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 - Food and a Hunebed

 

On Thursday evening we went into town for a walk and something to eat. I spotted a pigeon on the roof of the synagogue.

We went to Poke Spot for dinner, and I got a nice cold soda.

And a beer!

The poke bowl I got was really tasty.

Afterwards we walked home along one of the canals.

It was a beautiful evening.

On Friday we went on a trip by car.

First we went to Rolde for dinner. I got French fries and fried fish. It was really yummy!

Next we went to Hunebed D16 in Balloo.

A hunebed is a kind of dolmen/cairn. This one was dug up completely and later reconstructed with the original stones. Most hunebedden in the Netherlands got accidentally (partly) destroyed. This was because the guy who was in charge of archaeological finds in the Netherlands didn't know how the hunebedden were supposed to look, so he dug off all the sand around the stones, because he thought the sand just blew on the stones instead of the sand being an actual part of the dolmen. I think they still are really impressive even reconstructed and without the sand.

What a lovely place to spend the evening.

I brought a dinosaur magazine to read while enjoying the summer weather.

More hunebed pictures.

It was a beautiful evening at a beautiful spot.

I wouldn't mind returning here in the future.

A Trip to the Hunebed Museum - part 2

In the gift shop of the museum I saw these mammoths and had a chat with them.


Then we went outside to have a look at the replica houses. I think this one is from the stone age, but I could be mistaken.


It was a very nice, sunny day, so we enjoyed walking around in the park.


Inside the houses were decorated with things the hunebed builders might have had in their homes, like a nice fireplace for example.


And flax which they used to make linen for clothes.


It was dark in the houses, I think they could use some windows, but they didn't have glass yet, so that would be a bit cold in winter.


In the Iron Age house they had wool that was colored with dye made from plants.


This house had a window, but still no glass.


I think this is a Spieker, to store food.


Another relaxing stone.


Here they had some experimental stuff going on with weird statue thingies.


I spotted a small temple in the distance.


It was next to water.
What a nice spot.

After a fun afternoon we left in search of a nice place to have dinner.


We didn't leave alone:
These friendly Stegosauri decided to come with us.


What a fun day!

A Trip to The Hunebed Museum - part 1

Last week we visited the Hunebed museum again!


It's a museum about dolmen and the people who built them.


At the entrance there were lots of different stones.
This one made a nice seat.


It was a warm, sunny day and we had traveled for a while, so we started our visit with a nice cold drink and a yummy donut.


In the museum there was lots of interesting stuff to see.
This is how they think the builders of the hunebedden/dolmen might look.


I think this one is a wizard!


There was an unfriendly wolf defending his recent kill.


And a friendly relative.


This is what the land might have looked like back then.


They made a replica hunebed.


There were lots of stones that might have been used for the hunebedden or other stuff the builders needed.


I think this was a mini hunebed for just one person.


There was a computer game where you could try to build your own hunebed, but the little guy who should be helping you was a bit of a jerk and hid the shovel at first. Finally we managed to build a hunebed though.


Here you could try to see if you were strong enough to move a hunebed stone.


Inside the replica hunebed.


I think this builder lady was mourning the dead who were buried in the hunebedden.


There were lots of pots that were found inside the dolmen.


I think they found this inside a hunebed as well.


I almost feel like I'm really at Stonehenge.


Coming next: mammoths, sun and new friends