Wartburg Castle, Erfurt and Wittenberg. I must say I was quite surprised by how "depressed" the former East Germany still is. I guess it will take some time to restore the old buildings. Regardless, it was amazing to see the places where Martin Luther walked. The museum in Wittenberg was particularly interesting. To see actual items that Martin Luther used and his pulpit that he preached from for 30 years was a highlight. We spent 1 1/2 days in Berlin, not nearly enough time since there is so much to see. We also spent 1/2 day at Buchenwald concentration camp. We hadn't planned on stopping there, but I'm glad we did. It was hard for me to ignore the contrast of such a beautiful spring day with beautiful views and the horrors that happened there 60 years ago.



Later in the week we headed to the tulip fields, Kinderdijk, Delft (and drooled over all the beautiful blue and white dishes!) We then headed up north of Amsterdam to stay the night in a small village. The next day we went to the Zuiderzee Museum and Marken, an old fishing village. It is a little more touristy than I remember it from 12 years ago, but it is still quite charming.

I hope Laraine and Gregg had a wonderful time. I told them they had to go home, because I was exhausted!

Het Stift

Monday morning, (2nd Easter here in the Netherlands) we headed to the flea market in Weerselo. It was very crowded so it was difficult to look at things. There were not many antiques, nothing that really excited me too much, so we didn't stay long. We stopped at this little place in Weerselo that we always say we are going to stop at and never do. I'm so glad we did! Turns out it was a very old convent from the year 1100! Most of the remaining buildings are from the 16th and 17th century due to fires in the 1500's. We ended up having lunch in a converted barn and I had my very favorite Dutch treat, Appelpannekoeken! YUMM! Here is the website, if you are interested - Het Stift.

Paasvuur

Easter evening we went over to our friends house and they had wonderful Dutch Easter goodies for us to eat! We then went to a Paasvuur (Easter Fire!) I had never heard of one of them before. But it is an old custom of long ago of celebrating new life, ridding the area of demons and ensuring fertility. Well, I could go along with the first two, but not the fertility one, maybe I can pass it along to my daughter Kristen ;) I'm teasing, NO I am not ready to be a grandmother!

Anyway, back to the Paasvuur. It was amazing. People had piled trees and brush and lumber at least 3 stories high. At dusk it was lit and we had a huge fire. From what I understand the Paasvuur is especially still held in the eastern part of the Netherlands. With my American mind, all I could think about were lawsuits and how we could never have something like that in the States! It was wonderful. This is the first year in my entire life I don't think I have a chocolate bunny hangover after Easter!!! If interested, here is more information on the Paasvuur.

That's Not Cute!

Ed sent me this picture along with this text from a local TV station:
" FC Twente… (local soccer team) could have sheep on the team and still beat Almelo (another cities soccer team) this weekend"…. These sheep are along Hwy 1 along with a banner saying the same thing!

I know Europeans are crazy for soccer, but leave the poor sheep alone!!! :)

So Cute!!!!

Ed and I went for a drive Saturday to the farming village of Staphorst. It is a little town about 1 1/2 hours west of Enschede. We saw this little fella - isn't he adorable! There is nothing cuter than baby animals! There were lambs, kids? (baby goats), calves and baby horses every few feet along the roads! I'm sure Ed got sick of hearing me say - "OH, MY GOSH! HOW CUTE IS THAT!" I've never eaten a baby animal in my life and I know I will definitely not eat one now! You wouldn't eat lamb chops anymore too Brad, if you had seen the little sweeties!

Staphorst was very quaint. I felt like we were transported back in time!!! Almost every house had a thatched roof and beautiful lace curtains at the windows. The barns were actually attached to the houses so they looked like one huge building. I love animals, but I think that might be a little too close for me. The woman (mostly older woman) still wear the traditional clothing and wooden shoes! Here is a picture of a woman mowing with her John Deere Lawn Mower (the residents are smart too!)











