Day 7 - Gouda to Oudewater to Ijsselstein

We got up early this morning because we were told the bridges opened at 8am, turns out not till 8:15, then while we were between two bridges they asked for payment for last night, which I had unsuccessfully tried to do last night.  We traveled around the outside of Gouda to get back on the main river we'd been on yesterday.  As we continued, we passed by some docks just outside of Gouda that we had tied up at 15 years ago when David and I last did a boating trip in the Netherlands.  At the time, the dock was bright orange.  I got a picture of it, and it's kind of fading now.

We traveled through some beautiful countryside, through a few opening bridges and one lock.  It's really beautiful and the weather is perfect!  

At one point, we had to pay a toll of 4 euros to go through a bridge.  The guy lowers a wooden shoe on a pole and you put the money in!  

Eventually, we reached the town of Oudewater.  David and I had been here 15 years ago, and really loved this place.  Back in 2011, we stayed overnight, but today we just got to stop, walk around, and have lunch.  We also had ice cream but I guess we ate it up too fast cause there aren't any pictures! 

Tuna salad sandwich

Gazpacho with ham and cheese sandwich

Mussels

Oudewater is famous because it has a "witch's scale".  Back in the 1600s, very often, women, and occasionally men, were accused of being witches if there was anything "different" about them, or if something bad has happened and someone becomes a scapegoat.  It was believed that witches weighed nothing (so they could fly on brooms), so some women went to the weigh house (where they weighed grain and other things) to get weighed and prove that they weren't witches.  

When we were here last time, it was closed, but today I was excited to prove that I WAS a witch, so I got on the scale, and alas, I don't weigh "nothing" and I was given a certificate that I am not a witch!  

On our broomsticks (and next picture)

Thought this was an important message

Getting weighed (and next two pics)

We went to the grocery store because where we're going tonight, there's only one restaurant, and it's booked solid, so we're cooking on the boat.  Then we headed back to our boat.  We had docked it exactly where we'd docked 15 years ago, so I had to take a picture, and compare to 2011.

This picture and the next were our boat in 2011

Same church (although the roofliine seems different), same spot, different boat

Then we were back on the boat to continue our journey.  Because it was so gorgeous out, I went up on top to enjoy the weather and scenery.  I took a couple of videos to share!

Our stopping point today is just outside Ijsselstein.  There were no appropriate marinas there, so we found one just outside of Ijsselstein.  It's in a beautiful spot, but there's really nothing here.  There are two restaurants - one very expensive one that was booked up through the week, and a more casual one only open for lunch.  After docking here (quite difficult due to the wind), we all went to the casual place for drinks and snacks.  Back at our boat we were visited by a beautiful black swan (that David was feeding).  Across the way were two billy goats and some sheep.  We had a lovely dinner cooked by David, then played UNO.

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