Villa Augustus

This morning we picked up our rental car in Utrecht. As we were about to leave I noticed that I couldn’t get my phone to map the route to Dordrecht where we going to spend the day with family. I asked the fellow at Hertz who was showing me the car for instructions. He gave me a few to get me on the route, but failed to tell me about the navigation system built into the car. Soon we were lost. I discovered that the car had a functional mapping system, but it was in Dutch. Fortunately, I was able to bumble my way to the settings and change it to English. We were on our way! Sort of. The system seems to have chosen for us the most scenic route to Dordrecht, not the fastest. However, we arrived soon enough that we were still able to do all that Jessica and Ruben had planned for us. And, that was a lot!

On arrival, we were greeted by Jessica, Ruben, Peter and Atie. Jessica soon picked up their son from school and after a bit of socializing at the house we walked into town and went for lunch at a very nice restaurant. It offers a variety of meals made using mostly ingredients from their own garden just outside the restaurant. After the lunch meal, we then walked through that garden and over to one of the canals in the centre of town where we went on a narrated boat cruise along the main waterways. Dordrecht is a very old town and has a long and rich history as a significant port.

After the boat tour we walked over to one of the only remaining windmills in the area. It still functions, and volunteers use it to grind various grains into flour. A mixer is used to combine the grains which are then sold in the store inside the base of the windmill. I was able to ascend several steep staircases to view the gears and ingenious mechanics that are used to convert wind into the mechanical energy used to turn the large grinding stones. We were able to get a nice view of the city from the deck located on the outside of the windmill, just below the sails.

After visiting the windmill, we walked back to Jessica’s house where Ruben was busy preparing a bbq dinner for us. Laura and her fiancée Martijn had arrived to join us for dinner. Ruben is a very good cook and we were served roast with grilled vegetables and shrimp. Following dinner we had a beverage and an ice cream and just sat around in the back patio talking.

Ruben helped me download the Google road map for most of the Netherlands onto my phone and then connect my phone to the rental car’s screen using Apple AirPlay. It was amazing. Made it home in half the time it took to get to Dordrecht!Read more