Exploring Utrecht

This weekend we headed to Utrecht for a day of exploring on Saturday and to Ikea in Delft to pick out a new piece of furniture!

Firstly, Saturday morning saw us in the bank for some admin. We wanted to apply for a credit card linked to Justin’s account. They wouldn’t give us one when we opened the account because they wanted a payslip. Now that he has two we are hoping our chances will be better, will have to wait and see. We also found out about insurance.

In SA you wouldn’t go to your bank for household insurance but here they seem to do it all in but the insurance seems to work differently. There are two main types of insurance, basic and all risk. Basic covers things that come from outside e.g. fire, flood and theft and all risk covers things that come from outside but also accidents that can happen on the inside. We had to get all risk because otherwise our bicycles standing in the foyer downstairs would not be covered, which is a bit strange. Also, our goods are only covered when they are in the house. So when our bicycles are in the city they are not covered ditto with laptop etc. which I find quite strange. In SA your laptop is covered whether it is at home or in the boot of your car or on your back etc. So not sure how we should insure our things for when they are not at home. You can take out separate insurance for a bicycle to cover it wherever it is but it just seems a little strange. Anyway. We now have all risk insurance and third party insurance for ourselves.

After bank admin we headed to Utrecht to explore! From the main train station we headed through the city centre and shopping area in the direction of the Domkerk or Cathedral. In the Domplein, or church square, there was some kind of celebrations on the go. We are not quite sure what it was all about but it might have been linked with the 375th birthday of Utrecht University. There were horse and carriages of all shapes and sizes in the plein and people wearing traditional style clothes. There was also live music giving it a festive air.

Bron popped her head into the Dom while Justin soaked up the atmosphere in the square and took photo’s. The Dom is quite a large church with almost gothic arches and only a few stained glass windows. Decoration of the church is minimalistic but tasteful and elegant. I really liked this church. The Domtoren and the Dom are separated since the nave connecting them was destroyed by a hurricane in 1674 and the Domtoren has stood on its own ever since.

There are quite a few canals in Utrecht but not as many as in Amsterdam. We took a walk down the nieuwegracht, round passed the 19th century observatory called Sonnenborgh, passed the almshouses, and up the oude gracht back to the Dom and the city centre. The horse drawn carriages passed by when we were walking down the nieuwegracht conjuring romantic images of the old Utrecht. We also passed the Dick Bruna House Museum. He created the favourite Dutch children’s character, the rabbit called Miffy. We didn’t go into any of the many museums in Utrecht but rather focussed on exploring the town.

Utrecht is a beautiful old student town. The city has a different feel to it than Rotterdam. It feels very vibey, kind of like Amsterdam, but it is way more relaxed than Amsterdam. All in all it was a great day out and we look forward to visiting Utrecht again, hopefully on a sunny day!

Justin’s cricket game was cancelled this week so we had Sunday to ourselves this weekend which was nice. After church we headed to the Ikea in Delft to finally pick out a cd rack/display cabinet/TV stand. The Ikea is designed as different rooms in a house to display the available products and give decorating ideas. There are also sections like kitchen ware, storage units from cabinets to plastic boxes, lighting etc. Most of the products are also mix n match so you can design your own final product to suit your storage requirements and available space. We had fun putting together our own cabinet with two doors, two drawers, glass shelves and top lighting. The cabinet is also low enough to fit in our apartment with the skew walls, lol, and to function as a TV stand when Justin finally gets his dream flat screen TV ;~) We had fun collecting the bits n pieces for our cabinet in the self-help section of the storehouse and also picked up another square bookshelf like the two we had bought before. And then we arranged for all 80 kg to be delivered to our place tomorrow. Will post pics when it is all assembled! =)

We have also enjoyed trying out the different Swedish food treats available at Ikea. Favourites include Swedish flat bread, chocolate Daim and salmon! This week we picked out a few different goodies to try such as biscuits, puddings, roasted onion and crackers.

