A Day at the Races

I saw the Queen!  I feel like I have accomplished the top of my British “to-do” list.  I know it isn’t partying with Harry, but that was probably somewhat unlikely.

Where did I hang with the Queen, you ask?  I went to the first day of Royal Ascot.  Royal Ascot (or just “Ascot” as all the locals referred to it) is a horse-racing event that runs for 5 days every June.  It is a fancier version of the Kentucky Derby, so dresses, top hats and fascinators were everywhere.

I got invited along with a big group of people from work.  As one of only 2 Americans in our group (the other one being my friend Lisa), I was super-annoying asking all sorts of questions about dress code, rules, etiquette, etc.  I was panicked that I would be “that girl” that showed up in the wrong type of dress, wrong type of hat, etc.  Little did I know that I had nothing to worry about.  More on that later. 

I look tired, but check out my fascinator!

While it doesn’t start at 6am like Opening Day for the Cubs, it is a pretty long day.  We met at the train station at 9:30 in the morning to take a 9:50 train.  I had my fascinator in a bag because I felt stupid sitting on the bus with it on, but my attire pretty much gave away where I was going.  Some young girl stopped me in the middle of the station to take my photo.   Hilarious.  Anyway, first race wasn’t until 2:30, but it is customary to go somewhere beforehand to start celebrating.  We started celebrating on the train with some champagne.

Me, Lisa and Kate on the train

We stopped off in a town about 10 minutes from Ascot and went to a local pub to get some food and drink before heading to the grounds. There were probably about 10 of us that got off at this stop and some random people followed us off the train thinking that we were at Ascot.  They didn’t figure it out until the train pulled away.  Oops.  We invited them to the pub, but they didn’t come with us.  Their loss.

The pub was nice.  It was pretty rustic inside, but we sat outside and enjoyed many a bottle of wine and champagne.  

One of the many bottles we killed

I will say this about pubs in London ---- it could be the biggest dive bar and they will *always* have nice wine and/or champagne.  I’m not a champagne girl, but I did have quite a few glasses at Ascot.  Thankfully, I didn’t feel it the next day.  That could have been really bad.

Around 1:30, we jumped back on the train and headed to the grounds so we could get there before the Royal Procession at 2pm.  It is customary that on the first day of Ascot the Queen will come in and kick off the event. 

The procession kicks off from a ways out and there are a few horses in front and 4 horse drawn carriages after that.  The Duke of Edinburgh had just left the hospital, so he wasn’t able to attend, but the Queen was there with Prince Charles and Camilla.  

My buddy the Queen

So were Prince Andrew, Beatrice (of the bizarro fascinator at William & Kate’s wedding) and Eugenie.  There were a few other people in carriages after them, but I don’t know who they were.

Beatrice's hat was much more tame

After the procession, there is a short period of time before the first race.  It was enough time for us to find the group of people we were with, grab a glass of Pimm’s and place a bet.  Lisa had been studying at the pub, reading the racing pages, talking to the guy in our group who watches a lot of races, so she was sure she was going to win.  I, on the other hand, had been chatting at the pub and placed a bet based upon the name of the horse and/or the jockey.  You can guess who came out ahead.  While I didn’t win a lot of money (anyone who has seen me in Vegas when I close out after winning $30 on “Wheel of Fortune” knows that I don’t bet a lot), I did win at least few pounds in the first 4 races.  

We were in the “cheap” seats – the Grandstand.  Rumor has it that there were a level below our tickets, but I’m not sure how that was possible unless they were in the parking lot.  That isn’t to say that our tickets weren’t good ---- they were.  We were able to get right down next to the track.  The level above us was the Royal Enclosure.  Those tickets enabled you to get down to the track, but close to the finish line.  The Royal Enclosure also has a higher level of dress code, though.  They even put out a brochure with pictures to say what is/isn't appropriate.

I wish I had as cool as this, but it would have cost a fortune.

