Morning commute

8:00 am - as I cycled out of the center of Delft this morning, I could hear a nice carillon in the aptly named Oude Kerk (Old Church).  It's so old, in fact, that it's leaning left by a couple of meters.  Luckily the clock and the bells still work!

This lovely stretch runs next to a canal connecting Delft with the outskirts of The Hague.
I usually see a heron perched along the side in the grass, or on a wooden pole.  Today there were two rowers.

At the end of the canal, passing beneath the highway, I found the heron I was looking for, or did I?  This doesn't look like the other herons I saw earlier this week.  Can someone identify this bird (Dad?)

8:25 - I've reached the outskirts of The Hague, and I've got miles to go before I work.  I do like all the clock towers though...

A fountain in the middle of a traffic circle, of sorts...

It's hard to ask for directions in a city with such long street names, but the buildings are beautiful (see below too).  That man is riding on the wrong side of the bike path, and yes, without a helmet, as all the Dutch do (except in our family).

The space in this building is for rent (Te Huur). Look at the beautiful details around the windows...

Biking along the

8:50 - Uh oh,  I guess I got distracted by all those ads for political parties.  The Dutch elections are September 12th.  Can you count the number of political parties represented on that billboard?

9 am - Now I'm getting close.  The
World Forum is the convention
center.  Now we know we're in the Hague - note the flags which always provide backdrop to any news shot about anything remotely having to do with the Hague.

9:09 - Phew - I have arrived. I'm ready to sit down with my coffee and begin.  In case you are wondering, when not snapping pictures, that morning commute is down to 53 minutes, with a little effort and some strengthening leg muscles

Milestones

TRANSFORMATION

 Erzo's bearded vacation look.  Like the vacation, it too
had to come to an end.....

At Frans' request, Erzo first shaved to a goatee.  But if you think your kids are ignoring you, you might be right.  Neither Frans nor Rose noticed Erzo's goateed look.

The mustache seemed a little too stern...

Ahhhh, there's Erzo once more!

INDEPENDENCE

Rose ready to head to the store to get milk and cereal (all by herself).
Definitely not something she can do in Hanover where we have to drive for everything!

Success!

BIRTHDAYS AND OLD (YOUNG) FRIENDS

Ellen with Katia on a day trip to Brugge (or Bruges) Belgium, celebrating "that which shall not be named."  We had a lovely time with Katia, Sergei, Sasha and Andrei, who were visiting Belgium.

Postcards & confessions

 POSTCARDS from France....

Erzo's birthday present was a trip to Chateau La Tour de By in Bordeaux

A dramatic sky over the vineyards & the "Tour" in "Tour de By"

Mt. Saint Michel in the background - where we spent the night...

On the beach near Bordeaux - if you look closely you'll see some serious waves in the background for the surfers.  Luckily, there were some slightly smaller ones nearby for us to play in all afternoon.

We also failed to take pictures in the city of Bordeaux, a truly elegant city I highly recommend.  Unfortunately, we visited for only one evening, just long enough to eat --- which brings me to

CONFESSIONS...

I don't like French cuisine....not even a little...

Let's be clear - I love France, where the landscape, the cities and the people are so beautiful.  I'll return any time I get the chance.  The bakeries are mouthwatering, and the people watching is mesmerizing, so it'd be worth a trip just for these.  But I might pack a lunch... and dinner.

While driving through France, we treated ourselves to dinner out several times .  We had some beautifully prepared and presented meals.  More impressive, the kids tried everything put in front of them, and Frans declared every last bit of it "good".  We knew from prior trips to France that escargot and frog legs were not a huge hit for us (the Dutch term for frog legs translate as the unappealing "little frog butts"...), and so we skipped these and sought out new dishes.  But try as I might, I could not work up enthusiasm over my salad plate without greens.  Instead, picture corn kernels in gelatinous aspic.

Julia Child makes it all look so appetizing, and I am first to the table for profiteroles, crepes or the savory french pies and pastries that turned up as hors-d'ouevres.  But I must admit, I was longing for some simple pasta and sauce, or just a leafy green or two...  Or perhaps if one could just eat breakfast all day and wine and cheese for dinner...:)

A boy, a pond, and his dream...

Frans announced, the first day in France, "I want to build a hut that floats on the pond."  Ans, worried he would be disappointed by the likely outcome of such an ambitious project said, "but that's impossible."  Thanks to his tenacity, and a lot of help from Han, who happens to be a civil engineer (with a chainsaw) Frans' floating hut was enjoyed by all.

Han & Frans tying the sticks, while Renze and Douwe stand by to help.

Rose at the ready with a water gun in case someone got too hot!

Success (Frans is inside the hut, adjusting)...

Oma, Opa, grandchildren, and a lovely view of Vollore Montagne

The English - French - Dutch connection...

Here you can see Frans, Rose and cousins Renze & Douwe on top of Puy de Dome, an inactive volcano in the Auvergne region of France.  Sorry to have a gap in pictures, but those will come later when we dig out the camera cord to download again.  Our time in France was another period of language confusion as we spoke our usual mix of English (for my benefit) and Dutch while staying with Ans & Han at the edge of Vollore Montagne/Vollore Ville in a part of France that we sometime describe as forgotten, though very beautiful.  This makes for fine hiking, excellent berry picking, and complete relaxation, with the possible exception of the vertigo-inducing, narrow and winding roads.

One unique aspect of the Auvergne region is that this is a vacation destination for French, a few Dutch and virtually no English speakers.  Thus, one is forced to practice French.  This somehow did not prepare me to visit the bakery and appropriately order one of the 20 different types of French baguette which all have different shapes but taste exactly the same (non- ce n'est pas la meme chose, pas du tout!)

I must confess that my MANY years of French from years ago was no match for globalization.  How does one properly ask to ride "le surf-bike" pronounced "le serfff beeek"?  And what about Nestle's ice cream novelty treat, called "COOKIE"? Americans may know this as a Drumstick.  Is this Le Coooooookeeeeee or La Ceuky?  What about internet (a cognate in French), is this masculine or feminine? Though people seemed to understand my French questions just fine, I could never ask about these American impostors (posted clearly on all the signs) without getting blank stares. None of these words were in my high school and college text books, and Voltaire certainly did not cover them in his writing.

And of course, then when we returned home from an afternoon struggling with French, the conversation returned to Dutch.  In efforts to communicate with my 8 year old nephews in Dutch, I ended up asking baffling questions like "Douwe how is it going with all your rusting? (I had confused the word rust with cough) After each of these mistaken questions, my nephews would simply stare, puzzled, wondering what the right response was.  Eventually, Douwe developed the one-size-fits all response "Geen Idee! or (I have) no idea!"