When I am at my parents place, my dad and me have this wonderful tradition of always trying to squeeze in a short day trip to Groningen, a city in the north of Holland, about 1 hour drive from where my parents live. I have very early childhood memories of fantastic days spent in that city based on some shopping, watching the laissez-faire lifestyle of the dutch people and enjoying a dinner at a chinese restaurante. Somehow nothing of that has ever changed much...
I guess living on one of these boats looks far more romantic than it actually is but I love sneeking a look here and there, trying to find out what kind of people would lead such a life. And I am telling you, there are much more romantic boats than the ones I can show you here, we just didn't see any that day. Imagine a beautiful container garden on a boat roof...
One of the very early tradition of our dutch day trips is eating some "Hollandse Nieuwe" (mild, salty herrings), sorry, yes it looks rather gross, especially if you eat that fish the traditional style, hold it up and "suck" it in... but seriously, if you like fish, it tastes great!
Anyway, one of my favourite activities in Holland is to discover pretty and interesting bikes. This time I only spent about half an hour taking pictures of bikes and this is what I found:
Isn't it just fantastic? So much love for a bike!
This time I fell especially in love with the front carriere style of those bikes, the baskets, and boxes and the strong carriere itself and I really wanted one like that for my grandfathers bike. And, I was very, very lucky and found one in a second-hand store for very cheep and like new. I was dancing through the streets!
This time I fell especially in love with the front carriere style of those bikes, the baskets, and boxes and the strong carriere itself and I really wanted one like that for my grandfathers bike. And, I was very, very lucky and found one in a second-hand store for very cheep and like new. I was dancing through the streets!
(I fixed it to my bike in our bed room because it was raining outside...)
Now I just have to find a nice basket to go with it...
I also bought a typical dutch style front kids seat but I want to attache that to a ladys bike,I am too scared to ride that mens bike with Aaron on it. I can't get on and off fast enough.
Maybe a little inspired by our trip to Holland I dyed some more yarn with easter egg dyes, only this time I used tablets for hot water instead of cold, turns out the colors are MUCH stronger and vibrant. I was kind of shocked to see my yarn turn alarmingly yellow and orange. Now I call it my dutch Oranje yarn since orange is the national color of Holland ;-)
Well, after the first shock I did have an idea what to use it for. I will show you on Wednesday for Yarn Along. Hope to see you there!
oh gesche! hee hee, couldn't be helped, i love this post! i love that you had such special time with your dad and good memories. and i love holland, all those houseboats, i wonder too. when i was there i was nervous about photographing them. they defintely are romantic looking and so cool.
AntwortenLöscheni like the fish, it looks delicious. but the thing i love the most are the bikes! i have a love affair with them too. again, in holland i looked at each one! i love what you've photographed, and i'm really happy for you that you found the child seat and basket.
i meant to ask you, have you been to NYC? there are many great bikes there too.
i'm so looking forward to what you are going to do with that lovely yarn!
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Hey, Lori, when have you been to Holland? I hope you wil come again one day so you or me can jump over the border quickly and we meet up!!! I would love, love, love to go to NYC but I have never been there yet, nowhere in the US in fact. I have been all over Canada though, which was great too, but not very many bikes ;-)
AntwortenLöschenOh yes, I did feel a little shy about taking pictures of those boats and tried to do it as invisible as possibly. I even felt shy about the bikes, as if I was taking pictures of something very privat, maybe because thats what they seemed to be indeed.
Looks like you had a great time in Holland. I am so looking forward to June, when the official haring season begins. You are right, it is a strange thing to eat, but I just love it. And supposedly it is also very healthy.
AntwortenLöschenAs for the bikes, I will definitely get one of the bakfietsen one day. I guess I will go for a second hand one though, the new ones are more than 1000 Euro!
Love the yarn, just in time for Queens Day next week :)
which one is the bakfietsen? The one with the huge front? I wonder how much they are second hand?
LöschenAre you celebrating Queens Day any special, like dying rivers orange or sth? ;-)
Wahnsinn, diese Fahrräder! :D Ich freue mich auch schon sehr wenn ich wieder in einem weniger Auto dominierten Land radeln kann... Und ich glaub, nach Holland muss ich auch noch mal. Liebe Grüße, Barbara
AntwortenLöschenDas glaube ich dir SOFORT!
LöschenOh, Gesche, ich war schon soooo lange nicht mehr in Holland. Das war richtig schön, jetzt von dir mit auf eine kleine Tour genommen zu werden. Ich habe mich früher ja immer über die kleinen Häuschen gewundert, aber die Räder und Kanäle, die waren kaum als besonders wahrgenommen, weil sie einfach immer und überall zu sehen waren. Ich bin sogar auf den Kanälen Schlittschuh gelaufen. Ja, Holland hat seinen Charme, aber früher war es mir einfach zu klein. Jetzt wüsste ich dieses familäre Ambiente mehr zu schätzen.
AntwortenLöschenKennst du eigentlich auch den Emmer Dierenpark? Da war ich früher mindestens einmal im Monat und ich habe noch nie einen besseren Zoo gesehen. (Ich war auch noch nicht in sooo vielen...) und in Ter Apel haben wir immer Diesel getankt und eingekauft. Lustig, die Erinnerung kommt gerade voll hoch. Wir sind auch ganz oft mit der Fietse über die Grenze gefahren... Schade, dass mein altes Hollandrad entsorgt wurde.
P.S.: Das Garn ist ja nu mal wirklich orange! Schock. Aber du machst daraus bestimmt ganz was fröhliches für deinen putzigen Sohn, oder?
Enim Sou.