Ah, the dress code…as I said earlier, I was really worried about what to wear.  There are all these rules posted on the Royal Ascot website (these don't even include the rules for the men):

• A hat, headpiece or fascinator must be worn at all times.
• Dresses and tops should have straps of one inch or greater. 
• Strapless or sheer strap dresses are not permitted.
• Jackets and pashminas may be worn, but dresses and tops underneath should still comply with the dress code.

For the Royal Enclosure, it is even stricter: 

• Dresses and skirts should be of modest length defined as falling just above the knee or longer.
• Hats should be worn; a headpiece which has a base of 4 inches (10cm) or more in diameter is acceptable as an alternative to a hat.
• Fascinators are no longer permitted; neither are headpieces which do not have a base covering a sufficient area of the head (4 inches / 10cm).

I don’t know what I was so worried about.  While people in the Grandstand complied with the dress code, there were some people who looked like they never had dressed up before in their life and/or they were wearing things they should not have been wearing.  This made for *fabulous* people watching.

Lisa and I down by the racetrack with Grandstands behind us.

Try not to focus on how pale I look in comparison to Lisa.  I'm naturally pretty pasty, but she also just got back from Crete.

Anyway, after all the races were over and all the Pimm’s had been consumed, we left the racecourse and went to this car park by the train station.  It is apparently where everyone congregates after the races and hangs out.  It is literally a car park with a big tent set up for drinks (more wine, champagne, and Pimm’s).  There is also a band playing and everyone is dancing.  Out of respect for those I was with (since they are work friends), I’m not posting the incriminating photos.  Suffice it to say that there were clothes exchanged (don’t ask), a lot of alcohol consumed, and a ton of dancing done. 

Some of the crew at the car park.

Lisa and I pulled a Houdini and caught an earlier (9-ish) train.  We walked up to the platform and who do we run into?  The people who followed us off the train!  One of the guys looked at us and said “Hey, you’re the people that dragged us off the train!”  Small world!

I didn’t get home until after 10pm and I had a full day of meetings the next day.  Thankfully, Lisa and I were pretty tame, so we both felt OK in the morning.  My feet *hated* me for being in heels from 8:30-10pm, but other than that, I felt OK.

I highly recommend going to Ascot if you get the chance.  It is a great tidbit of British culture and it was FANTASTIC people watching.  Next year, I’m weaseling my way into the Royal Ascot.  The Queen and I are going to be likethis.

Rockin' It Out...Sort Of

While Ellie was here, we went to see the Kings of Leon at the O2 Arena.

Check out the illumination from all the phones!

We got pretty lucky with the tickets because the tickets I bought through Living Social were somehow misplaced.  We were supposed to be on the 400 level, but since they were missing, they upgraded us to the 100 level where we could sit back and do some real quality people watching.  And there was plenty of that.  The floor of the arena was basically a mosh pit.  Thank God they didn't upgrade us to there.

It was a pretty cool concert, but I didn't really know all that many songs.  Somewhere along the way, I think I missed an album.  I felt a little old because I was "that guy" that only sang along with the big hits.  Unlike the dude in front of us who was so excited at every single song that his girlfriend made him stand on the other side of him so he wouldn't block her view of the stage when he got up to "dance".

Anyway, the music was really good and they put on a good show.  It was kind of a mess getting out of the O2, though.  It's on the far southeast (for those familiar, it is further east than Canary Wharf).  It's actually not that far, but when you have several thousand leaving all at the same time and a lot of them are very drunk, it tends to add some drama.  Ellie and I saw a chick fight or rather the end of the chick fight with the guys pulling their girlfriends off each other.  Awesome.  

Next concert up is Springsteen with Kelly & Stein.  I'm fairly sure that there won't be any fights involving those two.  You never know, though.  That Kelly is an unpredictable one.

All Sorts of Random

Last weekend was one of the more bizarre, funny weekends I have had in a long time.  My friend Ellie came to London to visit and we took a trip to Edinburgh.  Hilarity ensued.  I'm not sure it will seem as funny to everyone else, but we had a blast.