I saw this bike outside of a shop (a quilt shop of course!) and thought what a cool idea! They had crocheted a decorative piece for the wheel, (I have no idea what to call it!) Ed said that the lady had too much time on her hands.

Rome Was Wonderful!

Ed and I got back from Rome a week ago and my ankles are still aching from all the walking we did! It was definitely worth the pain! This was one of the best trips Ed and I have ever had! We flew to Rome on Air Berlin - a charter service out of Germany. I was pretty impressed, our tickets round trip were only 109 Euros! They were actually great flights - I guess if you can call flying great. I think I have flying short distances manageable - I sure still hate those big trips over and back from the States though. I know, get over it!

We got to Rome on Monday, checked into the hotel. We stayed at the Residenza Farnese Hotel, close to Piazza Farnese and Campo dè Fiori. The hotel was originally a palace in the year 1000! In the 19th Century, the palace was bought by the Church and became the seat of the Ecclesiastical Institute for the formation of young new priests. We got a great deal from our new best friend, Carola - our travel agent!

We headed out for a walk and to find a place for lunch. We found a great little restaurant and sat outside - (yeah sun!) The food was wonderful - in fact it was wonderful all week. I have even grown quite fond of expresso! After lunch we headed out walking and were just amazed. Ed had been to Rome for a day several years back, but this was my first trip to Italy, (except for lunch over the border from Austria several years ago - so I don't think that really counted.) I felt like I had been dropped among a movie set. It was difficult to comprehend that this was Rome!

While walking, Ed and I came upon a building with ruins around it. Ed got his map out and said, - hmm, this is the back of the Pantheon! We walked around the front and there it was - just like I had seen in dozens of history books. The mosaic tiles and the domed roof were amazing. I know I keep saying amazing, but if I had one word to sum up Rome, that would be it.

There were liturgical shops everywhere with beautiful robes, crosses, and altar pieces. And of course lots and lots of nuns and priests. I'm not fond of nuns, I've never had a good experience with one. Maybe, I've just met mean ones - I guess they're allowed to be cranky. When I was 13 I wanted to be a candy striper (volunteer at the local Catholic hospital) and I went with my best friend Debbie to interview with the nun in charge of the program. This delightful nun told me, you know Laura, you should lose weight, boys don't like fat girls! When I was in Rome, I wanted so badly to go up to a nun and say - ha! I found a boy that loves me just the way I am!!!!! I told Ed that story and he made me promise I wouldn't accost a nun while in Rome, he wasn't sure he could get me out of jail.

Here is another naughty nun story. Maybe it was me that was naughty! When Ed and I met, I lived in an apartment building that was owned by Catholic nuns. It was a residence for single working women. Well, one night Ed and I were caught necking in the recreation room and I was called in the following day to the head nun's office about our inappropriate behavior. I was told if there was another indiscretion, I would be out! Of course, I totally played innocent, shame on me for not being truthful to a nun! Any way, back to our trip-----------



Monday night we went on a tour of Rome at night. I love city tours at night. The fountains and buildings are so beautiful lit up. We saw the Trivoli fountain, so beautiful. I was severely pestered by a rose carrying conman. These guys hold bouquets of roses and give one to the ladies saying they are a gift and once you grab it - you are expected to pay for it. Well one guy would not leave me alone, he would not take no for an answer. Ed stepped in and yelled at him to leave me alone. The guy bumped Ed, and well, you just don't bump Ed. Ed bumped back a little more forcefully, they exchanged a few words and then the guy finally left. Eddie, my hero!
Tuesday we headed off to the Coliseum and the Roman Forum. I hadn't realized the Forum was so large and had soooooooooooooo many ruins. Yes, amazing. We had another great dinner out. Wednesday we took a bus down to Naples and Pompeii. The port at Naples is so pretty - so blue. Pompeii was much larger than I thought it would be. There were stray dogs sleeping everywhere. They looked like people were taking good care of them, but it still made me sad.
We went on a tour of a cameo factory. Yes, Ed bought me one for our anniversary. It's beautiful!
Thursday we went to the Vatican. Wow! We saw the Vatican museum, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peters Cathedral.