And so concludes the weekend. All members of the maritime division of Justin’s company convene at the main office in Nijmegen twice a year for a group business meeting and dinner. The first one for this year is on Tuesday this week. Other plans are cricket on Thursday and/or Sunday. Otherwise no fixed plans for the week, other than finding a job ;~)

Thursday this week is Ascension Day so it is a public holiday and Justin’s office takes forced leave on Friday (because apparently it is easier that way) so we have a long weekend next weekend. Pentecost later in June is also a public holiday and so is the Monday, second Pentecost day. Interesting that Ascension Day and Pentecost are public holidays here but not Good Friday. Weird. Ideas for the long weekend include exploring The Hague, going to the beach either at Hellevoetsluis or Hoek van Holland and cycling along the canal from our house to Schiedam.

Hope you are all well and had a good weekend! Please leave us comments, we love hearing from you!!

x

The Oude gracht

The Almshouses

Canal

The Domtoren

Inside the Dom

Horse and carriages

Canal bikes!

Bridge over a canal decorated with colourful crochet work

Around the city

I want to ride my bicycle! I want to ride my bike!

My omafiets arrived on Tuesday! YAY! =)

The bicycle was delivered to the door and arrived in a beeg box. Some assembly was required, however, no instructions were included. Hm mm. The Dutch must be born knowing all things bike related. Fortunately the assembly wasn’t too difficult but took a bit of time and two hours later it was all ready. Thank you my amazing husband!  =)

The only thing that was still required was to pump up the tires. Bron tracked down a pump on Wednesday morning but was being a bit doff and couldn’t work out how to use it. Again, no instructions. She was pretty bleak as she was keen to go for a ride! Fortunately her awesome husband got it all sorted in the evening and they went out for their first ride together =)

We rode along the canal near our house down to the Erasmus bridge on the edge of the city and around the park. Was very cool. Rotterdam is very pretty and green at the moment (I am hesitant to say in the summer since it isn’t feeling very summery right now!). The sun is only setting at about 9:30pm at the moment and it is great to ride around in the evening. The city is very organised with bike lanes on most roads and usually on both sides of the road. Cyclists also have right of way generally. The robots, sorry traffic lights!, also all have pedestrian and cyclist lights. Very organised!

Today Bron went out on her own but took a tumble and has two grazed knees and a very sore shoulder! It’s been ages since I’ve been on a bike and feel a bit unstable. Think I need a red L on the back of my bike! The guy that bumped into me stopped though and came back to help me and see if I was ok.

Today it has been very windy and has been raining quite a bit and quite hard since the afternoon. Feels like real Cape Town weather! Even though we have lived in CT for more than ten years rain in Spring/Summer still feels right. Although I have a feeling that rain is normal all year round here....

Justin’s cricket game has been cancelled this week so we have a free weekend. The plan is to check out Utrecht on Saturday, church on Sunday and then pick out a cd rack/display cabinet from Ikea in Delft on Sunday afternoon.

Hope you are all well and have a good weekend!

x

The beeg box!

What's in it?

The bits 'n pieces

The assembly! Front wheel...

...pedals...

...and the all important bell!

The finished product

Baking, batting and bicycles

This week saw the first batch of biscuits to be baked in our new home, an improvement in Justin’s batting performance and an investigation into acquiring Dutch bicycles!

Baking in this country is no mean feat! Finding the required ingredients and equipment has proved challenging. Firstly, we don’t have a proper oven, only a convection microwave. I have a healthy distrust for microwaves and was not very excited that it is the only option if I want to do any baking. And it is so small! Our normal baking trays from home don’t fit inside so I had to get new ones. Considering this is how many people cook in the Netherlands you would think you would be able to find a flat baking sheet that fits into a microwave, not in Rotterdam! I finally got some when I was visiting my sister in London, a bit far to go for baking trays!

That settled, next was to find all the ingredients. I managed to find everything easily enough except for bicarbonate of soda, none of the supermarkets had it! After searching every supermarket I came across, I eventually found it in a small non-descript mostly Indian ‘supermarket’. Yay! I was so excited. I think it was a bit over-priced but it wasn’t a time to be fussy. There isn’t a lot of options on most things in the supermarkets here, except maybe beer ;~) You can get pre-mixes for bread and pancakes but not really for cakes or muffins and not as wide a range either, only one or two brands available per product. It can a bit frustrating when you are used to a choice and are looking for something specific. I am hoping to still find a little baking shop tucked away somewhere that has cool stuff in it!