It was a weekend that almost didn't happen.  Ellie's flight was delayed by 5 hours due to mechanical problems (just what you want to hear before getting on an international flight --- especially when the pilot refuses to fly because he doesn’t believe that the mechanic fixed it!).  She was slated to get in around 8:30am, but didn’t get in until after 1pm and our flight was at 3pm.  By a happy twist of fate, I booked our trip out of Heathrow, so we made our flight, but Ellie had to haul all of her luggage to Scotland and back.

Ellie hadn’t slept much and I had a long week, so Friday was a pretty tame night.  Dinner and drinks in Edinburgh and then in bed early.  Thank God that we did because we were woken up at 5am by seagulls.  Yes, seagulls.  Someone had knocked over the dumpster in the alley and all the seagulls were having an all-you-can-eat fest out of it.  It went on for what felt like hours.  Just as the rest of them died down, there was one that sounded like a dying cat that would start back up and rile everyone back up.  I was ready to kill said seagulls, but I saw the movie “The Birds” and I was definitely outnumbered.

Saturday, we got up and went to Edinburgh Castle. 

We got lucky and had remarkable weather.  I feel bad that my Mom didn’t get to see Edinburgh when it was nice.  As I wrote in my post, it poured most of the weekend we were there and was really foggy, so Mom didn’t get to see the great views of Edinburgh. 

Ellie relaxing at the Castle

 My attempt at panoramic.  It's a little small.

After the Castle, we grabbed lunch at a little cafe and people watched for a little while (one of my favorite pastimes).  

I promise.  We did eat.

There happened to be a stag (aka bachelor) party at one of the tables next to us.  They were all dressed up in weird costumes.

I didn't get a picture of the groom.  His costume was not PG-rated.

The leopard print one was probably the most interesting because it had a deep-V back, but it also covered his entire hand.  It was so warm out that he must have been sweating his butt off.  He tried to quench it with beer, but they all got cut off by the waitress, so they left for greener pastures.  We later saw the leopard dude walking down the street.  Ellie asked where the rest of his friends were.  We couldn’t *really* tell what he said (damn Scottish accents are so thick!), but it was pretty obvious he had no idea where the rest of the crew was.

After shopping around (Mom, we went back to that little shop where the shopkeeper hugged you --- no hug this time), we decided to go back to our hotel and relax a bit before going to dinner.  After dinner, we decided to go back to our hotel and have a drink at the hotel bar.  The bartenders were supposed to be these phenomenal mixologists, so we decided to give it a whirl.  Our intent was to have one last drink and then go to bed.  Yeah, well…that was the intent.

As we were waiting for our drinks, two guys came up and started talking to us.  We subsequently found out their names were Gordon and Peter.  They were humorous and they found us very entertaining (but, of course!). 

Bit of a side note here (I promise, it is relevant to the overall story).  Ellie had been really busy with work and such and hadn’t done any planning before she came over the pond.  The one thing she did do was check to see if she could get to pro shop at Muirfield to buy a golf shirt for her dad.  For those who don’t know what Muirfield is, it is a super exclusive golf course in Scotland.  It is home to the British Open this year.  So, Ellie found out that they don’t have a pro shop, so gave up the idea of going out there.

So, back to the story.  As we were talking to Gordon and Peter, we find out that Gordon is a part-time pro caddy at Muirfield.  No kidding!  We thought Gordon was feeding us a line, but he convinced that he truly was a caddy there.  How random is that?!?

Anyway, they asked us to go with them to some pub to listen to some traditional Scottish music.  Sandy Bell’s is a small Scottish pub with live music most days.  Unlike in other bars where they might be on a stage or something, they were just in the corner booth by the bathroom playing.  I missed the sign that said “don’t take pictures of the musicians without their approval” (it was this big), so I got the death stare from one of the fiddle players.  

The girl in the striped shirt hates me.

Oops…my bad.

Throughout the night, Gordon became fascinated with Ellie’s green jacket.  He thought it was the closest thing that he would get to wear the real green jacket, so he put it on.  

Ellie and Gordon at Sandy Bell's.

I’m not sure where he got the sunglasses, but I think they were from some random girl at the bar.

