Daytrippin'

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Terribly sorry to have put a hold on the blogging for the past couple days: we've been exploring our surrounding areas. I guess I'll start from the beginning. Oh jeez!

The day before yesterday, the day started off much like any other, however Monty and Alysia had make-up classes. Because of this, we couldn't leave from Well to do anything until around 3 o'clock. However, we made up the time easily. We each bought dagkaarten (day passes): this time, the bus driver actually spoke English! We headed out to a little town we had passed by the day previous, called Arcen. We nicknamed it "Cute Town". Upon arriving, we realized how hungry we were. We popped into a Bakkerij, and purchased vlaai, coffee, and other such refreshments. As though we had built-in antennas, Gabe and I immediately spotted a quaint hat shop. We tried on Indiana Jones style hats, cloches, etc. I bought a small bag I can wear across my shoulders, and then we continued our walk through Arcen. We toured the nearby castle and gardens, walked along the water, and entered various shops before agreeing that there really wasn't a lot of stuff to really DO. We hopped the bus to Venlo, because Monty had missed out the night before, and soon were disappointed to see that lots of shops were closed. We had forgotten about the weird hours that stores in the area had. However, seeing as we were all becoming hungry, we ducked into a little Italian restaurant, Portafino, and enjoyed pasta, Gnocchi, wine, and risotto. We returned to Well after the meal, quite satisfied, and went to bed early, so we could get up at a reasonable time.

Apparently, "early" for us was at some point after 10 o'clock. Nevertheless, after breakfast at Bakkerij Smits, a stop at Spar for beverages, and a stop at Alles Donder Een Dag for Strippenkaart (kind of like a day pass), we boarded the bus to Nijmegen. It's a more metropolitan area than either Venlo or Arcen, but still has room for greenery. We had apparently decided to go to the place on a good day, because there was a HUGE street market fair going on, which allowed us to experience a lot of local flavor and color. We decided right off the bat, to take our time. We first stopped at an old bookstore, that had books in Dutch and English. It was so fascinating that we couldn't help but spend at least an hour browsing. Across the street, lo and behold, was ANOTHER hat shop! With even MORE hats! We spent just enough time in the store to try on about 15 hats each, we saw in the distance a gigantic structure that looked something like a church or a town hall. Whatever it was, it was absolutely beautiful. We walked until we could see the entrance, which was wedged in between two buildings. It was St. Steven's Kerk (church), and we were right in assuming that it was huge. We went inside, and were delighted to see that it was free to just wander around inside. We couldn't take pictures, but I just couldn't resist sneaking the picture you see of the organ, for dad. It has 3600 pipes, and was built by Ludwig König from Cologne, Germany, in 1776. We were actually treated to a sampling of it. W-O-W.

After taking a tour of the burial vault beneath the church, which included patrons buried nearly 600 years ago, we journeyed into the open market. Gabe, Alysia and I bought watches, and the lot of us bought food. I tried Worsten Broodje, which is a sausage baked inside a flaky crust, and Kaas Broodje (cheese bread). So good! We happened upon ruins from the 12th century shortly after, and spent hours meandering around, taking pictures of the Charlemagnian Church, and the overlook from one of the still functional castles. The rest of the evening brought kaas, chorizo, and jalapeno sandwiches at a tiny cafe, a long bus ride back to Well, and late-night milkshakes at De Ster. We part ways, and went to sleep after a long, and whirlwind tour of our surroundings.

Next weekend, Alysia, Kelsey and I are visiting her friends Jan and Yvonne from Breda, which is north west of us here down south. We'll probably day trip to Amsterdam, so expect lots of pretty pictures 😊.

Lots o' love,

T

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Photos

The Town of Arcen
Cute, quaint, and quiet!

At the hatshop
So debonair!

Kasteel Arcen
Not as cool as our castle, but still nice!

Dutch Door
Parents, this is for you!

Reading
At the bookstore in Nijmegen

Behold
A WINDMILL!!!!

St. Stevenskerk
The first glimpse of the church.

Another Dutch Door
This time with an American Student.

The König Organ
It's even more beautiful in person!

The Marketplace
And view of the church, now in the distance

The Ruins
Of what, I'm not sure.