European Trip - November 2017

European Trip - November 2017

Last year Martina Behm approached me to be one of the dyers for the Strickmich! Club. I was happy to say yes and early this year I developed the color for what would be the fourth installment of the 2017 club. 

I gladly said yes when  Martina asked if I would like to come visit this fall when she and many club members gather at her home to open their packages. I have done a lot of traveling, but knew I would prefer to not travel alone. Veronica, who many of you see at shows, agreed to come along.

November, a time that is often cold and rainy in Northern Europe, was actually much better this year than predicted. Some rain, some mist, but also some partly cloudy days, and our final day in Germany was beautifully sunny.

Veronica and I met up in Hamburg, having traveled from different starting points on red-eye flights. We got to our hotel and Veronica learned about afternoon coffee and kuchen as a regular afternoon "thing." We ate a little something and knit for a bit and then slept for over 12 hours. And then jumped on a train to Amsterdam. More knitting, seeing horses, landscape, and sheep, and fall in Germany and the Netherlands.

We arrived at Central Station in Amsterdam and were amazed at the number of bicycles being ridden and parked!

We stayed in an Airbnb (in the row of houses pictured at top) that was pretty close to the Central Station. Our host and her family were great and gave us directions to wonderful restaurants. While we were in Amsterdam, we went to the Van Gogh Museum and the botanical garden, did some street sightseeing, and had some great dinners. 

The cafe in the botanic gardens had amazing wall decorations made of nuno felt by the artist Claudy Jongstra.

Then it was time to return to Hamburg for a little more sightseeing. We went to the Kunsthalle in Hamburg, and then to the Elbphilharmonie for a percussion concert by Midori Takada.

On Friday, we rented a car and drove north of Hamburg into the area of villages. The land is relatively flat with lots of horses and some sheep. We saw few cows, but the many of the fields appeared to be covered with winter crops or ground covers that will be turned over in the spring. Lots of these were bright chartreuse! Much like new spring grass growth.

We joined Martina and her family for coffee and cake that afternoon and later we had an incredible meal at a local inn, that sources its foods locally.

On Saturday, the big event where club members gather for the big reveal started in late morning. After introductions and the reveal of my yarn and Martina's pattern, we knit and ate cake and had coffee. What a nice way to spend the day!

On Sunday, we joined Martina's family for lunch before returning to Hamburg for our last night in Germany. We got up early the next morning and walked less than half a mile to the airport from our hotel. Neither Veronica or I have ever had the experience of walking directly to an airport.

There are colors and ideas popping around my head as a result of what we saw in museums and on streets.

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3 comments

Part of the reason that I joined the 2017 Strichmich Club as a first-timer was because Miss Babs was one of the dyers! It looks like you had a wonderful trip. Sorry I missed you at fibre space this year.

Rita Zimmerman

Wow! What a wonderful journey – thanks for sharing it with us! Can’t wait to see all the new colors and ideas you come up with to commemorate your trip!

Sally Goodman

Absolutely fabulous! Thanks for sharing your journey, and I hope to see some of those colors very soon (Van Gogh Museum, you say?).

Donna

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