After Sandy Bell’s, we went back towards our hotel and ended up at a bar called Fingers.  Horrible name for a bar, but it is a piano bar that reminded me of Howl at the Moon.  It was crowded when we got there and just got packed.  We hung out to the wee hours there until we determined we needed to go to bed.  Gordon and Peter went on their way and Ellie and I crashed.

For those that were keeping track, we had wine, cider, more wine, hard alcohol, then beer, beer, beer.  Not a genius move on our side.  Thankfully, there were no seagulls on Sunday morning because neither of us was up for it.  I felt better than I had any right to, but I definitely had better days.

Anyway, the night before, Gordon had volunteered to take us to Muirfield.  We didn’t really think he was serious, but then I started getting texts at 9am asking when he should pick us up.  Ellie and I regrouped with the help of coffee and Diet Coke and met up with Gordon. 

Gordon wasn’t feeling so hot either, but he ended up being a stellar host.  He proceeded to take us to the countryside of Scotland.  He took us to the one pro shop that sells Muirfield items.  Then, he took us to Muirfield.

Their subtle "Keep Out" sign

Part of the clubhouse

I don’t think we were supposed to be on the grounds (especially since we are women) and I hope Gordon didn’t get in trouble, but it was cool to see the course and the set up for the British Open.

After Muirfield, we went to the North Berwick golf course, to which Gordon belongs.  

 

 We were a little windblown, but it was nice out.

He was so nice that he even bought “the lunatic girls from the States” baseball caps from his club so we could remember the trip and then he brought us to lunch at his posh club where I proceeded to eat a couple bites of prime rib (the first beef I think I’ve had in 20 years) because I didn’t want to be rude.  Probably not the best idea, but I managed to keep it down (barely).  I was pretty quiet the rest of the trip because I was taking deep breaths in the back of the car, but I think Gordon chalked it up to being hung-over.

For a day that started out somewhat grim (through our fault/stupidity, I grant you), it turned out to be pretty nice.  I’m so glad we resisted the urge to cancel.  We had so much fun and we got to see parts of Scotland that we wouldn’t have seen if we stayed in downtown Edinburgh.  

 Rapeseed fields - you can make oil out of it.

 Elementary school event.  Not sure what it was, though.

When Gordon dropped us off at the airport (seriously!  He spent the whole day with us and then drove us to the airport!), he encouraged us to spread the word about Edinburgh.  I definitely will.  Kelly & Stein, you have a tour guide when you go!

Ode to the Queen

This post is overdue by a few days, but the sentiment is still the same.

The other day (June 2nd), the Queen celebrated the 60th anniversary of her coronation.  60 years.  An impressive feat.  She took on this public position at the ripe old age of 25.  Seriously?  25?  I was an idiot at 25.  Nobody, and I mean nobody, would have wanted me representing them at that time.  I think I got mono at 25.  Very regal.

Anyway, I think being in any position for 60 years is impressive.  Being in one so public is extraordinarily impressive....and sad.

The other day, I went to see "The Audience" with Helen Mirren.  (On a side note, she was *AMAZING*!  Really pretty in real-life.  Even with all that makeup.  Nadine, does that count as a celebrity siting?)

Sorry...no pictures in the theatre, so you only get the program

For 60 years, Queen Elizabeth has met with her Prime Ministers on a weekly basis at Buckingham Palace.  The meetings are only between the Queen and the Prime Minister.  Unlike other meetings, no notes are taken.  Nothing is disclosed about those meetings, not even to their respective spouses.

The concept of the play was an imaginative interpretation of what was discussed during those meetings.  Of course, since no records are kept, there is no way to determine the validity of those interactions, but the end result of the play was phenomenal.  

With 12 different Prime Ministers rolling through the doors over the years (from Churchill to Thatcher to Blair to Cameron), the personalities were diverse and so were the imagined discussions.

One thing that came through, particularly at the end, was what a lonely existence it is.  Her whole life has been examined through a magnify glass.  She wasn't allowed to screw up and act like an idiot when she was in her 20s (OK, and 30s).  Yes, she has received a lot in return, but was it a fair trade.