Final ingredient in hand, I rushed home and started baking!! After working out how to use the ’oven’ part of the microwave, the final product turned out ok. The biscuits taste a little different to how they did when I made them in SA; not better or worse, just different. With a little practice I think the little microwave oven will work out ok =) I don’t think I will be able to make rusks or anything fancy in it but it will do for plain biscuits, milk tarts and casseroles etc. The people in Justin’s office have already ‘ordered’ milk tarts for his birthday! Although, I am not sure how I am going to make them as I only have one round dish and can’t find any of the round foil ones in the shops *sigh* The next challenge! Or I might just make square ones, lol.

On Saturday we headed out to Megabike to investigate Dutch bicycles! Dutch bikes are a bit different to the bicycles we are used to. Cycling is a mode of transport here and so bicycles are designed for comfort and not speed. They call them ‘city bikes’. You sit upright on them and they are not particularly fast. Other important features are there is a cover over the chain to prevent it from getting dirty and also covers over the tops of the wheels to prevent your jacket getting dirty, important in the winter time! City bikes generally don’t have many gears, if they have gears at all, and they are also designed to carry some baggage. Over the back wheel is generally a rack where you can hang a double bag over the sides and there is space in the front for a basket. There is also a built -in lock that locks the back wheel in place, a bell and a stand. It’s been years since I’ve been on a bicycle and felt very unstable during a test ride!

After looking around a bit we decided to buy a bike Bron had seen on special on the internet. We ordered an ‘Omafiets’! An Omafiets generally doesn’t have any gears (so only one gear, the one it’s in!) and you backpedal for the brakes. Something I have to get used to! The frame is also a bit different to a normal ladies bike, more curved rather than straight. The bike we ordered also has front brakes and a rack in the front for a basket. Basically, the more options you want the more expensive the bike. However, bike theft in Rotterdam (and Amsterdam) is quite real and we were advised not to buy an expensive bike. The saying goes to spend more on the lock than the bike! Delivery is 2-3 working days so we are expecting the bike to arrive tomorrow or Wednesday. Will add some pics next time. Looking forward to cycling around and getting to know the city but also nervous of getting lost! Will have to learn some of the local road rules before I head out. Watch this space!

Yesterday, Sunday, Justin played his third cricket game of the season. His team batted first and things were not looking good when the top order crumbled and the score was 4/3, 17/4 and ~30/5. However the middle and lower order made a good come back and they ended on 224/9 after 40 overs. Justin’s batting performance improved dramatically this week and he made 24 runs, not out, batting at number 10. I thought the game would be over quickly when the opposing team made about 50 runs in the first 5 overs but apparently it became a nail biter and was close at the end with the winning runs made in the final over of the game with one wicket in hand. Justin had one wicket caught behind and made a great dive catch. His first 3 overs were a bit expensive but the other 5 were better. Overall his bowling figures were 41/1 after 8 overs, 24 runs coming off the first 3 overs. Unfortunately they lost the game but at least it was close and they weren’t all out. Bron braved the miserable howling wind to watch most of the game and got a few snaps of the man in action!

Otherwise, the weather was a bit poor last week. It was cloudy with some rain just about every day and the wind was blowing the whole week! It’s like living in Cape Town ;~) Saturday was a lovely day though, warm with no wind. But yesterday the clouds and wind were back and today is still very windy. Hoping the summer weather will arrive on schedule with June next week!

No real plans this week except the delivery of the Omafiets and Justin’s cricket game on Sunday. We are keen to explore Utrecht so might head out there this Saturday. We also need to get back to Ikea at some point to get a CD rack/display unit. We’ll get there. Next weekend is a long weekend so might be a good time, also post-pay day, lol.

Hope yours is a goodie!

x

First batch of biscuits being baked! Note the apron from the Guinness Warehouse in Dublin! 

Pic of the Omafiets off the website

Justin batting

Justin bowling

Kom naar de Molens

This weekend we were practising our Don Quixote moves and went windmill hunting!!

Kinderdijk is a village in Alblasserwaard in South Holland about 15km East of Rotterdam and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. There are 19 windmills here, the original function of which was to pump water out of the Alblasserwaard Polder to reduce the risk of flooding. The mills are still functional but modern equipment has since equipment taken over the job of pumping the water. All but two or three of the 19 windmills were running over the weekend.

