The Oldest Town in Holland

This past weekend saw us back in the Irish pub for more rugby but we also headed out to Dordrecht to for some exploring!

Dordrecht is the oldest town in Holland and was the most important harbour and commercial town of the region in the 1500s before Rotterdam overtook it. Dordrecht is only 15 min from Rotterdam by train so on Sunday we went to check it out!

As it turns out not much happens in Dordrecht on a Sunday! We only got there after 12pm but everything was very much closed and nobody was around. It was quite strange, lol. Rotterdam is very vibey even on a Sunday so it was quite different. The old city centre is quite a small part of the town and is easily covered on foot. There are many beautiful old buildings, similar to those we saw in Brugges. We wandered around and found the old harbour area complete with old-school boats. We also saw the old city gate or Groothoofdspoort which is near the harbour area. One of the main sights to see is the Grote Kerk. The church is huge and built in the gothic style. It has many beautiful stained glass windows in quite a modern style. After a coffee break we headed back to Rotterdam for a quiet afternoon at home =)

In other news our oak tree Leif has survived the winter and is growing again! When Dad Blake visited us in Cape Town over Easter in 2009, we visited the wine farm Vergelegen and he picked up some acorns. We planted the one he gave us and it grew! So we have a little oak tree and we named him Leif =) He grew really fast during his first Summer but not too much during his second Summer last year. When we left SA to come to the Netherlands, Leif went to live with Bron’s Dad. When we skyped recently he showed us Leif and we were surprised at how much he has grown! He has new leaves and looks like he is making his first side branch! It is fun and rewarding to watch green things grow =) Thanks for looking after Leif for us Dad!

And finally our SA tax returns are done and sorted! After being a student all these years Bron was registered as a SARS tax payer the year she leaves the country, sigh. So now I have to do a SA tax return every year forever. Efiling is the easiest way to do your tax but try registering from overseas when you no longer have a South African address, phone number or bank account! But we got it right and completed the tax return on time. We were surprised at how fast SARS were at processing our returns; Justin’s was done in two days and Bron’s in less than a day! You can always trust the receiver of revenue to be organised hey. Wish home affairs was the same…

On Thursday Bron is going to Scheveningen for a departmental day on the beach. Hope it doesn’t rain! Thursday is also ‘Prinsjesdag’or the opening of the Dutch parliament by the Queen. Saturday is supposed to be a nice day so we are planning to go to Hoge Veluwe, a national park near Arnhem. See the next blog for more info!

Hope you have a good week!

x

Some interesting art next to the train timetable

Some of the old buildings

Town hall

The Grote Kerk

Enjoying the view at one of the yacht basins

Some more old architecture and a funky bridge

Groothoofdspoort

It wouldn't be the Netherlands without them...