Art and Religion...

I once again need to apologize for being a total slacker this summer. And I won’t be catching up for some time yet as we have several visitors arriving soon. In the meantime, I last left off in Den Bosch....

We saw lots of cool sculptures, including these interesting broken lions that rests on car tires...

…this lovely mosaic...

…and this sweet couple.

While these statutes date from 1994, the legend of this little peeing boy dates back to the 16th century. Dieske apparently had a weak bladder and usually peed in the canals since there were no public toilets. One day he was illegally standing on top of the city walls and attempting to pee into the city moat far below, when he spotted some men creeping through the reeds. He sounded the alarm, the city gates were closed and Dieske became a hero.

At the Anne Frankplein is this peace pole, one of 250,000 such poles around the world including one in front of the Peace Palace in The Hague. On the pole is the text May Peace Prevail on Earth in four languages.

Unveiled in 2020, this bird represents freedom in honor of the 75th anniversary of liberation after World War II. 

Across the street was the former synagogue, built in 1823, and now used as a concert stage for chamber music.

Den Bosch is predominantly Catholic and has several Catholic parish churches (this is St Catherine’s) as well as a major cathedral, which was covered in scaffolding. 

We spotted Mother Mary and Baby Jesus in several spots.

 

Exploring Den Bosch...

After the hash, we split off from the others, grabbed a takeaway dinner and went for a long walk on our own. Along the way, we saw this interesting mirrored building...

…the oldest brick house in Den Bosch, home to the tourist office...

…the market square...

…a brick wall that appeared to be breathing...

…a shop with incredible reflections of the entire street...

…a funky building...

…a tall old building with step gables and a beautiful bay window...

…and the narrow alley between restaurants that we’d run through.
 

More Hashing in Den Bosch...

I handed Bleeding From Below my phone to take a photo and he obviously thought this was funny.

At least Opee understood the task of capturing our small merry band of runners.

Next we ran over to the Citadel, which partially dates to at least 1642. Ironically, Bleeding From Below belonged to the rowing club adjacent to the dock on the right side for many years, but had never entered the old star-shaped fort. 

Apparently this bridge was fairly new.

I thought it would be an excellent location for a beer stop, but we only stuck around long enough to check out the view.

We passed this interesting building with the message No Gods, No Masters, on the way to the beer break...

…where we met up with the walkers and were presented with Bossche Bitch, a cheap rip-off of limoncello. 

That didn’t stop Opee from trying to follow Anal Intro, the hare, in hanging the empty bottle on his tongue.

As we headed back to the start, I saw my first goslings of the year.

Opee captured one last selfie on the final bridge before the end. We were lucky with the weather and it stayed dry for the circle. Definitely a very fun hash!

 

Hashing in Den Bosch...

On May 23, Jimmy and I took a 1.5-hour train journey to the town of ‘s-Hertogenbosch (meaning the forest of the duke), otherwise known as Den Bosch to hash with Brabant H3. We’d never been there before, so were excited about hashing in new territory and exploring on our own afterwards. This rainbow bench welcomed us into the city with its message: There is room for everyone here.

As we walked along the Dommel River, the design of this building caught my eye as it featured a restaurant at the water’s edge with a simple park built above. 

The hash started at Bastion Maria, once part of a former fortification. In 2008, a relocated section of the 15th century city wall was moved to the site to rebuild the bastion, which would have once been an iconic site at the edge of the city.

The 10K runner’s trail was excellent! We wound through lots of small roads and alleys through the city, crossing over an intriguing maze of small canals called the Binnendieze that can only be accessed by official historical boat tours. 

Then we followed the Dommel along a series of dirt paths and wooden boardwalks...

…eventually crossing via De Moerasdraak Pontje (The Swamp Dragon Ferry), which was powered by turning a crank. 

We then ran through a nature reserve before crossing back into the city walls.

One of the city’s most famous inhabitants was artist Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516). Here are three sculptures from The Garden of Earthly Delights, his most famous painting, in honor of the 500th anniversary of his death.

It is clear that the artist had likely never seen a real giraffe, but he still got his point across. 

Apparently this nun transformed into a pig was to point out the hypocrisy of the clergy, which would have been a strong statement to make in what is even today a predominantly Catholic city.

 

A Big Day...

Ashlynn opted to spend her 21st birthday on May 16 with Soso in Germany, where she had a great time in Berlin and Luneburg. She saw firsthand how Germany was very far ahead of the Netherlands in regards to COVID-19 testing, as she had four tests within six days, all free of charge, and vaccinating, as Soso and her roommates were all already vaccinated, long before Ashlynn would have a chance. 

May 18 was a big day for me as I received my 2nd Moderna coronavirus vaccination. I was originally sent to Leiden for an 8 a.m. appointment. There was a long line outside, but it went quickly once I got inside. Unfortunately, it turned out that they weren’t administering Moderna at that location. Luckily a supervisor made some phone calls and managed to find me an appointment that morning in Rijswijk. 

It wasn’t nearly as convenient and I missed out spending the morning with Veronica, but at least I caught some cool reflection shots in some of the office buildings as I walked to the vaccination location. 

It was all very efficient once I got there. I actually didn’t feel the jab at all. If I hadn’t had some pain in my arm, I would have thought I hadn’t gotten the jab. The following day I had a low-grade fever, which was apparently an indicator that the vaccine was working. 

It was also a big day for Veronica as she took the train back to England...

...to reunite with Brett. We were sad that she left, but understood that she wanted to be able to spend one more month in Exeter in their love nest before they had to move out. She would have to spend 10 of those days in quarantine, but at least they were together. 

Swimming at Vlietland...

On May 17, I cycled with Veronica to Vlietland. Along the way, we saw this bike being swallowed by plants...

…and this woodpecker.

This was Veronica’s 20th and final “wild swim” during her two-month stay with us. 

The water warmed up a bit over the two months, but was still cold. It was a beautiful day with no wind allowing for incredible reflections of the fluffy clouds. 

We only saw one other swimmer and he was in a full wetsuit, confirming that Veronica is a stud.