The windmills at Kinderdijk operate on the Archimedes’ screw principle and have two main architectural designs. There are round windmills and those with a hexagonal base; both kinds have a thatched top. There is one hollow-post mill which uses a water wheel to scoop water from the lower dijk into the higher river which takes the water away. Hollow-post mills has a very different architecture to Archimedes’ screw mills. The one at Kinderdijk is painted black and looks a bit spider-like. This windmill burnt down in the 1990’s and has since been rebuilt.

Considering Kinderdijk is not that far from us, it took quite long to get there! It took about two hours for us to get to Kinderdijk which included a 45 min wait for bus number 90… For a popular tourist attraction you would think they would have a bus that goes there more often than once an hour! We thought there would be more activities on being National Windmill Day and all but apart from the one windmill that is always open for tourists only one other windmill was open, black hollow-post mill.

From far away windmills look slow and lethargic but up close they actually move quite fast! It was quite cool being up close to the hollow-post mill. It seems obvious but the speed of the sails is directly related to the wind speed and the speed of the water wheel is directly related to the speed of the sails. It was quite fun to watch how the sails and wheel sped up or slowed down when the wind was gusting or being calm (a bit science-nerdy, I know!).

You don’t quite realise how big the sails are until you are standing what feels like almost underneath the mill. It is actually quite dangerous at the speeds they are going. The direction of the wind on Saturday meant that you had to walk around the mill on the water side to get inside. They had cordoned off the unsafe areas around the mill but it was still pretty scary walking past the sails on the safe side! Don Quixote must have been very brave to attack windmills in operation with only his lance!

It was really kewl being able to go inside the hollow-post mill and see the wooden mechanism inside. Windmills are actually quite noisy. The cloth of the sails flaps in the wind and the mechanism itself is very creaky which make them feel quite eerie inside. The windmills are made so that the ‘molenaar’ and his family can live inside. I hope they lock the sails into the ‘off’ position at night! I suppose you would get used to the sound.

There isn’t much to see at Kinderdik apart from the windmills, but we really enjoyed walking around the mills and learning more about Dutch heritage. Although the sun was shining, it was quite fresh in the wind but it was nice to be outside for the day. We did see lots of baby ducks though! And families with teenager ducks.

On Sunday Justin played cricket again, the first game of the season for his own side (VOC). They played an away game and lost. Justin’s bowling figures were 1/45 off 8 overs but a catch was dropped during his bowling spell. The opposition made 285/5 after 40 overs and VOC were 191 all out. It’s still early in the season so I’m sure the team will still gel together.

Bron tried out a new church (The Scottish International Church) on Sunday, had a quick stroll through the park (looking different to last time with leafy green trees and no ice in the canals!) and then went to Schiedam in search of more windmills!

There are seven windmills at Schiedam, five of which are located along the bend of a canal. One of these five, De Noord, is famous for being the tallest windmill in the world. The windmills at Schiedam were used to grind wheat into flour and not for pumping water like those at Kinderdijk. They are still functional, although I’m not sure if they are still used for grinding wheat, and five of the six that I saw were working on Sunday.

Only one windmill was open, De Kameel, which looks like it was a new windmill or at least had been moved from somewhere else. It is very roomy inside with about 4 floors before you get to the balcony where the sails are. Each floor has been converted into a conference type room. The bottom floor has a glass floor over a boat that was used for transport in the canals of the city and to distribute flour.

We enjoyed our weekend of being Don Quixote wannabe’s and highly recommend checking out windmills when you visit the Netherlands.

No real plans for this week. Justin is going to Amsterdam for meetings on Tuesday and has a home cricket game on Sunday which Bron might watch some of. We need to go back to Ikea to get a CD rack/display cabinet at some point. Might happen this weekend, might not.

Hope you are all well! Have a good week!

x

Round based windmills at Kinderdijk

Octagonal windmills at Kinderdijk

The famous view if Kinderdijk, the row of mills alongside the canal

The hollow-post mill

Justin eating fried fish

A giant clog! 

Windmills at Schiedam

View of Schiedam windmills from the top of the mill, de Kameel