28th August

Geldermalsen

 

It looked like it would be a good Grand Prix today, so Skip wanted to be back on the boat for a couple of hours from 2pm.

 

We took a look at the cycle maps and decided on a short ride up to a small town called Buuren, which has an interesting history with a pivotal role in the House of Orange and the Netherlands state.

 

William I, whose marriage to the heiress of this region in 1551 led to the county falling into the hands of the House of Orange.

 

The center of the old town was all a-buzz, with stall-holders setting up stands along the narrow cobbled streets. We stopped at one to ask what was happening and were informed that there was to be a wine tasting fair in the afternoon from 1 to 6. WINE TASTING!!! Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. We immediately decided to come back after the race and take a look see.

 

They were still setting up the fair at this stage.

Buuren was only a 6km ride along the river from the boat, so after the race (which was a good one and how the heck did Hamilton get on the podium from starting last?), we rode back again.

 

 

Mmmmmm, not bad ...

But the cider from this stand was SIMPLY THE BEST!

 

The streets were now thronged with people supping of the grape. At the start of the fair, you purchased a 10 euro glass which came with a wine carrier and a booklet on all the 45 stall holders, and you could taste as much and as many wines as you wanted throughout the fair. So we did.

 

 

Walking around with my glass and wine carrier.

 

We only tasted some of the french wines right at the end, making it a mission to try the ones from everywhere else. And there were wines from all over. From afar: New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, California and a lot of stands from South Africa;  and near ie  Europe:  France, Italy, Spain, Portugal (oh yeah there were some lovely douros and ports), Hungary, Bulgaria, Georgia, Poland, Germany, Croatia and Macedonia. AND: the Netherlands! Who knew????

 

 

"What shall we try next?"

 

The Dutch wine, I have to admit, was not exactly my favourite, but OMG OMG the best thing we tasted all day was an exceptionally good cider from the cellar de Gulderling from the Linge valley, right here where we are. It was sparkling and dry and beat off the best champagne in  our opinion. We even bought a couple of bottles to take back to the boat.

 

 

Apparently this is the best-selling red in Macedonia. I took the photo for Daniela.

 

The best wine I tasted all day was from Stellenbosch, the Ernie Els winery's "Big Easy", which was wonderful, but at 15 euros a bottle all we did was taste. We also bought two bottles of red, one of them from France (the Cahors region) and the other from a rare vineyard in Bulgaria. I shall have to see whether I can get any of them in my already overstuffed luggage.

 

There was a young Portuguese guy selling wine from the Douro and an interesting Pink Port.

"We'll try some of that later.", we thought.

But by the time we got back to his stand, he had sold the lot! Good on him. But I still don't know what pink port tastes like.

 

By now, as you can imagine, everyone was having a fine old time so we wandered around behind the church where they had set up some food stands and a stage with live music. We opted for the Hungarian Goulash as that seemed like a good, heavy option to soak up some of the alcohol.

Luckily the cycle path back to the boat was short and traffic free :)