Somewhere on one of those official documents that we all have drawerfuls of, I have one, possibly a driving licence, wherein the issuing body has decided to use only the first part of my name and replace the rest with random characters, thus EDWARALOO. I mention this only because I was reminded of it by the start point for yesterday’s ride which moved us fom the overnight stop at Dwingaloo to Westerbork via a circuitous oute that you will have ead about elsewhere. (The R key has gone a bit intemittent, soy.)
While I'm talking about Dwingaloo, I meant to put this closeup of the "onion" atop the chuch in yesteday's "view from the hotel" picture, so hee it is:
I have taken to iding with a camea slung round me all the time, now that I have woked out how to do it without geatly increasing the isk of stangling myself if something bad happens, this means I am able to grab views of the oad ahead and surrounding scenery without having to stop and fumble in a camera bag each time, thus scenes like these:
I am however getting ahead of myself as they are from later in the day. The rain in the picture at the top of this post, (which also doubles as the "view from the hotel window" picture) and the fact that we didn't have to have our luggage ready for collection by 9am, and Sarah displaying some cold symptoms all conspired to mean that we didn't get on the bike 'till well after midday. I took a wander around Westerbork in the rain in the morning, and found the windmill of the day for you as I know that that is all you came by for:
(If I'd thought to do a video instead of a still photo you could have enjoyed the old piece of dishwasher revolving as a water feature at the rear right of the scene.)
I don't know if Jackie White is reading any of this stuff, (or anyone else for that matter? Hello, is there anyone there?) If so, here is the town library, directly opposite the windmill above:
As always, click image for larger version, and yes, every library we've seen has been as pretty
By late morning the rain was easing off and we ventured forth. The planned trip today was a round trip of about 60km, but we decided that we would head off to a preserved village (Orvelte, Google for it, I only took a 'phone camera as it was raining) for a look around and see how we felt after. Very pretty, filled with plenty of subversive shops designed to part simple townyfolk from their punishingly expensive Euros (or YoYos as they're known in parts of Ireland apparently.) Happily we were reasonably safe as the Tandem has limited capacity to bring home a life-sized Noddy Holder themed elf:
We did a circuit of the village in a light drizzle, Sarah decided that she was feeling much better for being out and about (feather pillow allergy we now think,) so we made off for the national Hunebed centre. We headed to the café on our arrival for a meal of spicy brains:
Unfortunately, despite arriving before the place closed we had spent enough time in the café that we weren't allowed in. Ho hum. We'd spotted a potential eatery in Orvelte so it was back there for supper thence home for a shower and bed...
Ah, yes, I was going to do something about hotels, but it's late, and I need my bed, so I'll be brief.
That shower and bed, were sadly both located in the “Abdij de Westerburcht.”
Imagine if you will a hotel decorated entirely by someone who wanted to create a Bavarian Gothic castle feel, but whose only experience of such things was derived from Disney films. We are in a small broom cupboard at the back of the hotel with a good view of next door’s garden shed for an outlook. Frank would go home from a stay here with all his prejudices about “abroad” safely intact.
I’ve just run “Abdij” through Google’s online translation thingy, and I’m surprised to learn that it means “abbey,” not “mock-Gothic monstrosity” as I had assumed. Behind the fibreglass stonework and the school-drama-dept standard castle doors there is a very ordinary 1970s Dutch hotel, and absolutely no evidence of any abbey. Happily I can report that the three other hotels we've stayed in since starting this adventure have all been lovely.
(I'll let Sarah do Hunebeds in a future post.)
Night night,
Someone is here. A few days late for reasons that can, or won't be explained at a later date.
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