St. Peters Cathedral is beautiful. I have seen some of the most beautiful churches ever built, but my favorite churches are still the small white country churches that you see in the rural United States. I saw the strangest thing at the Vatican. There was this middle aged man with short hair that had twisted the hair on top of his head to form two "devils horns." I thought he was pretty bold walking around the center of Catholicism, maybe a nun had been mean to him when he was a child also!


Friday we took a bus out into the countryside to the Appian Way. So beautiful. We stopped at the catacombs at St. Sebastions Basilica. I actually went down into them! I'm getting brave in my middle age! We had wonderful lunch at a restaurant that use to be the stopping place for travelers on the Appian Way to rest and water their horses. It looked like a dive on the outside, but on the inside it was so charming. Their wine cellar was in one section of the catacombs. We then went on to see the aqueducts and some more of the Appian Way. We ended our stay in Rome with another wonderful meal. The wine was wonderful, though wine and cobblestones streets don't mix well with me!

On trips Ed and I usually ask each other what our favorite thing we saw was. I honestly could not give an opinion this time, the whole trip was my favorite! Click here to see more Rome pictures!

Flea Markets

I love flea markets, especially flea markets in Europe. Most items are very inexpensive - compared to prices in the States. The above picture is from the flea market at Tongeren, Belgium that we went to a few weeks ago. It is about a 3 hour drive south of Enschede. Antique dealers or individuals selling their stuff were lined up along the old streets. It was very cool! They have the sale every Sunday rain or shine. Luckily the day we went it was beautiful! To mark the end of a fun day we had an official Belgian waffle (yummmmmm!)

This was my treasure for the day, an old antique toy horse and an old box made from lit matches!

I Have a Headache

Well the second day of my "quilt winkel" adventure has given me a headache. I started off about noon today amongst pea soup visability. I got the good old Tom Tom out and headed west. I drove about 45 minutes and reached my first stop. The first quilt shop was in someone's house. I tend to be on the shy side, so I am not one to just go up to someone's door and ask - can I look at your quilt stuff?! There were no cars out front, just a teeny little sign - so I kept on driving.

I then drove about 30 minutes to Zutphen. I was looking for the shop Petra Pins The Tom Tom kept telling me to go down one way streets the wrong way or pedestrian zones, so I ended up parking. I had good walking shoes on so I thought what the heck. Well, I walked and walked and walked. I was very dorky and kept looking at the Tom Tom in my purse trying to figure where to go. I could not figure it out. I went into a shop and asked a salesperson if they knew where the address was located. She was very abrupt and said, "No, I do not!" I even bought some cards there! I then went into a coffee shop hoping to find something to raise my blood sugar and help with directions. I evidently did not close the door all the way to the store. This guy starts yelling at me! I didn't do it on purpose. Needless to say, I left quickly (closing the door securely of course!)

At this point, I'm hating life, including my husband for bringing me here (sorry Ed, I still love you.) I had no idea where the car was, just that it was by a canal and a big old church (narrows that down!) I tried again to get some coffee at another cafe and thank you God for having a nice person there! Also, the cafe had the best apple cake I have ever had. The waitress was so nice and helpful. When I was leaving she even walked with me for a block to show me where the store was. Just goes to show you there are nice and nasty people wherever you go.

The quilt shop was wonderful. They have a huge collection of reproduction fabrics. I picked up a few of the traditional chintz Dutch fabrics. They are so beautiful. Too pretty to cut up!

I did manage to find the car. I was thinking boy it would be nice if Ed were here and he could drive! I would definitely be taking a nap!

I then headed off again to my last quilt shop for the day - about 20 minutes away. Again this shop was located in a private home, so I decided not to go in. I know, I'm a chicken. Maybe if someone was with me.

