Dordrecht

This morning the long awaited trip to the Hema (a store) took place. As soon as I walked into the store, I knew exactly where the tea towels were. I picked out 20 of them - color selection was quite poor girls but at least you'll have some "decent" tea towels again! I'd being looking forward to this for many months and it was over in less than 10 minutes - a pity. Since we had some time until meeting Kees, we sat in an outdoor cafe and had tea/coffee. Today was the second "nice" day they've had in Holland this summer. We sure picked a great week to be here! A man in a motorized wheelchair was riding up and down the streests telling people they needed to be saved - we asked someone what he was saying. Most people laughed at him but he had a mission he was committed to.

We met up with Kees outside our B&B at noon. It really was only a B because there wasn't any breakfast. This morning Dave went into the cupboards to find a piece of bread and hucislaa (I know this isn't spelled correctly). I would never have done that.

The plan was to go to Dordrecht which is the oldest city in Holland. It's also were Anneke and Wim live. Anneke is Kees' sister/my cousin. Fortunately they were free for the day and were able to join us. It took an hour to drive there and I went in the car with Kees so we could talk. The first thing we did when we arrived was go to an outdoor cafe and have some lunch - a very quick lunch as Wim had bought tickets for a river boat cruise that left in 15 minutes.

The  cruise was very nice but all the commentary was in Dutch. This is obviously a huge difference from England where we could understand everything. Wim translated a few things but not much. It was a very hot day - one that made you want to be in the shade. After the boat ride, we walked around town a bit. We saw the building were the Synod of  Dort took place in 1618-19. This is where the Canons of Dort came from. Some of the buildings in town were from the 1300s. The plan was to go to a museum but it was closed. On Mondays, the stores don't open until noon - and close at five - and many things don't open at all.

It was time again to stop in a cafe and have a drink. Wim said the opportunities for them to sit outside in a cafe are really quite rare. The weather needs to be good (although Kees says as long as it's not raining they sit out - even if it's quite cold) and they neeed to be on holidays. Rarely do people sit in a cafe in a normal working day.

Next we headed to a wonderful restrauant for supper - also outside. It was on a canal and had beautiful gardens - both flowers and vegys (which they use in the meals). I've never seen a place like it.  Another great meal. About 8:30 it was time for people to go their separate ways. Dave and I headed off to Arnham to spend the night in  a Holiday Inn - something we said we wouldn't do but....

It was about an hour's drive but took us some time to find the hotel. After going in circles Dave finally spotted it on a side street. He dropped me off to get a room and had to circle all the way around again to get back to me. A really difficult place to get to. We were both very tired. Proof - we slept 11 hours.

FYI: Gas in England was $6.76 (US) per gallon. In Holland it's $9.10 (US) per gallon. The economy is fairly bad in Holland and so we are getting very good rates on our hotels. A bonus!

One thing I learned today: In Holland if you make more than $60,000 (US) per year, you pay 52% income tax. The sales tax - which is on just about everything - is 21%. Wow!!

One new thing experienced today: Eating a vegetable that grows in salt water. It was a lot like spinach but very salty.

Most powerful moment of the day:  Seeing where the Canons of Dort came to be.

One pleasureable experience: The restrauant where we had supper. So very unique.