Gilbert - Bourtange

 

After our visit to Drenthe we went to Bourtange!

Bourtange is a fortified city (well, more like a village going by the size) that was first build in the 16th century, but what's left of it these days has more of an 18th century vibe. 

We were there late in the day, so it wasn't crowded luckily enough. This is one of the entrances into the city.

We immediately climbed the walls for the view. There's water all around Bourtange so it could be well defended.

They also still had some of the cannons!

I hope they had people standing on the wall to tell the cannon men where to point the cannons, because I couldn't see over the wall from there.

More cannons. They certainly had a lot of firepower.

They were rebuilding a bridge, so part of the city couldn't be reached.

All in all it was a fun city to visit.

Next we went back to Germany. In the evening we went out for dinner, but my owner got something that shall not be named, so I didn't take pictures.

Coming next: a castle 

Gilbert - Back to the Netherlands...?

 

On the second day of our trip to Germany we went back to the Netherlands....?

We went to visit a hunebed! 

I love hunebedden (dolmen). And this one was new to me and my owner. It is called the 'Papeloze kerk' (church without priests) probably because it in later times sometimes was used as a place to have secret religious meetings for Protestants

On our way to the hunebed I spotted a monument for the guy who helped restore this hunebed.

They broke down another hunebed to restore this one, which was in a really bad shape. 

There's even a part of the hunebed still underground. One Dutch archeologist thought the sand shouldn't be on the hunebedden and he removed all the sand from most of the hunebedden in the Netherlands. Archeologists from other countries were totally shocked when he told them about it.

Next we went to the Eppiesbergje.

It's an old grave hill that was used between 2500 and 1200 BC

They say the hill is named after a guy who owned the land around the grave hill and hanged himself on the hill.

It was a nice hill, but if you had told me it was just a normal hill instead of an old grave hill I'd have believed it as well.

Next up was hunebed D27

This hunebed is the biggest one in the Netherlands and is next to the hunebed center which is really cool according to Sullivan.

It was quite busy at this hunebed, but I managed to get some pictures without people in it.

There was a big field of stones as well. I think it is to show people what kinds of stones were brought to the Netherlands by the glaciers. We didn't visit the center, but my owner promised me we would come back for a visit to the center soon.

Next we stopped for lunch.

I ordered Chili Cheese Fries, but I'm unsure why they were called that way, as there was no cheese involved...

After lunch we visited an old church. 

I forgot where it was and how old it was I'm afraid. And as there was a wedding in the church we didn't go in and just walked around it and looked at the graveyard.

All our visits that day so far were in the province Drenthe, next we went to Groningen!

Gilbert - Another Trip to Germany

 

On June 11 we went on another trip to Germany!

A couple of my owner's book loving friends were invited to stay at Diana's house for a couple of days, and we were invited as well.

We arrived just in tie for lunch and my owner and her friends talked books and other fun stuff the entire afternoon.

In the evening we went out for dinner!

Because of you know what it wasn't possible for a long time, so to celebrate I got a Bombay Bramble Cocktail.

My owner got a pork free meal, so I was happy to try the mushrooms. 

It was a fun first day. Stay tuned for more.

Gilbert - A trip to Germany: back in Groningen part 3

 

After looking around the church in Middelbert we walked around it and looked at the graveyard. Then it was time for the next church.

The church in Garmerwolde.

It has a tower next to it!

And a graveyard all around it,

I think it's a beautiful church.

A grave ornament with forget-me-nots

It used to be bigger, but lost part of it.

Ominous cloud picture.

The last church we visited was in Thesinge.

There was a small building with sarcophagus lids.

They were found in Groningen, but are German. Apparently they were brought to Groningen to be reused.

All in all it was a cool day and we saw lots of churches.

After the church in Thesinge Diana drove us home. It was a wonderful trip!