Oh, don’t laugh and 100 Things I Love About the Netherlands # 17:

I love the town of Groningen.

OH, DON’T LAUGH

So finally we could enjoy an afternoon and out with friends on their boat, the Hendrik-Salvador.

I mean, we were promised numerous outings for almost four years now, but somehow we only managed to get on board on one occasion, two years ago. That is mostly due to our private zoo that we can’t and don’t want to leave alone for too long and our friends normally keep their boat in a harbour that is almost an hours drive from our house. But last Saturday afternoon we left all the four-legged hairy and two-legged feathery ones to fend for themselves for the afternoon and jumped on board of the lovely boat that our friends temporarily rented a space for in a harbour in the town of Groningen, not far from our house. We were going to enjoy a view of the town from the water. With him being the captain, her being a fantastic cook and taking care of the catering on board, another friendly friend, who just keeps laughing and giggling when he’s had his first glass of wine, joining us we were ready for an afternoon and early evening full of fun.

ANYWAY…

It started out alright.

The weather was good (it is unusually warm and dry this Spring in the Netherlands).

The harbour, surrounded by lovely colourful houses.

I even spotted an Indian. He was looking in a different direction.

And then we left the harbour to sail (is it called ‘sailing’ even though it isn’t a sailing ship?) through the town of Groningen.

We sailed (?) past a real sailing ship, the Ecolution, initiated by the first Dutch astronaut; Wubbo Ockels.

A very interesting ship; if you follow the Ecolution-link (after you’ve read this post of course), you can find out everything about it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first bridge opened to let us through, the second bridge did too (interesting blue underside),

the third bridge opened in a different way…,

and then we came to this bridge.

It stayed closed.

Oh sure, HE could go through…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and THEY could go through…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…but we had to wait for one-and-a-half-hours before that bridge would open to let US through. Apparently bridge keepers have to eat too. And I suppose they take a nap after dinner. And then they have coffee. And then they kiss their wife and kids goodbye, hop on their bike and cycle to the bridge to open it for innocent people who own a boat that is just slightly too high to go under the bridge.

ANYWAY…

We decided to turn the boat around and go back to enjoy a bit of the countryside around Groningen. Perhaps we could go into Groningen from the other side of town. So we went back and came to this bridge…

…that THEY could go under, but WE couldn’t. And since the bridge keeper was enjoying his dinner…

ANYWAY…

There was nothing else for us to do than moor the boat and enjoy the idyllic view… (of a whole row of portaloos hmmm)…

…have a nap…

…watch the ducks swim past…

…open another bottle of Prosecco…and hate envy people in a rowing boat…

 

 

…and one-and-a-half-hours later the bridge finally opened and let us through to sail (?) back to the harbour, because it was getting too late for us to do the whole Groningen-tour that night.

On our way back the guys on board decided to inspect the motor compartment. While we were sailing (?). In the other direction! No one was steering the ship. But did we, women, panic? No, we didn’t. We’d had a lot of Prosecco. It does wonders for one’s ability to relax and enjoy the sunshine…

 

 

AAAAANYWAY…

The food was great, the wine was very enjoyable too, as was the company. So we did have a fun time.

 

The next day I got a second chance to take photos of the town of Groningen, from the water. Our friends had invited some other people (some I knew, some I didn’t) to do the Groningen-tour by boat and then sail the boat back all the way to its original harbour all the way up in the province of Groningen and invited me and hubs to join them. Hubs decided to stay at home to take care of the animals, so I could enjoy the entire journey.

Some previews (I’ll post more photos later this week):