Netherlands #6of6

(Except Amsterdam and Giethoorn)

In Zwolle we stopped at an electrical store to buy some lamps, etc., to install a better lighting system in the RV for reading books. Two lamps and all the rest cost $13. Low price, but now I must do some work, but it was worth the effort. While looking around the town of Zwolle we found they were remodeling a beautiful old building into a McDonald’s.

We wanted to buy some oranges in an outdoor market, but the man would not sell unless he selected them himself, so he no sell. The flea market had a lot of more-or-less permanent stalls, but we bought only a small pink depression-glass bowl. This flea market was small and not worth much time or effort.

One year, during repairs on our 1977 Dodge Cobra Van, we joined the mechanics during their coffee break. They were unhappy with the amount of money and the things the Dutch government gives to people who do nothing, and they have nothing good to say about the American hippies who lay around on the streets. One man’s son gets paid less as a solider, than is paid to street people. They are also unhappy with all the South Americans who are messing up Amsterdam streets.

Another year we again stopped in Amersfoot and looked for the same garage, as we now needed repairs on the electrical system, for our 1978 Dodge Transvan. We asked directions only one time, and found the garage, just fine. I showed the manager a picture of the other Dodge, and he remembered us.

They checked a few things, and were going to take the dashboard apart and mess around under there. I suggested they check the gadget that permits both the truck and the RV batteries to charge, but keeps them separate otherwise. That was the problem, and they happened to have the needed part.

The one night we have spent in a B & B in Europe, was in a small town near Amsterdam. Our hosts had a very nice, but very cold home. Bob had worked as a steward for KLM, and they rent this house from the Airline retirement fund for about one-third what it would normally cost.

Bob fixed our breakfast — soft boiled eggs, cold cuts, moldy bread — but we saw no more of Janet. They were “papering” their dining room wall with wine bottle corks, cut in half. Bet it didn’t take them long to finish.