Gouda

Gouda 7/25/2011

Arrived Gouda, a longer than usual day of traveling. Ian and Jill on Lena were just in front of us on the quai, so it was nice to see familiar faces. They were staying a couple of days to wait for friends from Australia, one set coming by plane, the other were actually on a barge in Leiden that cheered us out of the harbor - take that any way you need to. Nice folks.

Gouda 7/26/2011

We tried to move to a mooring with shore power this am, but a rather rude boater took up 3 spaces with one boat and refused to move forward or back, so we're still in the same place. Spent evening on Lena with our bunch of Australians, and got a bit rowdy, at least for us. Thoroughly enjoyable evening made up for frustrating am. I have to remember to FEED BILL. He doesn't do well on an empty stomach.

Gouda 7-28-2011
They reinact the the old cheese market in the central market square on Thursdays,

so we went over for a bit.

Huge market of anything cheap you'd want around the edges.

It's held in the center of the city in the market square with the city hall in the center.

It's supposed to be the most photographed building in the Netherlands, and you can understand why.

In the afternoon we went over to St Jan to do the church tour.

Wonderful place.

Just jammed with good energy. We weren't allowed to take photos of the interior, so you'll just have to be content with photos of the equally charming surrounding area.

It included a small chapel that you accessed by walking through a covered passage over a small canal.

We got times confused and missed the organ concert, but halfway through the church a gentleman began playing a violin in the choir. The accoustics were really amazing, and it was a most unexpected and wonderful experience. I have always had a sense that you can tell from the building somehow which churches are actively used as places of worship, and which are basically shells. This one is definitely vibrant on Sundays, we're planning on going back this Sunday to see.

Gouda 7-29-2011

Have been meaning to check the boat batteries and top off with distilled water if necessary, good thing we did. They were really low. I think we ended up putting well over a gallon into the four batteries. Had to hike down to the local chandelry to buy more, best for us was a 20 liter (HEAVY!!!) jug that we then took turns carrying back. Took pretty much from 9 - noon to get it done, with Bill using his yoga to turn into a contortionist, first to get to the batteries, then to service them. We have managed to find the library (where you can get free internet and, incidentally, top off batteries on your electronic devices!!!), and very nice it is.

Can you believe this is the public library???

They have a really lovely cafe in what may have been the former outbuildings of whatever place this originally was. The snacks, sweets and drinks were not too overpriced, the staff was amazingly nice, and they had magazines I could read while Bill did his thing on the computer. We did get to send a few messages that way and, from our perspective more important, we got to check the weather forecasts (and hijack electricity to recharge phones, MP3s, e-readers, etc). The rain doesn't bother us too much, but boy when the wind really blows we don't want to be fighting it in a boat that just acts like a big sail even if it does have a motor. We're setting up our plans for the next week and the rest of the summer. More later when we think we know what we're doing! Love yas