A Day in the Dutch Country with Hans and Ida

We were picked up at the hotel in the morning by Hans Bolland, my father's father's brother.  The plan for today was to go back to his house in Maarn, south of Amsterdam, visit with he and his wife, then explore some Dutch countryside.


On our way to Maarn, we got off the highway a little early to take the scenic route, which included a brief stop in Nieuwersluis, a small town situated on the river Vecht.  We parked by a school, I think, that apparently makes their own children at play signs.

With very sneaky parking enforcement.

The town had very nice, well groomed, small houses.  There was also a lot of patriotism, but more local.  The house above has a Dutch pendant flying, but above the door you can see the coat of arms for Utrecht, the province we were in, on the left and the coat of arms of Amsterdam on the right.


Just across the Vecht from where we parked was a beautiful and marvelously decorated building with heraldry and royal lettering on its facades.  A second, more elaborate building lay behind a gate and guardhouse.  I took a picture, for surely we had stumbled upon some sort of countryside palace that Hans had meant to show us.

Hans saw me taking the above picture and informed me it was a women's prison.

We continued driving along the Vecht and enjoyed the remainder of the small town, which consisted mostly of large estates right on the river, almost all of which had small houses paired to them on the property.  This was a very popular area for the wealthy to settle, being a reasonable distance from Amsterdam, which is accessible via the Vecht as well as by car.  The smaller houses on the property are tea houses, used basically for afternoon tea or maybe guests.  Two of the more moderate examples of the beautiful homes are above and below.

We arrived at Hans's home where we met Ida.  We'd all met before, but it had been many years since they last came to California to visit my grandparents.  They have a beautiful home in Maarn with an equally beautiful garden in their backyard.

After catching up with news from family in the States as well as each other over nice, strong European coffee, we enjoyed a Dutch lunch.  We were presented with a nice spread of breads, cheeses, some meat, and a variety of spreads.


After lunch we headed out.  Our first stop was the Keizerlijk Huis in Doorn.  This palace was used by exiled Keizer Wilhelm III after WWI.  It is still owned by the House of Oranje, but they have not used it as a residence since the Keizer moved in.

On our way to our next destination we stopped upon sighting a windmill in action.  Most of the windmills in the Netherlands are only operated sporadically by volunteers as a hobby more than a business.  Commercial windmills exist, but they are generally not the same variety as the historical landmarks that come to mind when you think of Dutch windmills.

This windmill, in Coathen de Ruolen, was called the "Oog Int Zeil" and was built in 1869.  Hans and Ida pose in front of it above.  Below, the molenaar (miller) is working the mill and explaining its operation to my parents.  As the wind turns the mill, he has to manually adjust the height of the grinding stone to produce meal of the proper fineness, depending on what it is he is grinding.  The grinding stones are located on the level above that seen in this picture.

Going out on the balcony around the mill afforded a beautiful view of the town, including this church.

Finally, we reached our destination: Wijk bij Duurstede.  This town includes the very small harbor seen below that was a key harbor for the Roman empire in the Netherlands.

As you walk from the harbor into the town you cross through this water gate.  As a reminder of the low altitude of the country, if the water level of the river rises too high, this gate could be closed to seal water out at this wall and hopefully protect the town from a disastrous flood.  Nowadays, the inland water level is controlled by locks and dykes on the coast.

Like many of the towns I've seen on this trip, this one also had a main shopping street.  Read the sign carefully and you'll see that the Sicilians have apparently settled here, too, although I'm disappointed to report that I was not able to test the authenticity of their claim.  To me, the best Sicilians in northern Europe still reside in Helsingør, Denmark.

The church below is the largest in the town, and has an obviously unusual bell tower.  Apparently, a strong storm did away with the traditional steeple of the tower and it has never been rebuilt.  The church is beautiful and quite large, but the interior is very plain.  Dutch protestants did a number on it, I think.

However, the interior did have some uniqueness.  When we first walked in there were some men, apparently sound technicians, setting up and tuning an electric organ and grand piano at the front of the church.  About 15 minutes after we entered the man below started going to town on the organ.  Ida informed us that it was the famous dutch pianist Jan Vayne, who, we learned after speaking to his "posse", was giving at the church in the evening.

Parked in front of the church as we left was this giant Buick Skylark with matching paisley velour interior and a Bakersfield, California licensplate poking out from under the European tag that had been mounted over it.  Our suspicions were confirmed that this was indeed Jan Vayne's car.  The artist collects Skylarks.  Why, I do not know.

We headed back to Doorn to have dinner at Happy Garden, a chinese restaurant Hans and Ida enjoy.

We returned to their home in Maarn for coffee and dessert before being driven back to our hotel in Amsterdam.

Today was great being able to see some less touristy parts of the Netherlands away from the masses of people in Amsterdam.  It was also a great opportunity to see some of the family on my dad's side with have always been so far away.