Waffles and Waterways




I'm afraid it might sound as though I planned our vacation to the Netherlands and England around my own agenda. We did plan together, listen to each other's wishes and try to fit them all in! 
We left the visual feast of the Van Gogh Museum for a feast of a different kind. A friend had told Katherine about a waffle shop across from the museum, which we "had" to visit. She'd spotted it on our walk to the museum and we headed for it afterwards with an appetite ready to experience the waffles. However we stood before such an array of waffles (or "wafels") such as we had never seen before. We can buy "stroop wafels" in Canadian grocery stores, but these were, just made. Agonizing over having to choose, we opted to experience these--fresh--and were not disappointed. The delectable crispy parts and gooey, warm, sweet parts melted into our mouths deliciously. Katherine texted her friend to report, "Mission accomplished," only to be told, "No, those weren't the right ones."
Obediently, we tried the "right ones;" with strawberries and cream. :)
On our way to the waffle stand we had passed a sales booth for canal boat tours, and had booked one for later that afternoon, since the weather was so warm and sunny.


It was just us and a lovely family from Los Angeles, California, and our "captain," Erik, who did a great job of telling us what we were seeing.


Tori and Katherine took lots of photos, while Tippy sketched.
Paul said that this was the best part of the vacation so far. We all enjoyed the peaceful, relaxation of the boat ride through a city with centuries of history on every hand.

 But getting back to my agenda, I did have one, and it unfolded over the next couple of days...

Comments

mercygraceword said…
Lovely. I can almost seat myself on the boat.
Excited to hear about your "agenda".

Deborah
2:20 PM
Belinda said…
Thank you Deborah. I'm looking forward to writing the next post too. It's a wonderful way for me to "capture" the memories as well.
4:22 PM
Dave Hingsburger said…
Writing it down is like creating a very different kind of photo album because words make pictures too!
10:05 AM
Anonymous said…
Ah - doing something many of us can only wish for. Thanks for letting us tag along. Look forward to more!!
3:16 AM
Belinda said…
Dave, exactly. I love sharing the memories with others this way. :)
10:10 PM
Belinda said…
Anonymous, thanks for hopping into the suitcase! :)
10:11 PM
Neemah said…
Hello mate great blogg
10:46 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Voyage

Image
Note from Belinda: I read this prayer yesterday and again today--and then I read it to Susan after cell group, when we were having our "second cup" of decaff coffee together. I knew that she'd love it. She has a framed picture on her office wall of a little blond haired girl in a sail boat on a stormy sea. A fatherly sailor,with a weather beaten face; in a gray sou'wester, holds her close, as he capably mans the tiller. This prayer reminds me of that picture and influenced what I wrote earlier today, when I used the metaphor of ebbing waves to describe a lack of consistency and my desire to crash over the sandbar into the peaceful pool on the other side.  ( Susan sent me a link to the painting, which was done by American impressionist Robert Reid in 1888.  It hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in NYC.) Be bless ed by the beauty of this prayer. OH LORD OF THE OCEANS, My little bark sails on a restless sea, Grant that Jesus may sit at the ...
Read more

Samson Beaver and his Family

Image
I first posted this in 2009, a little show and tell about one of my favourite photographs. Back then it hung on a wall, but now it's in my bathroom where I see it every morning! I'd forgotten the history behind the story, researched when I first posted this and thought that current readers might enjoy it--a story from a time when this land was still being discovered, not so very long ago. This photograph was taken by Mary Schaffer; artist, photographer, writer and naturalist, in 1907. It is of a Stoney Indian named Samson Beaver, with his wife Leah and daughter, Frances Louise. I bought the photo on a postcard, on a trip to British Columbia and it hangs framed, on the wall I face when sitting at my laptop. I love it. Don't you just feel as if you could gather Frances Louise up in your arms and cuddle her? I get a deep sense of peace and happiness when I look at this family, sitting in the grass of a long ago fall. They are dressed in their best, beautiful c...
Read more

Ere Zij God--Glory to God in the Highest! A Dutch Carol

Image
By Belinda This beautiful Dutch carol was shared today by a friend of Dutch ancestry, on Facebook. I had never heard it before but absolutely loved it. It moved me deeply, especially at the end after the crowd leaves the church and then breaks into spontaneous singing again around a brazier, with the sound of chiming church bells in the background. Listen to it with headphones or a good speaker to get the full effect of the harmonies. And happy first Sunday in Advent!
Read more