Autumn in Holland

Fall is in full swing and we’ve been enjoying the changing colors and cool weather. Although it has rained a lot some weeks, when the sun is shining it is very pretty here.

Our garden includes a bright yellow maple and a red smoke tree:

On Sunday October 12 we went out to lunch in Belgium with some friends from church. Cuisine in the northern part of Belgium features meat and vegetables, covered with a big pile of thin fries.
Here I am relaxing with Jonathan, Nora and Dirkjan’s baby. My friend Evelyn is holding Emily, who belongs to Elly and Anthonius.
Afterwards, we took a walk along a canal through some nearby woods. The weather was perfect, and the leaves were in their prime.
On Saturday, October 18, we made an outing to the Eifel National Park in Germany.
The park includes lovely hiking trails up and down small mountains and along streams.
Here we are after climbing to the top of an observation tower. There was a nice view of trees, a village, and horse farms.
It must be fall if the local farmers are harvesting crops. Josh noticed sugar beets being harvested recently on the way home from work. It’s interesting to see crops other than corn and soybeans.
We hope everyone is having a pleasant autumn!

A visit with the 7th Armored Division

On Sunday October 5 we got to visit “American soldiers” from the 7th Armored Division. Along with the British army, the 7th Armored liberated the eastern part of the Netherlands during WWII as part of Operation Market Garden and following battles, suffering heavy casualties. A Dutch group of WWII-enthusiasts called “Lest We Forget” reconstructs a battle encampment near the town of Venray every two years. They put up authentic WWII-era tents, drive old vehicles leftover from the war, and wear authentic uniforms to be a display of “living history” open to the public.

The site of the camp is the location where armies actually camped during the war, complete with original foxholes and earthworks: The entire camp is set up as it was during the WWII battle:
Including a field kitchen, military police posts, and the communication tent, complete with operational, original equipment:
Many military vehicles that were left behind after the war have been restored, such as trucks: And tanks:
The boys have to wait in line for a chance to try the machine gun:
Besides being open to the general public on the weekend, the camp hosted over 1000 school children during the week. Uniformed “soldiers” drove to the schools in their authentic trucks and jeeps, and the children rode to the camp in the army vehicles. That must have been much more fun than a school bus! (There are no school buses here anyway.)

We thought it was a very nicely done endeavor, and we appreciated that the American troops who fought in this part of the country were not forgotten or unappreciated. Plus, since the people were representing American soldiers (with a few British mixed in), when we asked, "Sprekt u engels?" (Do you speak English?) they answered, "Of course! Can't you see I'm American (or British)?" It was nice to spend an afternoon with "Americans," even if they had a Dutch accent.

Some things we enjoy about the Netherlands

Since we’ve been here for over four months now, we should write about some of the things we really like about living in the Netherlands.

1. Biking

The Dutch LOVE biking (fietsen), and it’s easy to ride bikes everywhere. Almost all roads have wide, well-maintained bike lanes, and the bikes even get their own traffic signals. Traffic generally yields to bikes. I do all my grocery shopping and other errands on my bicycle, with handy saddle bags on the back to carry everything. Besides biking in town, there are also scenic bike trails in the surrounding countryside for a fun afternoon out. Dutch bikes have built-in locks on the back wheel, so you don’t even need to find a rack to lock the bike to, you can lock it anywhere.

Best of all, the Netherlands is very flat. Riding against the wind can be difficult, but at least we never have to pedal uphill.

Most kids bike to school, and sometimes the streets are clogged with kids on bikes. Mothers often ride with a baby in a special seat on the handlebars; sometimes there’s one child on the handlebars and one on the back. Often little dogs ride in a basket on the front.

Kids on the way to the local high school:


2. Trains

When it’s too far to ride our bicycles, we can easily take the train. Our house is a block from the train station, and train service in the Netherlands is clean, nearly always on time, frequent, and easy to use. (But it’s not cheap.)

3. Gardens

Every house has a well-maintained, neat garden with a wide variety of ornamental plants. Dutch gardens are each unique, with many more kinds of ornamentals than are typically seen in an American garden. The Dutch do not have a separate word for “yard,” as every yard is a garden. Large areas of grass (lawns) are rather rare, and most gardens have only a small patch.

We love the blue hydrangeas that are abundant here:

4. Bakeries

Although we can buy bread at the grocery store, there are also several small bakeries nearby. At Dutch bakeries, you can choose from dozens of kinds of bread and several other rolls and treats. Dutch bakeries do not have as many sweets as French or German bakeries, but the bread is excellent. Best of all, you can buy a half loaf rather than a whole loaf if you prefer. I didn’t buy much bread in Iowa because we often couldn’t finish a whole loaf before it started to mold. I like being able to buy a half loaf.

5. Cheese

The Netherlands is known for windmills, wooden shoes, and cheese. There are lots of choices of Dutch cheese, but almost all of them are Gouda…old Gouda, new Gouda, Gouda with little seeds, etc. They’re all yummy. Every grocery store has a wide selection of cheese, but you can also find cheese shops that are filled with big wax-covered wheels of cheese.

6. Vlaai

Vlaai is a pie-like pastry from the state of Limburg (just to the east of Deurne). A vlaai is large and round and typically has a half-inch crust of shortbread-like cake, covered with cherries, apples, rice pudding, whipped cream, chocolate, or other sweet toppings. It is cut like a pie and eaten for dessert, or for a coffee break. The Netherlands is not famous for its cuisine, but Vlaai is delicious.

7. Kermis

During the summer, every town has a carnival called “kermis.” Deurne’s kermis was held shortly after we arrived, and lasted for four days over a weekend. Several streets in the centrum (downtown) were closed off and filled with carnival rides, loud music, excited junior-high-school-aged kids having fun, and vendors selling roasted nuts, cotton candy, poffertjes (tiny pancakes), waffles, deep-fried-fat dough things, and other treats.

Here is Josh in the midst of Deurne's kermis:

And a fun kermis ride called "Around the World":

8. Weekly Market


Every town has an open-air market in their centrum one day a week. Deurne’s is on Friday afternoon. At Deurne’s market, you can buy produce, cut flowers, cooked chicken, cheese, fish, socks, clothes, sewing notions, hats, jewelry, and hair products. Eindhoven’s market (Tuesday mornings) is more fun because it’s much bigger, and several blocks of booths are devoted to fabric, with bolts of fabric out on tables.

9. Smart cars

I (Christine) am in love with Smart cars! They’re not really Dutch but German, but there are lots of them here and throughout Europe. Smart cars are small, two-passenger automobiles made by Mercedes-Benz. They get great mileage and have surprisingly good crash test ratings. But mostly I love them because they’re so cute!

Small cars are much more common in Europe because fuel has always been more expensive here, and the streets and parking places are narrower than in America. I actually saw a Smart car in Ames before I left Iowa, and they may become more popular in the US.

There are lots of other things we're enjoying here in the Netherlands, but these are a few highlights.