Mom and I had this conversation when she was here while walking along by the Thames.  Mom said, "The Queen never gets to really experience her own country."  She's spot on.  The Queen doesn't just to get to walk along the side of the Thames and make a game-time call about grabbing a drink and people watching.  That's not an option.

People argue about the role/value of the Royal Family in modern culture.  Many revere her and think she is representative icon of British culture.  Others think it is an idea that has passed its prime and it is a luxury that can't be afforded any longer.  Whatever the feeling, you have to give her credit.  She's maintained an air of dignity (and humor) for over 60 years.  I can't do that for even 1 year!

Going Out Big, Traditional London Style

Mom's last night in London was Tuesday.  As part of her last hurrah, we decided to go to see "A Midsummer's Night Dream" at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.  

We walked over the Millennium Bridge to the theatre.  Before we did, I got a self-portrait of us in front of St. Paul's.

Sorry about the cut off chin, Mom

I wrote about the Globe in a previous post.

The weather wasn't as nice as it was when I went with Teresa and Abby, but we at least lucked out and didn't have any rain.

Mom holding our cushions and a Pimm's

Again, Mom surprised me and conquered a bit of her fears.  We were at the very top of the theater.  Thankfully, we were in the last row, so Mom didn't have to worry that she would suddenly fling herself over into the pit below.  She didn't tempt it, though.  Once she was in her seats, she was in them for the duration.

"I'm not so sure about this height..."

View of the stage from our seats

(Those people in the pit stand for the full 3 hours)

The play was really good.  I think it was better than The Tempest.  Certainly, it was funnier.  It seemed to move along a lot quicker than The Tempest and there were no long, drawn out soliloquies.  (So I'm not a Shakespeare aficionado --- sue me).

The walk home was nice.  Not too cold and we got some beautiful views of the city.

Mom & St. Paul's

All in all, it was a really nice last night with Mom.  It was so great to have her here for an extended period of time so she could see where I live and how I live.  I love that she is independent enough to travel here on her own and wander around the city by herself.  She's been to places I haven't even been to you.  Hell, by the end of her time here, she was correcting me on directions and giving out directions to people who stopped her.  She even got annoyed with tourists who just stopped in the middle of the road/stopped at the top of the escalator/didn't have their Oyster card ready to exit.  A true Londoner!

Sunday in Düsseldorf

After Mom and I left Losser, we drove back to Düsseldorf to see a little bit of Germany.  The drive back to the airport was fine, although I'm not sure if we would have gotten the car started if it hadn't been for Mark Weirath.  The car didn't have a traditional key, but rather one of those nifty cards that just needs to be near the car to be running.  The German directions state that you should press the brake at the same time that you are pressing the power button.  Of course, that was in German, so that didn't really help us.  Since the car was already started by the rental car when we go it, we had never had to start the car.  We were at a loss as to what to do until Mark translated.  I can only imagine if we had stopped off on the way to Losser.  We might still be there trying to figure it out.

Dropping off the car at the airport proved to be equally as difficult.  The bitch on the GPS directed us to some random corner, nowhere near the car rental agency.  Then, after Mom asked for directions, we went to the Europecar lot and were let in the gate.  Little did we know that the lot was closed, nobody was there, and the exit gate wouldn't open up to let us *out* of the lot.  So, Mom stayed in the car and I hoofed to the airport.  

I explained to the nice German lady at the rental agency what had happened.  Apparently, it wasn't the first time it happened, so she said we could leave the car there.  She didn't have anyone to drop me back off at the lot, so I hoofed it back to the lot, picked up Mom and then we hoofed it back to the airport.  On that third trip back, I decided we were taking a taxi to our hotel.  I didn't want to have to deal with public transportation.  We weren't really batting 1000 in our travel experiences for that day and I didn't want to push it any further.

Our hotel room wasn't ready yet, so we walked around the city.  Sadly, we really hadn't done any planning or research on Düsseldorf.  Thank God for Google (both Maps and Translate)!  

We hadn't really eaten anything since breakfast (more of the bread and chocolate sprinkles), so we decided to go this little bakery that I did happen to read about.  It was called Cafe Heinemann and was supposedly the Pope's favorite pastry shop (presumably the Pope Emeritus).

