A few days ago, our American “mom” received her Netherlands permanent residence document!
(Verblijfsvergunning onbepaalde tijd) . We are so very happy for her
(Wij zijn erg blij) .
She can stay forever in the Netherlands with no more mountains of paperwork to do. Even though she is married
(getrouwd) to our Dutch “father” ( and of course could stay in Holland because of that fact), she still had to renew her permit every so often. It was always a bit of a worry for both our “father” and “mom”. Now, no more worries
(geen zorgen meer) and we can say:
Congratulations! Hooray! (Gefeliciteerd! Hoera!)She picked-up her permit card in downtown
Utrecht (partial site, in english) (full site, in dutch) ,which is the capital city of the Utrecht province. Confusing? *sometimes we think so, lol* Utrecht is a very old city and was the northern most Roman settlement in this part of Europe, ca. 47 A.D. You can find out more about Utrecht province on
this link to a Wikipedia entry with a map showing its location, which will show you why the province is often called “ The Heart of the Netherlands”
(Hart van Nederland) .
This photo is of the Roman's marker for their former, northern most, settlement point. This marker is located in the plaza by the Dom Church of Utrecht, in the oldest part of the city.
The main canal is the
Oudegracht (old canal) that twists and turns through the old city center, making its way out to the very large Amsterdam-Rhine canal
(Amsterdam-Rijn kanaal) that flows all the way to Amsterdam.
Photo of the Oudegracht (taken from the eastside of Utrecht) in fall colors with the Dom tower in the distance:
Utrecht has many beautiful old buildings and is the city of the Dom Church tower (mentioned above). The Dom, as it's known, is the highest church tower in all of the Netherlands. However, "mom" picked up her permit card at the
not so lovely, ‘newish’, Citizens’ Community Development Services building
(Dienst Maatschappelijke ontwikkeling) , which we are not showing a pic of because it's awful! The building is located on
Kaatstraat. Don’t get too excited, that word “kaat” has nothing to do with the word “kat”.
"Kaatsen" is a field sport played mostly in Friesland, but also in America, France & Belgium!
Sorry to report, but in our opinions (and “mom’s”), some of Utrecht’s newer buildings are just so incredibly ugly
(lelijk) . You wonder sometimes what the architects were thinking!
*cat's eyes rolling*
Luckily, just down from the Citizens’ Community Development Services building, located on
Adelaarstraat 30, stands one of two old inner city windmills
(windmolen) : the Rhine & Sun of Utrecht
(Rijn en Zon te Utrecht) . It’s a fascinating sight to see a windmill right in the middle of a busy city such as Utrecht ; a sight that always makes our “mom” stop to smile and admire.
After picking up her permit, she had some time on her hands. So, with her large Moleskine in her pocket and her graphite pencils, some colored pencils and her waterbrush, she sketched a view towards the windmill.
(click for larger image)
© Judith Nijholt-Strong, 2006"Rijn en Zon windmill from Kaatstraat bridge, Utrecht"7"h x 5"w, in large Moleskine sketchbookPencil, van Gogh watercolor pencils, Micron Ink pen
(Drawn with graphite pencil on site, color added on site, inked in at home)
This is a photo of the windmill Rhine & Sun’s emblem which was glowing on this typically overcast Dutch day.
The windmill has gone through many restorations, the last time in 1979; when it was then used as a grain mill
(kornmolen) . The Rhine & Sun is open on Saturdays and the mill store
(molenwinkel) sells milled flour for home bakers.
Windmills in Holland are often given names, especially the larger ones like the Rhine & Sun
. The other windmill in ‘downtown’ Utrecht is, The Star
(De Ster) , and it’s located at
Molenpark 3, on the west-side of the city on the river
Leidsche Rijn . As it was used as a lumber/saw mill, it had to be located by the water. On Saturdays, The Star, is also open for visitors and you can see it working, busy sawing lumber. The Star windmill at work can be seen on this small film (the audio is in dutch) :
Click here for video.“Mom” also decided to do a drawing of the Dom Church tower rising high in the distance. This was her view, from a canal bridge on Kaatstraat, looking towards the Dom tower. She was on the westside of Utrecht. There was a place to sit, since this took some time to draw!
(click for larger image)
© Judith Nijholt-Strong, 2006"Utrecht's Dom tower from Kaatstraat bridge - westside of Utrecht"7" x 5", in large Moleskine sketchbookPencil, van Gogh watercolor pencils, Micron Ink pen (Drawn on site with graphite pencil, color added on site, inked in at home)We think she likes it here in Utrecht!
So, once again, we say:
Gefeliciteerd, lieve moeder! Nederland sluit je in haar armen, en wij ook!(Congratulations dear mother! Holland embraces you and we do too!) Wow! this was a rare, long, post... we're tired!
(Wij zijn moe!)Tot volgende keer!
Finn & Sacha
P.S. I know it's odd "congratulating" myself via my cats, but as my English friends say: I'm "chuffed" at getting my Netherlands permanent residence permit! ~ Judy :o)
© Judith Nijholt-Strong
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