Shutters and Doors in Zeeland

 As we walked around Middelburg we noticed the color combination of the shutters. We saw it first on the Stadhuis in the Market Square and then on many other buildings. We learned that different towns have their own colors for their shutters. The one above is the one we see in Middelburg--white and red with a mustard circle. Unfortunately, some of the best are on my cellphone camera, but I think we have enough to give you the idea.

We saw these in Grijpskerke when we went to the ringrider competetion.

And these are very similar from a nearby town, Oostkapelle.

 These were on a building in Veere.

These red and black ones were on the town gate in Zerikzee.

These were on the Rijksmuseam in Amsterdam--a beautiful blue and red.

Today we saw some shutters with this Dutch medallion design that is seen often in the jewelry.

Then there are the doors. Many of the doors are painted with a high gloss paint--usually black, forest green, a dark red, or a deep blue. They are so shiny that when you take a picture of them, you get a reflection.

They also have the family name painted on them in small white lettering at about eye-level.

My mind is working on how to incorporate some of these designs at home!

Market Day

Every Thursday is Market Day here in Middelburg and we are told it has been that way for hundreds of years. Our Thursdays are dwindling down so I thought I had best try to capture the spirit of the day before we have no more Thursdays here.

Since our apartment is right on the main pedestrian street of town and just down from the market square by about a block, we can begin to hear the bustle of the day by about 9am. The tables are usually set out the night before, but those vendors with their own trucks arrive on Thursday morning. There are always lots of shoppers in spite of the cooler temps lately. You should know that I took these pictures at about 3:30pm, so the crowds had definitely thinned.
I have my favorite man who sells socks big enough for Cory and another who sells tablecloths. There is fabric for sale as well as ready to wear. Most of the fabric is on bolts and there is everything from flannel to wool to lace.

There are leather vendors and folks who sell things for bikes--parts, baskets, horns, etc.
There are folks who sell cosmetics and antiques just like Shipsewanna.

There folks who see plastic tablecloth material by the yard and beach towels. Smurfs and Cars are a big deal here.

 Then the food--the guy who does a terrific business with eggrolls,

 and eggs and cheese,

and all sorts of nuts,

the fruit and vegetable vendors,

and fish that is raw, smoked or cooked and ready to eat.

And don't forget the people who make and sell stroopwaffels--yummy! They also sell Belgian waffles--plain or dipped in chocolate.

Everywhere you look people are eating something--stroopwaffels, fried fish, French fries, sandiches (brodjes), or ice cream.
There are also the bulbs of every kind...

On my way to and from the market I saw shop windows that have some interesting decorations. Several have Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet, but this one has speculaas and mandarin oranges. Even the mannequins have parts of cookies in their hands. And it's all displayed on hay for the horse I think.

Then while shopping in the stores I found the ultimate toy--a Sinterklaas Playmobil set with Zwarte Piet, the bag of toys, the white horse and all in a boat from Madrid.

There are chocolate letters in nearly every store--dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate!

And to top it off, the street organ was playing Dutch Christmas songs nearly all day. The man on the right side in the front without a hat is the man who runs the organ. It is named "The Teddy Bear". He has a brass can that he shakes and quite a few people put money in it. I bought a CD of the music today so that I can remember Middelburg and Market day when I'm back in Michigan.

Sinterklaas Arrives

This past weekend Sinterklaas arrived all over Holland. From what we were told, this year he came first to Dordrecht. One of the Dutch cities that has water access (he must arrive by boat) is chosen each year for him to come to first. In 2009 he came to Middelburg first. He arrives by boat (according to legend, from Spain).

We had to go to Amsterdam this weekend to get some pages put in our passports (!) and so we saw bits of the celebration from here to Amsterdam. I had been told it would happen on November 19th, but when the train stopped in Dordrecht on November 12th, there on the platform were about a half dozen 

Zwarte Piets! They were giving out paper hats for the children to wear. Then we noticed a large number of kids and strollers coming from other trains to attend the celebration in Dordrecht.

We went on to Amsterdam and on Sunday, when we got on the tram to go to the Dutch Resistance Museum, we found that all the trams were rerouted that day because of the Sinterklaas Parade. After the museum, we went to the Dam Square which is the activity center of Amsterdam. There were Zwarte Piets everywhere there and the street was nearly brown from the crumbs of the ginger cookies (pepernoten) that they throw.

There were lots of kids dressed as Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet with velvet suits, hats with feathers, and black face too.

When I got back to Middelburg, I downloaded this Youtube video of Sinterklaas coming to Middelburg. I couldn't make it paste the video in, so you'll have to click on the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acTKr8qLgsg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

When he is on the horse riding down the street with the stores, he is riding right under our window. He seems to be collecting children's gift requests. He meets the burgermeister (mayor) in our town square. What fun!!

When I went shopping today I noticed that in spite of the 39 degree temperature, there are still a lot of folks sitting outside for lunch and coffee. There are some heaters near the wall of the building, just below where the awnings attach.

By the way, there are now olieboelen (fat ball) stands that smell fantastic. They come with apples, currants, raisins, pineapple, filled with cherry pie filling or vanilla creme. Amazing.

The windows are decorated with Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet too. This store also had the burlap sack for the toys. I can't figure out how to turn this picture, so you'll just have to turn your head sidewise.

The Roosevelt Study Center

I wanted to be sure that you know that Corwin is really working here. The Fulbright award is hosted by the Roosevelt Study Center which is located here in Middelburg just about 2 blocks from our apartment. It occupies space in the Middelburg Abbey.

This is a large complex with an old convent and a lovely convent garden.

It's a big building that we might call a quadrangle, but it's bigger than that with a large middle courtyard. The Zeeuws Museum is located here also.

There are two or three sanctuaries in the Abbey,

and a very prominent tower, called Lange Jan. Lange Jan can be seen from all over the city.

Corwin goes to his office in the Roosevelt Study Center every day. He has a nice office there and many hospitable Dutch folks who provide answers to our constant questions about how things are done in Holland.

 This little black door is the entrance to the Roosevelt Study Center.

This is the view from Corwin's office window,

the RSC entrance and reception area,

and the library along with one of the student interns who works at the Center.

We had the priviledge of sharing in the 25th anniversary celebration for the center. The Center is named for Teddy, Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt. One of the great-grandsons of FDR spoke at the 25th Anniversary celebration along with several Dutch and American dignataries.

There is also a Roosevelt Academy, opened in 2004, which is a college with 600 students. The majority of the students are Dutch, but about 200 come from other countries. Our apartment is close to the Academy and in the later night we hear mostly English spoken below our window by the many students who are coming or going from some late night events.

In addition, because of the Fulbright award, we were invited to the commemoration of 9/11 held in den Hague on Sunday, September 9th. Again, a lot of dignataries were there including the Dutch Prime Minister and the American Ambassador. This was by invitation and we had to have our ID's checked at the door. This is the church where it was held.

There was a choir and an American soloist.

This is the program cover....it was a very impressive ceremony.

On our way to the ceremony we passed the Royal Palace of Queen Beatrix.

Across the street was a large statue of William of Orange and ....

a monument to Queen Wilhelmina.

After the ceremony on our walk to the train station, we noticed the Escher Museum. Apparently Escher was from den Hague.