After that, we did a bit of wandering (one of my favorite things).  We walked north to along the Königsallee.  This is a canal that runs through part of the city.  On one side of the canals is a lot of ritzy shopping (think Chanel) and on the other side is fancy hotels.  

 View of Königsallee from one of the bridges

It was Sunday and raining, so the shops were closed and there weren't many people out, but the walk along the canal was relaxing.

We made our way over to the Rhine and then ended up in Burgplatz.  There is a statue there called Stadterhebungsmonument that was built to commemorate the Battle of Worringen in 1288.  The pictures below don't do it justice, but there was a lot going on there.  There 

 Stadterhebungsmonument

Check out the skulls

After wandering down by the Rhine, we went to Altstadt ("Old Town").  It is known as the longest bar in the world because it has over 300 bars.  When in Rome...

Mom and our beers

While we were sitting at the bar, it started pouring.  We watched the rain for a little while and enjoyed people watching, but we started getting tired, so we headed back to our hotel.

We went to a traditional German place for dinner.  The food was good, but the menu was entirely in German, so I had to use Google Translate to find something to eat.  Mom was a bit worried I was going to go hungry, but it all turned out OK. 

  

Yum...

Düsseldorf was nice.  The people weren't as outwardly friendly as some other cities, but nobody was rude.  As Mom said, they just didn't seem happy.  It may not be fair to say because we were there on a Sunday when a lot of things were closed, but I didn't get the feeling there was a lot to do.  When I looked up "things to do in Düsseldorf" on TripAdvisor, one of the top 20 things to see was the airport.  Hmm...not a resounding endorsement for the city.

Well, This Could Have Been Awkward

While Mom was here, we took a short trip to the Netherlands.  After my Dad retired, he got involved in a lot of different things to pass the time.  One of those things was researching the genealogy of the Weirath family.  During that research, he came upon some family located in eastern part of the Netherlands.  Mark & his wife, Astrid, became email buddies with Dad.
We exchanged Christmas cards and they even sent some adorable wooden shoes to my niece Katie when she was born.  But, we never met.

So, when Mom decided to come visit me, it seemed like a natural thing to go visit.  We arranged to fly into Dusseldorf and drive the 1.5 hours to Losser.  Getting out of Dusseldorf to be a bit problematic.  Thankfully, they drive on the correct (right) side of the road and the driver seat is on the correct side of the car.  We didn't need to deal with that, too.  As it was, the stupid GPS (no, Teresa, I didn't name her, but if I had, it wouldn't have been a nice name) took us all over the place on our way out of town.  It didn't help that all the street signs were in German (duh, I know!).  There is no easy way to decipher that language.

Anyway, after much swearing, which including the F-bomb by me and the S-word by Mom (not "sucks"), we finally got on the road to Losser.  For those of you that have never driven in Germany, dear God, don't go slow!  On the main highways, there are no speed limits.  This proved to be panic-inducing whenever I had to pass someone.  There would be nobody in the lane and then all the sudden someone would be barreling down in my rear view mirror.  Thankfully, we avoided any accidents and arrived in Losser in one piece.

Losser is in the Netherlands, but the German border is very close.  I think Mom was a little disappointed there was no checkpoint for a passport stamp, but there wasn't much we could do about it. 

Mark & Astrid were waiting for us when we got there.  They welcomed us like family, which I know we technically are, but we have never met each other.  It is customary in the Netherlands to greet people with 3 kisses, a fact that Astrid and Mark informed us as soon as we got out of a car.  I appreciated this because I've been in a situation before where I didn't know that and almost ended up actually kissing someone because I thought we were done after 2.

We went into their house and Mark started off the conversation with "Well, this is a little weird."  Absolutely.  We are basically strangers and they invited us to stay at their house.  It was very natural, though.  We chatted and then decided to go through a walk through their town.  

Losser is very cute.  

It isn't that big, so walking around town didn't really take all that long.  We went into a little cheese shop to get some cheese for dinner. 

