Suckers for Light Shows...

On October 15, Jimmy and I headed down to Rotterdam to see a light show celebrating the Netherland’s tallest building, the newly built Zalmhaven Toren (Salmon Harbor Tower) 

Although construction won’t be done until later in 2022, the highest point of the building had been reached in September so it was time to celebrate.

The building is actually 203 meters (666 feet) tall...

….with the antennas making up the last 12 meters (40 feet) for a total of 215 meters (706 feet). 

We weren’t the only ones crazy enough to stand on the Erasmus Bridge in the cold to see the building lit up.

The moon wouldn’t be full until the following week, but added drama to the skyline. 

Afterwards we walked next to the building...

…and enjoyed the reflections on the main canal. 
 

A Colorful Fall Day...

Some leaves had already changed color by early October.

Proof that people are pigs...

…Leiden is amazing...

…and still waters make for great reflections.

 

Our Youngest Passenger...

On October 9, Ana, Theo and 16-month-old Ilaya joined us for an afternoon of boating. 

Not only was Ilaya adorable, but he was really well-behaved. 

Jimmy, on the other hand, was a monkey. He used to take the fuel canister home on his bike after every boat ride, but decided to take a chance with leaving the canister on the boat with an extra five-liter can as an emergency back-up. Only complication with his new method is that he can’t just cycle up to a gas station, but has to do some gymnastics...

...to access the station along the canal. 

Luckily one canister lasts for several rides, so he doesn’t have to do this every time.

It was great sharing a nice afternoon with this lovely family. 
 

Surprises on the Farm...

On October 5 we saw several surprising things at the farm, including: my shadow along with rain clouds and a rainbow...

…ducks flying to get away from Kati...

…and 12 sweet little polka-dotted piglets. The farm’s Instagram account said they’re Bonte Bentheimers, which are apparently a rare breed of pigs from Germany which the farm will consider breeding.

Veronica didn’t hesitate to get down to their level for close-ups of their snouts.

Wikipedia describes this breed as white with black spots, but this bunch also includes peach with black spots and black with white and peach spots. They all have huge pink ears.

On the other side of this hill is their shelter. 

 

After Parties...

Just as soon as we arrived at the end of the race, the skies opened up, but we stayed dry in the giant tent. We each were entitled to one glass of local wine, but Jimmy managed to sweet talk some distributors into refilling our glasses. I chose this photo to highlight how muddy he got and that rather than a band, the entertainment was a man playing an accordion. 

Dylan didn’t let it get him down that he wasn’t allowed to have any wine.

Once the rain let up, we headed down to the main street to catch the bus into Gulpen, the nearest village with a population of 3,600. We were thrilled to get a table at Gulpener, an independent brewery dating back to 1825, with delicious beer and food. 

I don’t usually take selfies in bathrooms, but loved that the sinks were made from kegs. Ironically, a guy at the table next to us saw our hash shirts and struck up a conversation about hashing in Asia. 

The sky was crazy when we left to walk to the parking lot to catch a lift home with Reinhardt and Inga.

Was surprised to find a glass pyramid in this tiny village. 
 

Limburg Wine Marathon...

Perhaps it’s not a surprise that there’s a lot less photos from our group of marathon runners, but they did manage to get a few group pics while running...

…or enjoying a wine stop.

While I took the stairs down to the big drop down to the creek, my husband opted to treat the steep path as a mud slide. 

Eventually these runners passed us near the end of the route and warned us that the course would be closing soon. Luckily Richard was able to grab Dylan so Celine, Julia and I could run the final little bit. Good thing we did that short run as we were the last ones to cross the finish line just as they were closing down. 

Not only did we get our medals that we had clearly earned, but Jimmy had arranged with the DJ to call out our names.  
 

Limburg Agriculture...

On the last section of the trail, we went past a lot of crops. Here were onions...

…and potatoes, which made for quite dramatic photos.

As you’ve likely noticed, it was very scenic and I am proud of my accomplishment, so I got a bit carried away with posts.