When you think of the Netherlands, so many things come to mind. But, cheese has to be at the top of the list. Not only is the cheese delicious, it is a huge part of their history and culture. The quality of the cheese made here is a source of pride and taken very seriously. When you enter a cheese shop and show an interest, a piece will be cut off the round for you to sample.
We prefer to navigate with the Dutch number system when we can. The numbers are called knoppunts. Along the cycle paths, maps are posted of the local area with numbers at intersections. Just jot down the sequence of numbers and you can’t get lost. We bought this series of maps for the route from Maastricht to Rotterdam. You can see on the map round green dots with a number.
We have been enjoying our stay in Made at B&B Logeren bij Van Heeren, so we extended our time to two nights. Our room is well equipped and comfortable, we like the relaxed vibe here, plus we want more time with the goat and cat! The other reason is that it would give us time to visit Breda which is close by..about 15 km. We have been to Breda on a previous trip and would like to revisit it.
Part way to Breda we stopped in a village for lunch at this bakery. We liked the mini bakery cargo bike in the window.
House and barn in the village with reed roofs…these remain very popular and are often the choice of roofing on new homes. Certainly it is attractive and the birds love them, but we think that it’s longevity of about 50 years must a reason as well.
Valkenburg Park is a delightful green oasis in Breda’s city centre. Until 1812, the park served as a castle garden for the Lords of Breda. A stroll in the park was forbidden for ordinary residents of Breda. In the park, there were cages with falcons (translation in Dutch…Valkens) that the royalty used for falconry. An interesting bit of trivia…duck and chickens roam freely in the park….not sure why, but it does add to the charm.
This statue is a sculpture entitled De Vlucht by artist Hein Korman. It commemorates the early days of WW2 when thousands of residents had to flee the city. Hence the inscription…Mei 1940 which means May 1940.
In 1904, The Nassau Monument was built to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the bond between Breda and the House of Orange-Nassau, the house of the Dutch Royal Family.
The monument itself was created in the shape of a castle and is crowned with a lion that symbolizes the Royal Nassau line. The lion became and has remained the symbol of the Netherlands.
It is not unusual to see the colour orange in Holland as it is Holland’s national colour. But, at this time it is all about supporting their football (soccer) team during the European Cup, which is ongoing.
Nowadays, the church also serves as an event hall with hundreds of events taking place throughout the year. Inside the church, there is room for 1,000 people which makes it useful for big events. Strangely, there has even been a Food Truck Festival that took place inside the church.
This wooden art piece and the following two photos are part of the current exhibit.
After a wonderful day visiting Breda and riding our tandem with out a load, we were happy to get back to the B&B. As you can see, the grounds are beautiful and the back section is for the animals. The white House is Ingrid’s home and we have a comfy suite on the left side of the house.
