A brief return to Zeeland

Hello there!

By the time this post is published, we are enjoying a little break to celebrate our silver wedding anniversary.

Yes, you've read that right! I simply cannot get my head around the fact that today it has been 25 years since Jos and I got married. Twenty-Five! How did that happen and, more to the point, how fast did those years whizz by? I'm sure you'll understand this is cause for celebration, but instead of throwing a party, which isn't exactly our thing, we thought we'd treat ourselves to a little holiday!

This post's title is more than just a little misleading, though, as we are not in Zeeland at all. However, it recently dawned on me that I never blogged about our last day in Zeeland back in November, so I thought that now was as good a time as any to remedy that.

That Friday morning we'd woken up to a grey and drizzly day, and without the previous day's sunshine to warm us, it was a wrench to venture outside, let alone pay a return visit to Veere, which was our original plan, as the town's position is quite exposed to the elements.

Now, what to do instead? Sitting in the comfortable Art Deco style chair in our Airbnb, me and my twin were getting our thinking caps on!

Oh, I know, we said, why not visit the charity shop on the outskirts of Middelburg, the one we tried to visit the day before, only to be faced with a Closed sign.

As it was definitely open on a Friday, without further ado we grabbed our coats, got into the car and drove off.

The shop, spaciously laid out and impressively organized, was quite busy, which wasn't surprising really as it's only open a couple of days a week.

On the housewares shelves, we found this cheerful orange canister lurking behind a jumble of nondescript brothers and sisters. It's vintage Brabantia, and as we already have a rectangular cake tin from the same range, picked up for a song at Oxfam a couple of years ago, this was kind of a no-brainer. If I remember correctly, the asking price was just € 1,50.

The clothing department was rather disappointing, but I pounced upon this pair of low heeled black boots, which were mine for € 2. They weren't really an impulse buy either, as I'd been on the lookout for a similar pair for a while.

There was a small jewellery display case, from which I selected these two brooches, which I think were € 1,50 each. I already own a smaller, blue variation of the one on the left.

After having paid at the till, it was almost midday, so we drove back to our cottage to have lunch.

Then we walked into Middelburg to explore the warren of streets behind the town hall, an area we'd neglected to visit so far.

We even discovered a vintage clothing shop (top and bottom right in the above collage) where I swooned over a pastel blue tweed swing coat, which unfortunately was far too big for me.

We wandered through the picturesque streets, meeting a pair of mossy cherubs, the ubiquitous Dutch kissing boy and girl, a strange creature spying on us through a port hole, and a tabby cat meowing pitifully behind the window of an empty shop.

In a quiet courtyard behind the town hall, the Public Observatory can be found, with a telescope standing sentinel in front of it, which people who are tall enough can gaze through by climbing on a plinth. The stone in front of the plinth, crowned by a halo of golden Autumn leaves, is bearing an epitaph to a star.

On and on we walked, through alleyways and across tiny squares, almost but not quite getting lost in the maze, until we emerged on a street across which we spotted a tearoom we recognized from a previous visit. 

Our feet were getting tired by then and as we could definitely murder a cappuccino and a slice of cake, we lost no time in getting inside and out of the cold.

We got talking to a friendly waitress who even offered to take our photo. But oh, my hair! Wearing berets and maintaining a decent coiffure proves to be verging on the impossible.

Tick-tock said the clock, almost 4 pm and the last of the dark day's light was waning already.

The city brewery's curlicued wrought iron sign, the rows of gabled town houses, the gorgeous architectural details from a gentler age: we feasted our eyes before saying goodbye to the town which was our home-base for these past few days.

We passed this inviting looking table, dotted with jars of flickering candles, on a tavern's terrace, but the cold wind had us beaten by then. So, reluctantly, we made our way back past the market square where the Christmas lights did their best to provide some cheer.

Finally, we dragged our feet across the canal bridge, where we lingered for a final look at the windmill and its topsy-turvy reflection. 

So, that was Zeeland, November 2019. We hope to be back soon!

I'm leaving you now with a collage of photos taken 25 years ago today ... I guess that was what you were all waiting for!

Linking to Nancy's Fancy Friday, do go and check her out!