Burkarskis do Europe 2023 - On on to Baarlo

Overview

Rating	💃💃💃💃💃
Year Traveled	2023
Length of Trip	2 Weeks
Locations Visited	Amsterdam, ND and Baarlo, ND

Thursday - On on to Baarlo!

Last day in Amsterdam with the Hashers, we packed up our hostel and made our way out. I thought that I had arranged transportation on a coach bus to the castle and I even paid for it… but… I found out on this morning that I wasn’t on the list. Rude. So Michael and I decide to combine forces with Pink to take the public trains and bus. We had a little time left in Amsterdam before we would need to leave so what’s a good activity near the Centraal station where we’ve left our bags? I remembered one of the recommendations from our local boat-mates: Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder. It’s a Catholic church that was built in the attic of a merchant’s house when it was illegal to practice any religion other than Protestantism publicly in the Netherlands. It was really amazing to see. They sawed through support beams and the floor in order to make the space more open. They installed a full pipe organ. They created an alter with a pulpit that folds out of a column like a Transformer. What an amazing hidden piece of history!

Handpainted hearth tile

Hearths used for cooking often had backsplashes of white ceramic tiles with blue designs painted on. This one’s a bunny.

Bed box

People slept in a little bed box hidden in the wall and covered by a curtain. The box isn’t long enough to lay down. People would be propped up on pillows leaning on the wall.

Narrow and uneven staircase

This house was full of very narrow staircases with nonuniformly shaped stairs. Yes, they were scary to walk on.

View from the back pews

After checking out the lower levels of the house which were preserved to replicate home living of the era, we made it to the church. This photo was taken while seated in the back pews.

View from middle pews

Taken from the pews more toward the center. Notice the iron bar painted pink between the cutout of the upper level. That was added after the original wooden supports were cut through.

Close view of the Altar

Up close view of the altar. Notice the difference between the column on the left and the one on the right—do you see a split on the edge of the left column? It folds open and an entire pulpit with tiny stairs, a door, and stand to hold the readings appears.

More ceiling details from below

A look at the ceiling and upper level supports from the lower level.

Sacramental items

Communion chalice, paten, bells, and other items used in Catholic masses of the era.

Pipe Organ

Pipes for the organ as installed at the back of the church up on the second level.

Pipe Organ

The organ’s keys and controls on the opposite side of the pipes. No view of the alter or congregation from this vantage.

Carved wooden emblem

Close up of the carved wooden emblem featured on the pipe organ.

Wooden dove

Carved wooden dove hanging from the ceiling near the back of the church.

View of the alter from the top level

The alter and pews from the beginning are two stories below.

Commode

Typical toilet for a house of the era.

Our train trip got off to a rough start as we were standing on the platform for our train still at Centraal and saw on the board that it was cancelled. And then the train for plan B also showed up as cancelled. There was a track closure blocking many routes going south from Centraal that the Googs didn’t know about. Once we switched to the official local transit app we were able to find an appropriate route. We ended up meeting a handful of hashers on our trains and bus. And soon we found ourselves dumped in front of our Vakantiepark. Which is the opposite side of the road of the castle. And it seemed pretty busy and a bit dangerous to cross. And us trailer trash hashers would be making that crossing all weekend.

We dragged our luggage down a cobblestone road to the castle and got in line for registration. We had people ready to pour beer into our cups. And there were a set of 3 young ducks ready to drink our spilled beer off the ground. Michael would later name them Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Check-in was moving super slow to the point where they already started dinner service and we hadn’t made it in yet. And when we did finally make it in, we found out that the three key cards for our cabin had been distributed to the three cabinmates who checked in ahead of us and none were left for the three of us. Not ideal. We were able to borrow a card and drag our stuff to the trailer. The first night was Red Dress so I needed to change ASAP and get back before they stopped serving dinner. While my suitcase was already open on the bed we found out that the bed didn’t have sheets on it yet (comforters were in place though) so I had to get everything packed back up to figure out the sheets. And none of the sheets matched the size of the bed so we had to use two (2). And in the rush to get changed and get my bag out of the way… I… zipped my necklaces back in the suitcase and had to tear everything apart to find them again.

Our Red Dress Run was a walking parade of Baarlo. The whole town turned out to cheer for us from their homes and at a bar. It was great to see the locals welcoming us.

After our 5 mile tour, we went to the Oudekasteel courtyard where they were serving gin & tonics and had a bonfire going. A spark popped from the fire and landed on my face right next to my eye. No other injuries incurred that night. There is a covered wagon pulled by a tractor to take us back to the Vakantiepark without us running across the road. We take advantage of this opportunity.