Category Archives: Holland

May 22 – Wednesday

Posted on by

Woke up several times during the night attempting to keep the tent up and dry – kept it up but not dry!

It is the end of the day now as I write this. The kids are in bed –finally after causing problems and not going to bed (their usual routine). We are in a campground not on any list, guide or map. We found it by chance. People that are here are all Dutch pleasant but not very friendly. They just seem to tolerate us Americans. Theresa struck up a friendship with a little boy right away that couldn’t speak english. But they go on fine for a couple of hours. Aren’t kids great! The other 3 were not as fortunate, the spent most of the afternoon fighting and playing. An interesting thing happened in this campground. I started up the Volkswagen so we could use the air pump to pump up the air mattress for the tent. It made a lot of noise. Guess what happened, the camp owner came over and asked us to turn it off and to not make so much noise! So we did.

Making friends

two young children looking at the camera

Had dutch pancakes for dinner made from a mix that Marsha had bought in Gouda. They were heavy but eatable. Campground is out of Gouda on Reejeekee lake. It was hard to find, but a nice spot. We camped under a willow tree.

By the time we got to Gouda this morning the market was over. We missed it by 15 minutes. Roozboom told me market was from 9:30 to 10:30 am but it was from 9 to 10 am and we got there at 10 am. The market square was big and empty. Dad did a good job of telling us what was supposed to happen there. Spent most of the day looking around Gouda. There were a couple of farmers still there; they were selling cheese and a street market was going on. These farmers did not sell to individuals but to wholesalers so we couldn’t buy a wheel. The very old scale house (built 1668) was still in use. In fact they still use the old scale. An interesting array of shops at the market but the most interesting part was the fish! There was fried fish, smoked fish, and raw fish for sale. Lots of herring ready to eat, raw or pickled. To eat the herring, it was dipped in a number of flavorings, onions, spices, etc. The herring was then eaten on the spot. Cheese, cookies, fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, you name it and you could find it.

I can now understand why the Dutch have so many windmills, the wind blows here constantly. Plus it is chilly in Holland it hasn’t been warm since we arrived. Filled the stove tank with lp gas today – finally! Just one more thing to get working and that is the refrigerator. Will probably have to wait until we get to Germany to get it going. Also got the tent up properly today and it looks twice as big.

Goodnight!

May 21 – Tuesday, Time to get to work!

Posted on by

Today, it is time for me to get to Wagengin to start my quest for information on farm made cheese. Only problem is I am one day late, hope they are not upset with me. The family went into Amsterdam for canal boat ride and to tour the Riks Art Museum. We left camp together about 9 am, dropped family off at the trolley stop and I drove down the freeway to Wagengin. Heavy traffic all the way to Utrecht. Everyone drives very fast, no speed limit and no gas shortage but the gas is expensive. It is like driving on the freeways in California except the trucks look bigger and are lot faster the cars are smaller and also faster. Uneventful trip to Wagengen I arrived about 10:30 am and couldn’t find the new building I drove past it 3 times and finally found it when I happened to see the pilot plant. My contact Tineke, was at a meeting and not available until after 1 pm. We had lunch and decided on a program for my (our) farm visits. She and Roozboom had a program all set up for today but had to cancel it when I didn’t show up on Monday. The schedule was rearranged as a result of my being a day late.

Peter Walstra, a dairy chemist that had spent some time at U of MN with Howard Morris was elected by the faculty to some sort of administrative post in the University. Tineke was quite impressed by it all. Also today there was a big party to indtroduce Walstra’s new food chemistry book, which I did not stay to attend. 

I drove back to Amsterdam to the campground with a light sprinkle of rain. It developed into a real rain storm. Marsha and I slept in the tent and the children slept in the camper by themselves for the first time. They didn’t know that it had rained during the night. Marsha and I got rain into the tent during the night. Our sleeping bags got all wet. The tent must not have been put up right plus the wind was really blowing, which didn’t help the problem. We will have to make sure that the tent is put up properly next time we use it!

I was able to talk to Roozboom by telephone and he is busy until next Monday the 27th so we have to find something to do for several days. He suggested that we go see the cheese market in Gouda. We have to be there by 9:30 am to see the market we have to leave camp by 8 am. Do you think that we can make it?

Goodnight.

A change in itinerary and a new tent!

Posted on by

May 20 – Monday

a wheel of cheese with the word holland

I was supposed to be in Wagengen at the agricultural college today, but don’t think that I will make it. We took the advice of the army couple that we met in the last campground and visited Mauradam, the minature city near Den Hague, and Kerkerof the tulip gardens. Both very interesting but a bit late for the tulip gardens but what we did see was interesting and beautiful. We arrived in Amsterdam about 4 pm, went to the wrong campground but it is clean and acceptable. Got lost trying to drive downtown Amsterdam. We finally found downtown just in time to see all the stores close! But we did get a folding table for the camper. 

Met another couple from the U.S. They were parked next to us. They had an orange camper like ours but a 73 model. An interesting couple, they had been touring and camping throughout Europe since august 1973. They are a pair of well-seasoned American tourists in Europe; full of ideas about how to fix up the camper. We put up the canoe tent (it is out of place in a European campground!) Decided that it was necessary to make the camper more comfortable for those in it and may afford some privacy for all. Joe slept in the tent; he was getting a little grumpy and needed his own space for a while. We were all asleep by 10 pm.
Goodnight.

Mauradam Theme Park, the Hague, the Netherlands

miniature villiage in holland