 Mm...cheese

After getting back to their house, we sat around a little more and chatted.  We shared family stories and cultural stories (dear God, "Honey Boo Boo" has even infiltrated the Netherlands!).  We also were entertained by their puppy, Coco, who had quickly become my little buddy.

Coco posing for the camera

We also took a drive around the country and went to an arboretum for a nice walk.  Along the way, our drive was interrupted by a cow crossing.  Yes, a cow crossing.  

Exactly like my commute to work 

The next morning, we had a traditional Dutch breakfast, which included coffee (mm...coffee) and bread with chocolate sprinkles.  I kid you not.  They eat this stuff for breakfast.  There are also pink & yellow sprinkles, but I was a purist.

It is good that we fueled up on a good breakfast because we ran around the rest of day.  Mark & Astrid asked us what we wanted to do.  Being that we were in the Netherlands, I thought it only appropriate that we go see some windmills.  Along with tulips, it is the iconic image of Holland, right?  I assumed that they were on every street corner, but I was wrong.

Quick educational side note: many people have asked me the difference between the Netherlands and Holland.  Holland is actually a region within the Netherlands.  The big cities in the Netherlands (Amsterdam, the Hague, Rotterdam) are all in Holland.  Many people use the terms interchangeably (including some of the Dutch themselves), but that is technically inaccurate.  Nobody is going to arrest you or anything if you call it Holland, but you might offend some of those in the east side of the country.

Anyway, back to the windmills....Mark & Astrid informed us that windmills aren't on every street corner, but there were 2 in a relatively short distance.  We went to both of them, but we spent more time at the first one - De Lonneker Molen.  The mill was built in 1851 and it is still functioning today producing a number of different types of flour.

We got lucky and were invited by one of the workers to take a tour of the inside of the mill.  Unfortunately, the stairs were basically a ladder, so Mom didn't take the tour.

Mill worker explaining how he puts on the sails

It was fascinating to me to see how much manual work is involved in the basic functioning of the windmill.  The mill worker has to stop the mill every 2 hours to manually grease the cogs on the inside of the mill.  He also has to climb up each blade of the windmill to attach the sail so the windmill will catch the wind.  I also learned that the position of the blades is very purposeful.  When the blades are in the + position, the windmill is on rest for a short period of time.  When the blades are in the x position, the windmill is on rest for a longer period of time.  There are also blade positions for celebration and mourning.

Mom and Astrid with the windmill at rest

It was very cool to get the insight in to the inner workings of the mill.  I found it interesting that the mill worker very much enjoyed the manual work that he did.  There were some "improvements" that had been made to the mill over time to make things easier (e.g. automation), but the mill worker seemed to eschew them in favor of the old way of doing things.

Astrid, Mom & Mark at the windmill

After our windmill adventure, we went to the downtown area of Losser to their farmer's market.  They had the traditional cheese, chocolate, sausage vendors.  They also had a guy smoking eel, a traditional Dutch food.  No, I didn't try it.  It still had it's head on it.  Ew.

 Smoking eel

After the farmer's market, we went to see another windmill and drove over the border to Germany (still no stamp) to see an artistic town and then to a town called Bad Bentheim to see an early medieval castle, Burg Bentheim (very original name).

 Burg Bentheim

Mom & Astrid (the little people in the picture)

The views from the castle were really impressive.  Mom tried to conquer her heights fears and see those views, but I think she was more comfortable in the dungeons.  It's like the prisoner cells were built for her.

By the time we got home, we were exhausted.  All that fresh air did us in.  A couple of glasses of wine, including some Dutch wine that we bought at the farmers market, some cheese, olives and we went to bed happy.

All in all, it was a wonderful visit.  We had a great time seeing how some real Dutch people live.  Virtual strangers became family.  Mark looks a bit like my Dad.  Really, he looks more like Uncle Tom, but if you know him, you know how much he looks like my Dad.  Either way, it was a little weird.  

Astrid & Mark

Mark & Astrid were exceptionally good hosts.  Mom & I are hopeful that we can return the favor and have them come visit us in the States.