Tuesday 3 April 2012
The comfortable guest house of Roos and Henri was hard to leave at 8 AM but like a well - oiled machine we were up and out the door 15 minutes from the time Charles’ alarm went off. (It’s so unusual to turn over in the bed or move in any way and not feel the whole van shake slightly either when you are moving or the other two are.) We were rested and ready to visit Eindhoven where both Roos and Henri work. Nicole packed sandwiches and we jumped in Roos’ car to drive the 35 minutes to her partner Ingrid’s house.
On the way we stopped at her old high school to see the flock of kids arriving on hordes of bicycles – many already parked in the yard. The kids ride like they were born doing it and many don’t even hold the handlebars. (We saw Ingrid’s niece checking her phone or iPod while riding on the back and gracefully moving with the drivers bumps and curves.) The daffodils in yellow and white were coming into full bloom along the streets and we pulled into Ingrid’s house (designed by her architect boyfriend Paul) at about 10AM.
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| Schoolboys parking their bikes |
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| The words posted designate the levels of schoolchildren; advanced, regular, etc. |
The house was marvelous. Using natural materials accented by large windows and decorated with muted paintings and some of Ingrid’s sculpture, we were blown away on the tour she gave of the three stories. Every wall could be opened and moved to make another space or to uncover another room. The indoor/outdoor motif was beautifully carried out with balconies and terraces overlooking the courtyard (that Paul also designed) and the two steeples of the tall church nearby. As we were getting ready to take Roos’ car on the errand of fixing our computer, we were asked to come back inside where Paul presented us with a book about his architecture. We were delighted and asked if he would inscribe it to Dian’s dad – “a colleague architect”.
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| Paul, Roos and Ingrid |
Bouyed by the generosity of virtual strangers we drove through downtown Eindhoven with it’s many modern and humorous architectural sculptures and buildings – it was bombed heavily in World War II. We drove to the little Apple repair shop Charles had researched and with Dian carrying our laptop on a blanket like a sick animal going to the vet, we greeted Ancella and her partner, Rolf who both let out a low whistle. This meant we had a screen that was barely hanging on due to hinges bent during a fall and they could see it was going to be difficult. To make this long story longer, we had our precious laptop in our hands 30 minutes later with a very creative "fix" and a promise to give them tips on what to see in L.A. the next time they were visiting the states. We were grateful that they had tried to find a solution that fit us and didn't include buying a whole new screen (600 Euros+).
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| Fun architecture abounds! |
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| Charles, Rolf and Ancella |
After filling up Roos' car with diesel we headed to the graffii area in Eindhoven where the bicycles go under the highway in a four leaf clover pattern. All the walls were covered with art and we spent an hour looking. Nicole caught some of it with her camera and we left feeling like we'd seen one of the top ten street art spots in Europe.
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| Nicole embraces every travel experience |
After getting a new battery charger for our camera, we headed back to Ingrid's house where we saw Roos walking Mabel. We stayed for a minute then walked to a couple of shops - one of which was a Peace library and the other a 34 year old comic book store where Dian found two antique Daisy Duck bowls (known as Katrina).
We had a chance to congratulate Paul's son who had just gotten picked to be the goalie for the national field hockey team (at 16!) - he showed us his brand new gear then we left for Neerkant.
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| Rolf and his gear |
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While Dian and Charles were getting lost
Nicole stayed back and took Mabel for a walk |
While Charles and Dian went out to buy a few groceries for the dinner they would make the next night, Roos whipped up a feast of "spicy chicken" over rice with delicious side condiments and wine. (Unfortunately the 30 minute round trip had taken Charles and Dian 2 hours since they took a wrong turn. Roos exclaimed, "How could you drive all over Morocco and not get lost and then get lost here...?")
We went to sleep soon after hearing about Henri's police raid on a gypsy family that Nicole and Roos had watched on the national news.
We had a chance to congratulate Paul's son who had just gotten picked to be the goalie for the national field hockey team (at 16!) - he showed us his brand new gear then we left for Neerkant.
On the way we stopped at her old high school to see the flock of kids arriving on hordes of bicycles – many already parked in the yard. The kids ride like they were born doing it and many don’t even hold the handlebars. (We saw Ingrid’s niece checking her phone or iPod while riding on the back and gracefully moving with the drivers bumps and curves.) The daffodils in yellow and white were coming into full bloom along the streets and we pulled into Ingrid’s house (designed by her architect boyfriend Paul) at about 10AM.
Bouyed by the generosity of virtual strangers we drove through downtown Eindhoven with it’s many modern and humorous architectural sculptures and buildings – it was bombed heavily in World War II. We drove to the little Apple repair shop Charles had researched and with Dian carrying our laptop on a blanket like a sick animal going to the vet, we greeted Ancella and her partner, Rolf who both let out a low whistle. This meant we had a screen that was barely hanging on due to hinges bent during a fall and they could see it was going to be difficult. To make this long story longer, we had our precious laptop in our hands 30 minutes later with a very creative "fix" and a promise to give them tips on what to see in L.A. the next time they were visiting the states. We were grateful that they had tried to find a solution that fit us and didn't include buying a whole new screen (600 Euros+).
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