Volkstuin

Volkstuin - The Peoples Garden. It sounds like something out of Communist China, doesn’t it? I think this notion is pretty common in most major metropolitan areas where space is at a premium. Here in Holland, they’ve mastered the concept.

The idea is that each city sets aside numerous large parcels of land to be used as green space. Some of that land is earmarked for parks, other chunks are used as sport fields, and of course you all know about the Holland’s famous “WandelBossen”, right? But in addition to all of that, a significant amount of ground is set aside for Volkstuinen. A city the size of Haarlem has probably 20-30 Volkstuin parcels. Each of these large parcels is carved up into hundreds of small plots which are then leased out to people in the community resulting in thousands of plots scattered about the city. Anyone owning a lease can then have their own private plot on which to grow vegetables, trees, fruits, berries, marijuana, whatever. It’s Holland’s version of the “Ranchette”.

Well call us Urban Cowboys and sign us up! We’ve just leased a nice 200 square meter plot (2200 square feet) across the railroad tracks in the nearby village of Bloemendale. We’re sharing the costs with our friends and will be anxiously planning the garden throughout the winter.
The plot that we picked looks out over a horse pasture and has a small shed and a nice patio for summer evening Barbeques. There are numerous fruit trees and berry plants that are already in production so we’re guaranteed a harvest the first year. Of course, the first thing that we’ll have to do is build a small pen for the dogs …

A37

Plot A37, both sides of the walk and obviously in the sun! ;-)

Schuur

Our ugly brown shed....but it has this advanced watering system.

House Swapping

It seems like winter is coming on fast and strong this year. We are expecting snow this weekend here in North Holland and there has already been over a foot (33 cm) of the white stuff in Garrett County. I’m heading back to America next week to get our house in the mountains ready for winter.

I’m looking forward to seeing friends and family in the States, but I am also a bit sad to be missing a few important holidays and parties here in The Netherlands. If all continues to go well, by this time next year we hope to have everything in place to be able to enjoy the best of both worlds - a house in North Haarlem as our home base and some key enhancements to our place in Maryland so that we can spend a few weeks per/season there.
It seems to me that would cover just about everything….except some consistent sunshine. What do you think Beth? Go for a third? ;-)

Old Fart

Well, today it’s official. Beth and I have both crossed the 40 year barrier. This brings us into a whole new checkbox category on government forms. What is the standard label beside our new box - Middle aged? Elderly? Old Fart? I guess that it all depends upon your perspective. When you look at someone like Beth’s pap, who is still going strong at 94, we would probably be considered carefree youngsters.

All in all we’re both pretty happy with 40. Oh sure, it would always be better with a few less wrinkles, a few more hairs, but I suppose that those types of things are to be expected. As long as we’re wearing out hiking shoes faster than couch cushions, we’ll stay young at heart and continue waking up with a smile - just like this morning, right Beth? ;-)

Cheers!

Dan

Road Trip!!!!!

We pulled out onto the deserted streets of North Haarlem at 4:30 AM on Friday morning with the wipers quietly swooshing a foggy drizzle from the windshield. The weather seemed to improve with elevation as we climbed the Ardennes in Belgium and by the time we were at the foot of the French Alps it was a warm, clear blue sky. 20 hours of beautiful scenery and 1 questionable flophouse later we were shedding our fall clothing for shorts and t-shirts on sun drenched Mediterranean coast of Spain. What a difference a few thousand kilometers can make!

Our friends Frank and Natasja invited us to join them for a week at their vacation home in the traditional Mediterranean village of Pego, which is less than 10 kilometers from the sea, but light years from the tourist trammeled beaches between Alacante and Valencia. The entire Pego valley maintains its roots in authentic Spain.

The trip centered around remodeling the kitchen in their vacation home. It turned out to be a complete gutting and restarting from scratch. The work was fun, the food was outstanding, the scenery was beautiful, and the company was gezellig. Hope you enjoy the pics!

Morning view

Our morning view from the main terrace while eating breakfast....breathtaking!

Our hosts

Frank and Natasja - our generous hosts along with Franks pride and joy....Paellea!

Working?

Some of us helped put in a new kitchen....

Scotsman

Can you guess Alan's nationality? He was very proud of the 2 Euro tartan shorts that he bought the night before in Benidorm.

Still relaxing?

It seems to me that this was taken much later in the day...Beth is STILL on the deck lounging!

Sunset

Sunset over Pego from the pool deck.

Outdoor kitchen

Since the indoor kitchen was completely gutted, we cooked on the outside terrace in this second kitchen. Beth is trying to learn how to make Paellea.

The work crew

It was late. We had already downed too much wine. The picture is terrible....but we all have big smiles on our faces.

Pool

Great tile work and a nature preserve give the pool a private Spanish feel.

Orange Groves

The main terrace overlooks a valley of orange groves. We were awaken one morning by a group of loud Spanish fruit pickers...obviously they didn't have the same late night that we had.

Calamari

Not the best picture, but check out this Calamari...it's the whole damned squid! Lekker!

Montpellier

We couldn't drive through Montpellier, France without stopping to visit old friends. We had a great meal out and enjoyed walking around my old haunts. I've spent so much time in this city that it feels like a second (or would that be third?) home.

Luxembourg

We also spent a night in Luxembourg. The city is on the UNESCO world heritage list for it's intact medevial architecture. It reminded us of a Walt Dinsey attraction...a little too sterile and pretentious for our taste...although the setting was georgeous.

Still growing

This abbey (now a museum) sits outside the city walls in the river gorge. All the cranes in the background show how much this ancient city is still growing.

Echternach

A cool little village that we found turned out to be a great jumping off point for a lot of Ardennes hiking.

Hiking

Some great hiking and scenery on the border with Germany.

Castles

It seems that there are an inordinate amount of castles in Luxembourg. You see them perched above almost every village. Maybe it has something to do with Luxembourg's stratigic location at the bullseye between so many other larger (and almost continuously waring) nations. This castle overlooks a beautiful valley in the village of Vianden.