Change of Scenery

And now for something completely different...

It's hard to believe that 48 hours ago I was leaving Amsterdam, and today I'm in Utah. It's time for the 11th Annual Red Rocks Classic for Porsche 914 owners & fans. This year it is Escalante, Utah. Our route from Flagstaff took us through Monument Valley and into the Red Rock country on the North side of Lake Powell. This is some of the most amazing country I've ever seen.

To get to those views, this is what we had to climb. If you look closely, you can see a car at the point of the switchback.

We met up with the other 914 nuts in Torrey, UT for lunch. Then drove to Escalante through some more great scenery (and twisty roads) that included Aspens at 9300 feet elevation.

Searching for Ancestors

I've been posting for this trip in the order that we've done things so that it helps me remember later, but today was our last full day in the Netherlands so this one is in "real time" and I'll go back to completing the travelogue when I can.

Today we set out for Echteld - the area near Tiel where the DeHoogh's came from. Linda's brother, Ron, provided us with the address of the church where their great-great-great grandfather and grandmother are buried. Although we had visited this church years ago, we had not found a single deHoogh grave - and no wonder - their gravestone is the only deHoogh in the entire cemetery.

Today we were successful, but it is one of the gravestones that you have to work very hard to read. Here is a photo from an online grave location site (http://www.online-begraafplaatsen.nl/graf/109666/171076/Jerphaas-de-HOOGH-1795-1876)

The names are Jerphaas de Hoogh and Dirkje van Deest.

The stone has a lot more lichen on it now and is even harder to read. It was a challenge to get a readable image using the natural light which was available, but here's what I managed to get.

I'll have to see if some additional manipulation with photo software can make it more readable, but at least we know where it is.

We took the long way home, winding our way on secondary roads through small towns and past farms. It was nice to "linger" a bit instead of racing by on the A roads. This evening we were invited to dinner by our wonderful host, Jannie Visser.

So now begins the bittersweet task of packing for tomorrow's departure. If only putting it off would also put off the schedule for the plane trip. I'm not ready.

Files Are Not Our Friends

In America we have "traffic jams" - in the Netherlands we have "files" (pronounced feel-ah). A file is what started our day on Friday as we set out for a big circle from Zevenhuizen to Hattem, Staphorst/Rouveen, Hoorn, then returning to Zevenhuizen. The file near Utrecht meant that it took an hour longer than we anticipated to reach Hattem. It even included waiting for a drawbridge. Thankfully, our car came with a navigation system, but it would  be great if we could understand the announcements (in Dutch) on the radio that tell us where and how long the files are.

The Nederlands BakkerijMuseum in Hattem shows how commercial baking in the Netherlands has changed over time. Baking is a special interest because Linda bakes and because my grandfather was a baker in Utrecht before he came to the U.S.A.

 Like the sign says - "Bread is Life" - but man cannot live by bread alone, he needs toasters so he can have toasted bread (with butter and hagelslag).

Staphorst is a very traditional town. Although things have change a lot in just the few years since we've visited, it is still a town where women wear traditional outfits. We happened to arrive at the local toy store just when the church bells started ringing. We were able to witness a traditional funeral as the mourners walked from the church to the cemetary.

Stegeman's in Rouveen is always a favorite place to stop. It is chock full of fabric, but they specialize in the fabrics for the traditional dress of the area.

To reach Schouten Handwerken in Hoorn required driving across the Houtribdijk, which crosses the middle of what used to be the Zuider Zee. After the morning "file", we were running late and arrived at the shop at 5:25 (they close at 5:30). Paul and his son Wilbert welcomed us none the less, and insisted that we stay and shop. Paul is 84 years old and remembers well the experiences of World War II and being liberated. He's expresses his thanks to Americans who weren't even born yet for the role that "Ike's soldiers" played in liberating the Netherlands.

Schouten's is on a wonderful pedestrian shopping street. In all the excitement of getting to the shop so late, I forgot to take a photo until we were well down the street. If you look carefully, you can see the Pfaff sewing machine sign on the right side.

Everyday seems to have at least one unusual car that we encounter on the road. Today's was this Citroen DS.

The drive home included this spectacular sunset.

Amsterdam

Wednesday was the day to head back to Amsterdam. We wanted to visit Den Haan & Wagenmakers (a maker of reproduction Dutch fabrics called chintzes) and to see the newly rennovated Rijksmuseum. We park at the Arena Park & Ride, then take the #54 Metro into the city and walk around the city the rest of the day

Walking down Kalverstraat - one of the main shopping streets.

It's All About Sweater Weather - you'd think they were knitters!

Apparently it was the designated day to bring out your old sofas.

Inside and outside of Den Haan & Wagenmakers. You could hardly find the building because it was covered by scaffolding & netting for the painters. We were admiring their workmanship, which I think they found amusing, but when they asked where we were from we learned that one of them had visited the Grand Canyon just a few years ago.

Lunch was a Broodje Berts' - a place so small, that the tables are across the street, but wow - what a lunch!

Here are a few random shots from our walk around Amsterdam.

The last photo in that sequence is the Rijksmuseum - a huge place that features Dutch art from hundreds of years back. We saw "The Night Watch", but I forgot to take a photo. My emphasis was on this collection which is right nearby in the "Gallery of Honor". They are by Pieter deHooch - who is somehow related to Linda.

Of course, it is required that you get your picture taken at the Iamsterdam sign (I think there is a fine if you don't or they toss you in a canal or some other unpleasant thing happens).

As you can see, "everyone" gets their photo taken at the sign!