On the second day of our Netherlands holiday my brother and his wife drove us to Maarssen to visit their son and his family. It was a long journey and Jack was happy that he wasn’t driving as he had already driven from Fife to Harwich earlier in the week.
We always think that the house prices here are eye watering but it’s much the same everywhere I think. It’s obviously the availability of well paid work which pushes up the prices and houses within commuting distance of The Hague are very expensive but stylish I think and there’s a canal at the end of the road with large boats going up and down it. Unfortunately I didn’t get my camera out fast enough, but a large Red Cross boat floated past the end of the street. I had no idea that they took folks away for day trips, maybe it only happens in the Netherlands.
Above is a photo of part of our canalside walk.
And below is just a bit further along the path, the wee white building was originally a tea house and they are dotted all along the canal, some still in use as tea rooms.
Anyway, we felt that we were seeing the ‘real’ Netheralnds where people actually live, off the tourist track, in fact we didn’t go to any touristy places.
It looks to me like the building below was originally a boat house which has been filled in to make a room just above the water level.
These are the sorts of houses where my nephew and his family live, he and his wife had three wee girls within three and a half years, and we all walked along a path by the edge of the local canal, making our way towards a good eatery. I had a huge pineapple and apple filled pancake, apparently a traditional Dutch dish.
I love gates of any kind, whether they’re rickety wooden ones or fancy wrought iron ones like the gates below. I wondered what sort of building they could belong to, but not for long as just a bit further along the path we got to the fancy house which goes with them.
It’s the town hall which is obviously used for weddings, going by the red carpet and stretch limousine. I’m not keen on those big monstrosities, a lovely old vintage car would have been much more stylish but each to their own I suppose.
There are interesting houses and large buildings all along the path and lots of boats travelling on the canal, small privately owned boats as well as large barges. In fact the canal network is well used and they keep a lot of traffic off the roads by using the canals to deliver things, instead of having everything moved around on trucks, as happens in the UK.
More Dutch photos soon.
