Netherlands/Berlin Trip - Dordrecht      4th July:

Catching Up on My Blog

    I heard a light rain fall for a short while during the night. The random, gentle pitter patter was strangely comforting; I was content to lay there in a state of limbo between wakefulness and sleep, just drifting along absorbing the sounds entering just the one of my five senses that was functioning at this time of the night.
    The first few hours of the day were spent laundering, food shopping, and shopping for a pillow and shorts for Rex. We found a store that sold shorts, and Rex perused a variety of shorts that seemed to hold an appeal for him. It was a job trying to decipher the sizes (Britain does not share the same size descriptions as our continental partners) but we eventually found a code that seemed to indicate small, medium, large, extra-large etc. Off he went to try a pair on, and he appeared through a curtain a few minutes later wearing a pair of shorts that might have fitted my grandson. A few women standing nearby looked at each other and smiled. A young female shop assistant could not believe what she was seeing. I think Rex twigged that all was not right, and re-appeared a few minutes later in his usual attire. A brief conversation with the assistant revealed that there is a slight difference between Dutch and English versions of medium. She located a large pair for him, and now he could wear the revised shorts without the castrato voice. Now he could clean and tidy Duonita for Meryl's arrival in comfort.
    Our neighbours from Poole passed by to say farewell. They were heading down to Willemstad. I do hope it was a trifle cooler down there.
    No sooner had they departed when Rex received a call from Meryl. The taxi driver who was meant to drive her to the Harwich ferry terminal had forgotten to pick her up, but fortunately she managed to get there in time. Then she discovered the ferry was running late. This was due to the French dockers' strike at Calais, resulting in many trucks being diverted from Dover to Harwich into order to cram onto the ferry.
    I watched yet another of the small pleasure craft loaded with tourists circle around Nieuwe Haven, then I did a double take. The occupants all belonged to a wedding party. Sunny pastel dresses and smart suits were the order of the day; strewth, wearing a suit in a heatwave like this. A smaller boat circled around them, complete with a cameraman videoing the occasion, the kids in the wedding party excitably telling their parents that they were being videoed.

Wedding Party in Nieuwe Haven

    To celebrate completion of all our jobs, Rex and I strolled off in the direction of the Groothoofdpoort, stopping off at a lovely art gallery by the Wolwevershaven. It contained a tasty collection of old and modern works in a delightfully laid out, airy studio. Rex admired one or two pieces, commenting that he must bring Meryl along to get her reactions to his chosen favourites.
    At the Groothoofdpoort we enjoyed soft drinks and coffee again, content to just watch the world go by. Being Saturday, there was a noticeable reduction in the number of barges plying their trade across this busy waterway intersection.

Buildings on Wolwevershaven

    We weaved a course back down Wijnhaven, taking in the odd fascinating antique shop. Rex stumbled across a music shop that had him enthralled. Hundreds of vinyl LPs from his era were stored in boxes, and he happily reminisced with the shop keeper for a while about this obscure singer or that unheard of group.
    Back at the boat I fell into conversation with our German neighbours, a couple from Duisburg. The chap informed me he wanted to sell his underpowered sail boat and buy a motor boat that could handle the Rhine and other great rivers. Having no mast, it would also give him diversity in the choice of canal routes in the Netherlands. The Baltic appealed to them, but he said it would take them six hours to drive to say Heiligenhafen. The bloke did mention that things are cheaper in Germany than in the Netherlands. For example, to keep his boat in Heiligenhafen over summer, it would cost 500 euros, and 400 euros for winter. Now that is cheap.

Rex and Meryl by Villa Augusta

    Meryl turned up at 17:40, a little bemused due to all the unplanned happenings on her journey. It was good to see her again, and Rex was understandably as happy as a sand boy. After a hasty freshening up, we set off on a route march across town to the Villa Augustus restaurant, catching up on gossip as we strode along. The layout of the city slowly flooded back to Meryl, but once we were out on the Noordendijk, the land was totally new to the couple, indeed they were surprised we were so near to the Biesbosch.
    I took them along a back road which afforded them a surprise spectacular view of the large, ornate water tower on its water front. It was a lovely setting, apart from a miniature Somme of dog poop on the grass bank where they stood.
    The duo found the entrance to the restaurant, which was housed in the old pumping station, a little treasure. It was the Market-Cafe, complete with a lot of the features of the old pumping station still in place.
    Once inside the restaurant proper, we were given the option of eating indoors or outdoors; we chose the latter. Soon we had an army of keen youngsters waiting on us hand and foot. We pushed the boat out and enjoyed some splendid food, with vegetables straight from the garden in front of us. As the temperature dropped and a breeze got up, shawls were provided to those ladies who wanted them. Very civilised.
    The massive gardens impressed Rex and Meryl, who were keen gardeners themselves. Indeed Rex regarded them as being better than some of those belonging to stately homes back in the UK. Rex and Meryl really did enjoy the restaurant I had chosen for them
    On our way back to Duonita we came across hundreds of stalls being set up around the city. Hmm.... something to check out tomorrow.