All in all a good day, but like I said, I have a headache!

Yeah Quilt Shops!

I'm so excited! I found a website today that gave all the information for the quilt shops in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany! http://www.miaverhoef.nl/quiltwinkels.html With my limited Dutch and German I have not been very good at tracking finding them. Within an hour of finding the website, I was in the car off to two of them. Ed has flown to the states for a week, so this will keep me busy! I found the first shop ok that was located in Delden. The TomTom makes it pretty much fool proof unless I put the address in wrong. I never did find the second shop I was looking for. I felt like I drove in the country forever. I never did find it. The TomTom said, "You have reached your destination" but I sure didn't look like I was at a quilt shop! Some farm in the middle of the country was more like it. Well, I thought I better get out of there before I got myself into trouble! I love the Dutch countryside so I didn't mind getting lost at all. A woman was walking her two huge draft horses down the road, they were so beautiful. I have another list of shops I want to try and find tomorrow (I better leave my debit card at home!)

Christmas!

Christmas was wonderful! First of all, the kids were here! It was so nice to see them! It was bitter sweet though - cuz it only makes me realize even more that life has definitely changed, and my children are now grown! I am so proud of them, they are all terrific , good and kind human beings. I am very fortunate. I still struggle with what to do with my time these days. I don't see an end to the frequent moving for the next 20 years or so, I will have to adapt. Wow did I just get melancholy, sorry!

Again, Christmas was wonderful! I caught a cold, but that was probably a good thing. It gave me an excuse to stay home and Ed took Krisi and Chris to Amsterdam for a speedy jam packed tour. They were definitely able to cover more ground without me!!! I would have been asking "where's the cab!!!!" We went to Mannheim, Germany to see our good friends, Steven, Susan and Jonathan. It is always wonderful to see them. They are just like family to us! We went to a Christmas market in Strasbourg, France that was very beautiful. On the way back from Mannheim we drove up along the Rein river valley to see the beautiful castles. I think it is more pretty in summer, but it is still awe inspiring in winter!

Christmas is not so commercial in The Netherlands as it is in the states or even in Germany for that matter. It was very nice and understated! I probably gained 5 pounds over the holidays, sampling all the goodies. They have the best spicy goodies here!

Christmas Markets

The Christmas Markets in Europe are so much fun! They definitely put me in the Christmas spirit! There is nothing like walking through a 1000 year old town on a cold December night holding on to a mug of gluhwine (actually kinder punch for me.) The largest market we went to was in Dortmund, Germany. It was huge and very crowded! I think weeknights are the best time to go, but it's not always possible for Ed to get away from work early.

The gluhwine comes in ceramic mugs made especially that year for that cities market. We have a collection from when we lived in Germany in the 90's and I must say they have gotten prettier since then. Of course, there is lots of food: bratwurst, frits and even pasta!

Some markets are more commercial than others. I prefer the smaller ones as they tend to have more handcrafted items.

Brugge, Belgium

Lolajasper

We went to Brugge, Belgium in November. What a beautiful little city. We stayed in an old converted home from the 17th century. And yes, I do think it was haunted, I got very little sleep! Brugge is full of lace, chocolate, beer and beautiful streets. What more could I ask for!

This is some of what we saw:
-We toured several cathedrals (one had an original Michaelangelo sculpture of Mary and Jesus that was beautiful)
-An old brewery that has awesome beer, the tour had hundreds of steps, many that had to be navigated backwards!
-Lace and Chocolate shops of course!
-Chocolate Museum (this was very stupid)
-Canal boat tour (the boat was a little too small and too crowded for my comfort!)
-Several beautiful municipal buildings
-A medieval public hospital

It was quite a full day. We went back to the hotel where we had a 6 course meal! It took 3 1/2 hours! The best part was the dessert, chocolates and coffee! They had a set menu of rabbit, goose liver and eel. I didn't want to be impolite but there was no way I could eat that. I'm pretty much vegetarian these days except for the occasional chicken when nothing else is available. The chef's were very gracious and fixed me some fish which was actually pretty good.

