Gilbert - A Birthday Trip: Day 5

 

On Wednesday we had to go back home. 

We took the bus to the harbor.

Can you spot the ferry?

There was a statue of a town crier at the harbor.

On the boat we had a sandwich and hot chocolat.

Next we took the bus back to Groningen.

It was an awesome birthday trip!

Gilbert - A Birthday Trip: Day 4 - part 2

 

We reached the beach and the ocean.

It was beautiful.

We walked back through the forest.

Hmm.. Not sure where we are.

Ah, we are getting close to the village.

In the village I spotted a pheasant!

I wanted to see if he was missing a feather, but he ran away when he saw me.

Back in the village we visited the water tower again, before doing some shopping and getting a late lunch.

French fries!

We relaxed the rest of the afternoon and had snacks for dinner.

In the evening we had one last mug of hot chocolate and Amaretto before packing our suitcase: we had to go back home the next day.

Next - Homeward Bound

Gilbert - A Birthday Trip: Day 4 - part 1

On Tuesday morning it looked a bit threatening weatherwise. My owner checked the forecast and told me we would wait until the afternoon before going on a walk. And indeed: soon it was raining and even hailing at one point.

At the end of the morning the sky cleared and we went out.

It was even sunny!

So we decided to walk to the lighthouse again.

The lighthouse looked beautiful in the sun!

Next we walked toward the beach again

We decided to try to get to the beach where we were on Sunday by walking along the dunes.

We spotted a picnic bench!

We made our way to the bench for a short rest.

It was a long, but beautiful walk.

I spotted a pheasant feather.

I think I heard the pheasant in the  bushes, but he didn't show himself.

Next - Beach and Forest

 

Gilbert - A Birthday Trip: Day 3

 

On Monday it was our birthday!

It would be rainy again in the afternoon, so we went for a walk soon after waking up. 

I think I like the water tower better without artsy movies on it.

As sometimes happens, our birthday was on Blue Monday. Apart from my hat I wasn't feeling blue though.

The lighthouse!

Even though the weather was grey, I enjoyed our walk to the lighthouse.

Hmm... I think this poem was in Fries, because it sure wasn't Dutch as I know it. I think it said something about the lighthouse always standing guard high on top of the dunes.

We walked a little further toward the beach.

At this point you can't really get to the actual beach, but it's beautiful here.

According to my owner, we could walk a short way along the dunes to get to a spot where we could reach the beach.

She was wrong!

On earlier trips to Schiermonnikoog the water usually didn't get this high according to my owner. We decided to retrace our steps and walked back to the lighthouse.

We took a slight detour on our way back to the village so we could walk on the Black Dunes Path!

We went back to the apartment and made it there before the rain started again. We relaxed and had lunch.

In the afternoon we visited the bookstore.

I got a magazine on psychology and we also found a book for Sullivan.

Next we relaxed and read some more while outside it rained.

In the evening we went out for dinner and my owner had beef stew while I had French fries again.

After dinner there was more relaxing, reading, and hot chocolate with Amaretto. It was a really fun birthday.

Gilbert - A birthday Trip: Day 2

 

On Sunday morning it was dry, so we went for a walk. 

It did look like it might rain so I put on my raincoat, just in case.

We had a beautiful walk even though it was very windy.

We walked to the WWII bunker. It was getting sunny, so I decided to take off my raincoat.

There's an amazing view on top of the bunker.

After taking this picture my owner had some trouble with her camera. A setting changed because the wind flapped something across the touch-screen. So no other pictures were taken at the bunker. Once we reached a less windy spot she managed to reset the camera settings to get things to work again.

We continued our walk and reached the beach!

It was beautiful and sunny at the beach.

I was glad to be wearing a hat though, the wind was chilly at times.

It also created dust devils on the beach.

Next we went to the restaurant close to this beach for hot chocolate and a Belgium waffle with cranberry jam. Yum!

My owner said we'd walk back to the village and maybe even walk a bit further to see the lighthouse.

I spotted some kind of WWII cannon!

This is one of the best spots on the island according to my owner. It's at the edge of where the forest and dunes meet, and you can't see it very well in the picture, but you can also see the ocean from this spot.

We were close to the village when it started raining!

It was raining really hard and we had to walk against the wind, so we decided to not continue to the lighthouse. Instead we went back to the village. My owner bought a mug at a local shop and then we made a short stop at the fish shop as well, before going back to the apartment to get warm and dry again.

The yummy Kibbeling (fried fish) my owner got us at the fish shop helped with getting warm again.

We relaxed and read  for the rest of the afternoon, because it kept raining. 

In the evening we went out for dinner.

My owner said she ordered beef, but as Sullivan taught me: I stuck to the French fries and the salad just in case.

After dinner we ordered a gin tonic as an early birthday celebration. The waiter told us it wasn't a gin tonic though. It was a gin tonic cocktail!

Cocktail or not it was delicious!

When we got back to the apartment my owner made us hot chocolate with Amaretto. She discovered a cupboard she hadn't noticed before and it contained... mugs! We decided to use our new mug anyway.

We read and relaxed some more before going to bed. The next day would be our birthday!