Today was lovely. A lazy day. I got up at 10, showered, shaved (it’s amazing how – all of a sudden – the hair on my legs is irritating and must be sliced away). I had a leisurely breakfast of a roll with soft goat cheese on one side, butter and Baemster cheese on the other, a hard boiled egg, some strawberry jam into which the goat cheese side was occasionally dipped, a glass of tropical juice, and a cup of Earl Grey tea with milk. I sat on the bench in the garden. I read my book. I tidied my stuff.
I really don’t know where most of my day went. I spent a few hours on the internet trying to plan my trip through Northern France and Southern England (like they’re proper names). It seems that I’ll be crossing the Channel November 2 at 8:00 am from Cherbourg. I’ll be leaving Amsterdam the 24th or 25th (A. and M. return from their honeymoon Sunday the 23rd, so I’ll stay to visit and hear all about their fantastic trip to Tuscany and Umbria).
The day was closed out by dinner with the “swimming”club. A different mix of folks come each week and this week there were two women I’d not met at last week. Delightful people. Good food, good conversation. I rode the bike there – gave myself 45 minutes for a 20 minute ride and got there in 55 minutes. Saw much of the neighbourhood and it is nice with early 20th century apartment building blocks each with a different twist. The ride home – 20 minutes, tops.
Yesterday was also a lovely day full of peace and then grocery shopping. I went to the Botanical Garden – der Hortus. It is small – 1.6 hectar – but there is an amazing assortment of plants. Peaceful. The Palm House was a nice place to sit and review my photos, delete, delete, delete. I'm now down to 150 of the very best.
I also spent about an hour knitting. They have a number of benches along one wall of the main building. These benches were in the shade when I started knitting, but were full in the sun when I decided to leave. The late afternoon Fall sun was magnificent coming through the trees and setting the already red vines aflame.
Listen to me. Waxing all poetical. Hmmm. You can tell it’s almost 1am. Sleep is calling. So is Delft.
Tomorrow I head to Delft. I’ve a sneaking suspicion I will spend too much money, but I am prepared for this. I’ll be visiting the Royal Delft factory for a tour and a painting workshop where I get to paint my own tile with the Delft technique. I’m ridiculously excited about the workshop. Also about the factory shop. Nothing of a discount, but the selection will be vast. I wonder if everyone will receive Delft pottery this Christmas? That’s the beauty of travelling before the holidays – I can bring everyone little food products (Belgian chocolates, for instance) for the immediate return and save the good gifts for holiday gifts, not souvenirs. Hee hee. Must do it that way, have no room in the pack. Who am I kidding. I already know I’ll have to check the pack and carry on some enormous shopping bag.
Sleep calls.
I’ll finish the weekend posts tomorrow evening.
No comments:
Post a Comment