Month: April 2019

18th April 2019 – 22nd April 2019

Now we would never have gone to the town of Urk if it wasn’t for meeting a friend of David’s. Gert-jan supplies seafood to businesses all over Europe and this is how David and Gert-jan paths crossed over 20 years ago. David had promised to visit when we were anywhere near Urk and we were and so we did. Wow, what a beautiful little town, we stayed right on the marina which we always love as it is a continually moving picture all the time. There is always something going on. Urk was a former island with more that 20,000 people and a huge fishing fleet. The picturesque town, mazes, small alleys (ginkies) with houses all unique to each other, pretty squares, decorations and the best fish and chips we have tasted on this trip. We met Gert-jan in the late afternoon and he took us on a personal tour around the town. What was so lovely, that everybody seems to know each other, stopping to say hello and having a chat. We learnt that Urk is a thriving town with no unemployment due to huge fish processing businesses together with the marina, which is the centre for the large fishing boat repairs. We were also so lucky to step onto an original oak fishing boat, that had been in the same family for three generations. It is such a beautiful piece of workmanship and the current owner was happy to tell us all about it. We went inside the cabin area and the gorgeous smell of the wood and oil, took you back in time. On the quay there was a group of men sitting watching the world go by, eating freshly cooked smoked salmon, which they had cooked themselves in their burner. Of course we had to try it and it was delicious. We spent the evening with Gert-jan eating wonderful tapas and enjoying the lovely company. We parted promising to visit hopefully on our way back in July. We were up early (for us) the next day as David had been having trouble with a crown tooth and Gert-jan had kindly made David an appointment at the dentist. What I was more worried about though, was when the appointment was made, they said bring cash ! Gert-jan had shown us the dentist the day before and my God, did it look plush and so when the bring cash was relaid I began to worry. We cycled to the dentist, which resembled a mansion, set in the most luxurious of gardens, into the reception and duly planted our bums on the most expensive leather chairs I have ever sat on ! David was promptly called in and I got my purse out and started counting our cash. I thought was €220 enough ? 20 minutes later tooth fixed and to our utter relief a cost of €60, cheaper than at home. We might get all our dental work done in Urk from now on. We cycled back to the town via the bike shop to purchase a nice sheepskin seatcover for my bum as it is suffering from all the miles it has been covering. To celebrate the dentist’s reasonable cost and on Gert-jan’s recommendation we enjoyed delicious fish and chips in the most fantastic fish delicatessen. My Dad would have absolutely loved to see all the smoked eels, mackerel and herrings. The fresh fish display made our mouths water, together with the homemade fish dishes that were available to buy. I know I sound like an old record, but I wish we had this back in the U.K. Anyway, we left with pickled herrings and a pot of delicious and very fattening cocktail of prawns and crab.

We left Urk the next day, passing all the amazing tulip fields and oh my they are stunning. I was in complete and utter awe, just beautiful. If you love flowers, try to get to this part of the world one day because it is breathe taking.

Next stop was Leeuwarden, basing ourselves just outside with views of the canel in a little boat yard. It was fascinating, the boats are stored in little wooden garages on the water. It was Easter weekend and we cycled into the town on Saturday, enjoyed a healthy fruit smoothie each, meandered around the shops and took a leisurely cycle back again. The sheepskin seat cover has been worth every penny, my bum has been saved. Easter Sunday saw a flurry of motor cruisers on the canal in a day of perfect sunshine. We departed the next day, stopping for one night near Veendam, right in the middle of a forest with a beautiful lake which Chloe absolutely loved running round. Poor David didn’t love it so much though, as he has been suffering badly with hay fever and staying right in the middle of a forest with trees bursting into life wasn’t the greatest of ideas. Next stop a city we think, with no trees !