Sunday we left Brugge and headed to the sea. It was quite windy and chilly, but I've always preferred that to the heat of summer on a beach. Plus, no bathing suits! We then drove to Ghent; by this time, my back and feet were in agony so I really didn't appreciate Ghent as much as I probably would have otherwise.

It was a great trip, very romantic and would definitely go back again!

Things I Miss About the States

My kids (that includes you, Christopher!)
My dog and cat
My old house
Laraine, Gregg, Andrew and Lizzie (Not Kujo though!)
Chuck, Kelly, Jenna, Katie & Hampton
SUN
American television
Nascar (I know, I'm a dork)
American medicine
Low fat and non fat foods
Being able to read stuff (signs, books, magazines)
Poptarts (I know, I don't need them!)
Weight Watcher meetings (silly, to put that under Poptarts!)
My favorite stores (A C Moore, Michaels, Barnes and Noble, Hancock Fabrics, JoAnn Fabrics, Target, Hudson Belk)
American radio
Quilt Stores with American Prices
My dentist in Apex
Fall (real Fall)
SUN
Garbage disposals
North Carolina's blue skies
Have I said SUN?
Awesome thunderstorms in North Carolina
Fox News, (Yes, I know, I'm sorry Kelly)
Local News
Reading the newspaper
American grocery stores
North Carolina Barbecue
Being able to tell what I'm buying, i.e. I bought toilet bowl cleaner to use as bleach for clothes!
American beef (I probably have mad cow disease by now)
Have I said SUN?????
Central heating and airconditioning
Country music
A goooooooooooooood hamburger
Manicures and pedicures
Quick dinners in a restaurant
Rice Crispies and marshmallows (So I can make Brad mega Rice Crispie treats)
No bikes (the bikes are ok, I'm just scared I'm going to hit the people on them)
My kids :(

Things I Love About the Netherlands

I get to travel to awesome places
It's nice spending more time with Ed
Windmills
Gorgeous churches
A large majority of people can speak English
The cleanliness of the Netherlands
I get to see Steven, Susan and Jonathan!
Flowers
Cows (They are so beautiful and healthy!)
Thursday nights (the downtown is open until 9 and it is packed!)
The Netherlands farms
Church bells
Markets on Saturday mornings
The Dutch children are darling
Flea markets
Antiques
Dutch traditional fabric
Dutch quilt shops (unfortunately expensive)
European coffee
More time to quilt
I like living on one floor
Wonderful bread
Fun to shop
Sex shops (kidding ;) )
I am walking more and getting more in shape
Slower pace of living, it's not crazy like in the States
The Dutch television channels don't dub their American tv shows like the French and Germans
Channel 211 on the TV (you have to come visit to find out what it is!)
Sundays are very peaceful, nothing is open except restaurants
I love to see 80 year old men and women riding their bikes!
You can sit for hours in a restaurant
No telemarketers (not that I could understand them anyway if they called)
No junk mail

Giethoorn, Netherlands

Lolajasper
Saturday Ed and I headed to Giethoorn, (voted the prettiest village in the Netherlands.) It's about 2 hours Northwest of Enschede. On the way there we saw beautiful farms with the healthiest horses, cows and sheep I've ever seen. So pretty. We've gotten lots of rain lately so everything is bright green. Arrived in Giethoorn and had some lunch. I had my first official "Dutch" pancake, YUMM! We then walked around the old historic part of town. It has canals winding through it with rustic bridges crossing them. Individuals can rent boats to tour the canals. We ended up walking; I thought I would end up in the water if I tried to get in one of those little boats! Next year I will though when I'm in better shape! Giethoorn is a darling town; it's hard to believe anyone actually lives there.