sherrys

This morning we woke to a light frost. It was below zero overnight, and that hits you after 5 weeks of warm sunshine. The bags were packed, they were overweight, so some careful rearranging will take place in our hotel room before we go to the airport on Friday. I jettisoned some books, alcohol, and like a boxer weight cutting before a bout, I think we will make it. Tim and Natalia had to go into their respective offices this morning ( so they do really work ) , so we dropped Natalia off, Tim unloaded us at the station, and continued on. The traffic is a slow crawl in the morning, and this is the norm. So I can only assume that we have a sister city thing with Luxembourg, and a study group of ... read more

The good news is that I tested for negative for Covid. The bad news is that I feel worse than some people do when they get Covid. This morning was a lazy, late start, and after breakfast, Tim, Sue, and I went for a walk in a nature reserve located at the outskirts of ESch. We walked on dirt tracks through old beech forests, the trees that traditionally grow in this area. The forest was also heavily wooded with oak trees, with acorns lining the paths, and the large leaves reflecting bright green light as they started to turn for autumn. It was a warm morning for this time of the year and thankfully the trees offered welcome shade for most of the journey. A farm occupies most of the walk, and cattle grids mark the ... read more

This morning was a crisp, early start, and after a few free coffees from the hotel we slept in, Natalia drove us to Kinderdyjk, a cluster of 19 traditional windmills that has been preserved for tourist and cultural reasons. The complex offers a boat ride/ mill inspection guided tour for a small ransom, so we opted to walk along the tarred tracks that line the banks of the canal. Once again we have been blessed with unseasonal sunshine, as we dodged speeding cyclists, broke through large groups of old, and I mean old old, tourists travelling on the super long Viking Cruises Barge docked nearby. It was like stepping back in time, and some of the windmills dated back to the early 15th century. Modern windmills are electric powered and while they don’t have the smooth ... read more

This morning I was up early to catch the morning light. It was a soft pale blue fading into a pastel pink. Two guys were craning a long timber boat onto the slipway opposite us, and pretty soon were scraping and power cleaning the hull before lowering it back into its mooring. An hour later and the lake was glistening. The water mirrors the shoreline, as large black birds glide across the sky, occasionally swooping downwards towards the water. The only sound is the young T-shirt clad workman getting an early start across the lake, and the hum of our refrigerator. Looking around our compact house, I’ve noticed subtle differences between the lights and furniture compared to home, and while we all might go to IKEA, and like their products or not, here we are virtually ... read more

Today we are driving to the land of channels and dykes, The Netherlands. I buried my head in some online courses and podcasts on the way here, as until you get close to the Netherlands , it’s all pretty much the same as what we’ve seen in France. The drive took 4 hours, including a toilet/ snacks break at a Service Station. The system with the toilets is practical. You pay 80 cents at a turnstile , receive a receipt and the green light, and when you return to the shop, your receipt is a discount card for any purchases. No pulling in for a Free-Wee; its a pretty fair system. The landscape is covered with corn crops, and the usual low lying green salad crops, but extensive glass houses are also prevalent due to the ... read more