11th April 2019 – 17th April 2019

First stop after waking up in France was to buy a pillow as I had left mine behind. Not a good start but could have been worse. We then made our way to our first destination Antwerp. I have probably mentioned before that being in a Motorhome it is not easy to park near any big cities, therefore we headed to Brasschaat a beautiful upmarket town where we could catch a bus into Antwerp. However, when we arrived at a stop over, entry was barred by red tape and barriers. Motorhomes were parked and when I asked, there was a weekend Belgian Motorhome Rally and basically no room at the inn. Luckily we were allowed in to stay overnight as it was quite late, but had to leave the next morning when all the motorhomes were arriving. That completely ruined plans to visit Antwerp as there was no other safe parking nearby. New plans were swiftly made, the famous Bloemencorso 2019 or Flower Parade was taking place at the weekend and it was on route. We found a perfect place to stay near Haarlem. The lovely owners told us roughly when and what time the parade would be passing that afternoon near where we were staying. We had visited the famous Keukenhof Gardens last year and when the parade weekend is on, the whole area attracts thousands of visitors. The procession consists of about twenty floats and over forty luxurious and special vehicles richly decorated with flowers. Several bands play within the procession to give it a real carnival atmosphere. As the parade was not until the afternoon we cycled into Haarlem in the morning. A beautiful city which has several museums including The Teylers Museum which is the oldest in The Netherlands. We love The Netherlands, the people, the architecture, stylish gardens, their love of everything cycling and the houseboats which David and I swooned over. In the afternoon we headed off to Bennebroek with the procession passing according to the owner of the site at approx 4pm. We cycled like mad thinking we would be late; we arrive with my heart pounding to find all very, very quiet. Had we missed it ? David then finds out that the procession will not be passing until 6pm. So, what do we do, curse the owner of the site and then start cycling towards the procession as we did know the route. We met two nice Russians on the way, also looking for the procession and then we start seeing more and more people. We catch up to the procession at Hilleom. To say I was knackered is an understatement. The procession started to arrive 15 minutes later and it was so amazing. The designs, the flowers, oh the flowers and the beautiful smell. How did they grow them all and the time it must take to put the designs together, it was just fantastic. Poor David on the other hand was standing back and continually sneezing from all the pollen. He must love me. The brass bands gave it such a carnival feel. Although the weather was bitterly cold, people were out on the streets with table and chairs, food and drink and enjoying the festivities. By the time we had cycled back to the van we had cycled 30 miles and my legs knew it ! So, what do we do the next day, we cycle some more. On the Sunday all the floats are displayed in Haarlem and as if I didn’t have enough we cycle into the city once again. It was so, so worth it and I said to David ‘A day for the memory book’ It was lovely to see the floats close up, all the detail and even more beautiful smells. There was street entertainment, food stalls and musicians and although it was really busy, the whole area just had such a lovely carnival feel to it. We ate our first herrings and they were delicious, drunk the most expensive coffee and cake on our whole adventure to date, getting us prepared for Norway !

After resting my legs for a day, we caught the bus and train into Amsterdam. This was David’s third visit and my first. Like any large city it was busy and as we had left Chloe behind we knew we had to do a whistle stop tour. We boarded a tour boat that took us around the city’s canals which gave us a great flavour of the city. An hour later we headed on foot to the old town. A beautiful lunch outside overlooking the canal, how do they make a simple sandwich taste so good?. We watched and laughed at a group of young people with glazed eyes and legs that didn’t seem to take them in the direction they wanted to go and belly laughing. It was so funny to watch and obviously they had made use of the all that Amsterdam has on offer. Cities like Amsterdam need a full weekend to immerse yourselves and it’s on the growing list of cities we hope to return to. After 5 nights we headed off to the town Urk.

10th April 2019

We are still alive and back for another adventure or Part 4 ! Where has the time gone since we last updated our Blog. Well, we arrived back in the UK at the end of December just in time for Christmas. My Mum greeted us with a complete look of shock on her face when she opened the door, as she was expecting us the following day ! Luckily, the spare room was free and we all disembarked with mountains of washing. I think Mum must feel like it is my student days again. It was lovely to be home, to spend Christmas with loved ones. The previous Christmas we spent in Portugal and it’s not the same. Don’t get me wrong, walking on the beach on Christmas Day and the sunshine is gorgeous, but most people who we have met along the way do seem to fly back to the U.K. for Christmas. For us this is not an option as we have Chloe. Hence the drive back, but we also had a special birthday to celebrate and boarded a plane for the first time in two years at the end of January to celebrate David’s Sister 50th in Fueurteventura. We saw quite afew Motorhomes when we were there, mainly surfers enjoying the freedom and the waves.

Our destination for this trip is Norway. Therefore we decided against leaving too early as it’s no fun when it is cold and wet in a Motorhome. We are travelling through The Netherlands stopping at Antwerp, Amsterdam, Urk. Heading through the top of Germany into Denmark and Sweden. Finally we will then get into Norway. We are so excited to see this amazing Country, the scenery, the wild camping and the herrings ! I read that we should take a fishing rod to catch our dinner, something that David wasn’t too keen on. However, after some congealing we visited a fishing tackle shop and kitted ourselves out. Rod, Reel, Line and weights purchased, we are ready to go. We have never fished before, but we are going to give it a go. So, with the van MOT and service complete, haircuts, dentists, food shop, visit to the vets for Chloe we are off again to make ‘Once in a Lifetime’ memories.