Blogs from North Brabant, Netherlands, Europe - page 2

Visiting family in the morning is a sure recipe for excellent coffee and rich desserts. A visit with Johan and Carlos in Den Bosch was no different. I had not seen my cousin Johan since he visited us when he was a 12-year old boy, he’s 51 now. We had seen a lot from him and Carlos in Facebook, since they are avid travelers, and it was sure nice to meet up. Marion could not get over their neighbourhood, being near a small canal that runs along people’s backyards filled with a variety of flowers, and kept spotlessly maintained of course. I had visited the Kilsdonkse Molen near Veghel in 2015 and wanted to make sure Marion got to see it. It’s the only operating wind and water mill in the Netherlands and maybe anywhere, and ... read more

In spite of the heat, it was hard to get up this morning. Air conditioning in these parts are rare, since this kind of heat wave normally only lasts for a few days before the rains return. Not this summer. Windows and drapes are kept closed during the day to keep out the heat, then opened at night to get fresh and colder air back in. There are no insect screens here, so when the windows are open at night, we keep the lights low, or off, to keep away the few mosquitos they have here. The one or two that do get by our defences can be annoying though as you hear them buzzing around your naked skin. Our plan today was to stay in air-conditioned places like museums. We started off at the Nuenen ... read more

We just learned that the city of Tilburg, a mere 12 km from my home town of Vught, now has the largest summer fair in the country. It also happens that today is Rose (pronounced “rozz” Maandag, or what we might call Rainbow Monday. This is an event everyone talks about so we headed there today. We were not disappointed, it’s quite the show. Not only is the fair spread out all over the downtown area, we saw some pretty sick rides that I’m no longer ready to embark on. And of course the gay and lesbian communities put on quite the show, with all being dressed in various shades of pink (called rose in Dutch). The lavender fields on the Vughtse Heide are not yet in bloom, maybe another week. We’ll have to go back! ... read more

We must still be somewhat jet lagged. I slept until 10am today. Today we went to market, on 18 Septemberplein, named after the day Eindhoven was liberated by the Canadians. By all accounts, this mid-week market is a small one. Usually the Saturday markets are larger. Yet we found many interesting things, like several cheese stands, fish stands, vegetable & fruit stands, and many textile stands. Also a McDonalds of course, who charge only €0.30 for a pee. Sellers scream out their wares to attract the attention of the many passersby. Not having had lunch and Marion needing her regular meals, we tried some of the Kibbeling, everyone’s favourite here by the looks of it. Kibbeling is chunks of cod tongues deep fried to perfection, with a side of tartar sauce. No fries, no veggies, just ... read more

One hour before we were supposed to leave to catch our bus to Montreal International Airport, we got an email from KLM that our flight was cancelled, no reason given. Say what? Luckily there appeared to be some options, so we ended up changing to Air France (same company), but the plane would leave an hour earlier, we’d have to fly through Paris, and would arrive in Amsterdam about 2 hours later. At least that was better than waiting until the following day. We could have been a bit pressed for time at Montreal but luckily we’re able to catch an earlier bus. As we got on the plane, I realized there are different kinds of people when it comes to personal hygiene. Person A practices good hygiene and will realize when others don’t. Person B ... read more