July 20, 2000

Went to Valkenburg which is a touristy town but mainly for the Dutch themselves or the Germans. They still have lots of tourist shops, though, with souvenirs of Holland so I could get some birthday presents for the family. The town is a very historic town which is built on the site of the old castle which is mostly in ruins now. But there are signs of the old castle everywhere including walls and arched gateways that you walk through. On top of the hill stands part of the old castle and you can walk up to it and look around the ruins. The day we went, however, it was extremely cold and very wet so we didn’t go up to the old ruins and we didn’t look around the old coal mines there that aren’t used anymore. We are supposed to be going back there soon and will do those things then. I still absolutely adored the town though. It was so old and you walk down the cobblestone streets. The history here never ceases to amaze me and I am right in my element. It was so cold so we had lunch at this great little restaurant that had a fire burning inside to keep us warm. We really needed it. The town is also very hilly which is extremely rare in Holland. It is right down the very bottom of the country and is very scenic. I can’t wait to see more of the town.

Also that day, we stopped to look at one of the man made channels here that ships travel down. They are totally amazing. This one we stopped to explore ran right beside the highway and it is really strange to be driving along the highway with a big ship passing beside you and higher than you. That is a real experience. I can’t really describe it properly but basically the channel is higher than you and all you see is the embankment beside you with this huge ship sitting on top of the embankment. The level of the water is about 15 metres higher than the road. Very weird feeling J The channels were made because the rivers are tidal and unpredictable in their height and shipping is an important business here so these channels were made where they can control the depth of them and they are so amazing. These waterways are dug by hand with no machines at all and they are as straight as a line. These channels were built in the 19th century and are common to the south of Holland and the North East of Belgium around the Maas River. As I said, they were built for internal ships which are very long, flat and wide, strange looking ships which carry a maximum of 600 tons. The part we stopped to look at is called a sluice with 2 doors and between the 2 doors it is like a huge bath tub. On one side of the doors the water is about 20 metres higher than the other side of the doors. When ships get to this sluice they wait inside the bath tub part. While we were there, there were a few boats which had come from the lower side and were waiting to go to the higher side of the channel. As we watched, they had the doors closed on the lower side and they were letting the water into the bath tub from the higher side and when it reaches the same height then the boats and ships can continue on their way. They have these floating things along the sides of the bath tub too which is for the boats to tie up to and as the water rises then these anchoring things and the boats rise too. When the water level is the same height, the boats continue and this also works in reverse. It happens quite fast too with the water in the bath tub rising the 20 metres in about 10 minutes. The edges of the doors are made of timber which is more flexible and you can hear the groaning of the timber and steel under pressure as the water rises. Basically, when you have a hill or something to cross then they build the canal in stages with a sluice between each level and they can then control the level of the water in each part of the canal. It is really amazing engineering work. In Holland you can basically go by ship up a hill. It was so amazing to watch the actual practice taking place.

At the moment it is fair time over here and all the towns have these great little fairs in the streets. The fairs are like sideshow alley at the ekka but it is in the streets and they go for a few days. The other night we went to the one in Valkenswaard where Hans’ dad lives and it is quite a large one. They had dodgems, the octopus, adventureland which is like the ghost train, a huge ferris wheel, bungee ball that shoots you up into the air, heaps of other rides, candy stalls that sell all kinds of candy sticks and lollipops (I had to buy a lollipop and candy stick to send home to Lucas), as well as lucky ticket stalls, game stalls, and food stalls. The fairy floss stall blew me away a bit. They have heaps of different sizes so Hans bought me a super bag and it was the size of my pillow. And that was only the third size J Here they call it suiker spin (sugar spin). It was delicious too J There was also a ride that looked a little like the wipeout but instead of a wave, it resembled a windmill of course. And something that totally amazed me was they had poker machines for anyone to walk up and play. I couldn’t believe it. Sitting right there set around in a square as a stall were poker machines. That really had me in awe. They had the same thing with pinball machines and those machines where you try to pick up a toy with the forked thing. We all (we went with Hans parents too) had a great time at the fair and the atmosphere was great. They had no fireworks this year though as it was decided after that fireworks factory exploded earlier in the year that they wouldn’t have any this year. I presume that applies to all the fairs.

There was also a much smaller version of the fair here in Maarheeze too so I walked into town the other day and had a look around. It was very small though and only had a few rides, a few stalls and that was about it. The fair here in town is actually where I bought the candy sticks for Lucas. There is a huge fair in the town of Tilburg which is about 45minutes from here that starts on Saturday 22nd and finishes Sunday 30th July. It is supposed to be the largest fair in the Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) region if not the largest in Europe. That is the town where Hans brother lives so I think we are supposed to be going there for dinner and then to the fair one evening. I am really looking forward to it so much. Another thing about the fairs here is that they start about midday and go till about midnight every day. I suppose considering it doesn’t get dark here till about 10pm then that isn’t so late.

Things sure are strange over here and I am loving the experience of finding out the different cultures and lifestyles. Here some shops open on Sunday afternoons and most shops are closed every Monday. It is strange to get used to. Although many shops do open for a few hours on the Monday afternoon. It is also summer vacation here and shops just close for the holidays. I went to the chemist and newsagency here in town the other day only to find that they have closed for a couple of weeks holidays. Apparently free time is becoming increasingly important here and people would rather more holidays than pay rises. So businesses shut for a couple of weeks holiday regardless of the loss in income. I was dumbfounded. The food is also very different. I am totally hooked on the salads here. They have all these delicious creamy salads like potato salad. There is an abundance of different potato salads and I am addicted to egg salad sandwiches now. Not to forget the yummy chicken curry salad, beef salad, egg and bacon salad, bacon salad, salmon salad, tuna salad, etc. They are sooooooooo nice and perfect for me as they don’t really have any veges in them J Coleslaw doesn’t appear to be common here though and when I have seen it, it is called American coleslaw or English coleslaw. The lifestyle here is so relaxed and friendly. One thing I enjoy doing is going for walks in the forest next to the town. There are marked walking trails where people take their dogs for walks and it is so peaceful and clean and fresh. The red trail is a 25minute walk, the blue is 40minutes and the yellow is one hour. I have only taken the red trail so far but intend to try out the blue next time I go. When we go, it is to take the dog for a walk. It is nice in the evenings. By the way, evening here is considered to be 6pm till midnight and then night is midnight till about 6am.

Am also getting used to the language a lot more too. I find myself saying nee (pronounced nay) automatically now and more often than I say no.