Between the ships that are moored here for the winter some spaces are popular with fishermen and herons alike – as proven by this picture. We did not witness a feeding-session but are convinced the fishermen create lazy herons by their habit to feed undersized fish to the herons instead of putting them back into the water. Possibly they -the little fish- are too damaged to replace though, who knows? Anyway, the herons are the lucky ones. (They -the herons- are astonishing sh*t-producers, by the way!)

And now ladies and gentlemen… we proudly present our new winter-covers to all of you! Around the wheelhouse as well as on top of the two dog-boxes (‘koekoeks’). As you can see our view is not obscured, since we now have high quality plastic windows on the outside of the existing ones. It approaches the effect of double glazing as far as the wheelhouse is concerned and protects all the wooden parts – which is especially nice as far as the dog-boxes are concerned. We need tentroof-shaped covers, because the front dog-box is the emergency-escape from the underneath situated bedroom. A tight cover would make it impossible to escape, if the occasion would arise. Hopefully not.

Our very good friends Barry & Sylvia visited us on Thursday the 27th. On a former occasion, we booked for a tour by boat to view the city of Amersfoort. It was new to our visitors and they liked it very much – as we did again. The guide for the tour is preparing for the task that is awaiting him. (We are looking at the front of the -open- boat.)

This is the view when leaving the tunnel-like bridge, as shown in the distance by the former picture. The Piet Mondriaan-museum is visible on the right-hand side, where the vertical red flag flows. The museum is a former school where Piet Mondriaan’s father was the headmaster; a part of the building served as family-home. Especially abroad his family name is often spelled Mondrian.

The white house that was already visible in the background two pictures back shows a sign of richness as well: toilets. They’re visible here on the outside. Mind you though: the upper storey housed the servants and self-evidently did not have a luxury toilet.

The foundations of the inner, demolished, city-wall were used to build houses on, properly named ‘Muurwoningen’ (Wall Houses). These houses could, of course, not be deep because of the existing foundations. Therefore, they are all strikingly wide. Because Amersfoort did not have its own brick-making factory, any builder-to-be needed to have/bring his/her own bricks – and subsequently be a well-off individual. (Related Dutch word and expression: ‘steenrijk’ and ‘je steentje bijdragen’.)

Amersfoort’s pride, being the Onze Lieve Vrouwetoren, around 98 meters (325 feet). It’s the third highest in The Netherlands, after De Dom, Utrecht and another one who’s whereabouts we have forgotten. (We have limited internet-access at present.) Mind you: this impressive tower is the zero point of the Dutch land-registry system.

Yesterday, Saturday the 29th of October, it was again a lovely day. Sunny, autumn colours, three hot air balloons in the sky (are you able to spot them?) and last but not least a noisy fair on the opposite bank.