A boat moored astern of us departed quite early so we detached ourselves from the one we were rafted up to and moved into that space. Not without some drama, resulting from underestimating the current in the river here – it is a river not just a canal. But all went well.
By mid-morning we were ready to head off for a bit of culture: cathedral first stop. Though on the way we couldn't help noticing a few unfortunate shop names: interesting in a country like this where almost everyone speaks beautiful English, that it is still possible to get things slightly wrong.
When we reached the cathedral, not surprisingly, being Sunday morning, there was a well-attended service taking place, so we couldn't explore the interior. But we did see the modern stained glass window over the front entrance, with a touching reference to 9/11 on one of its panels:
We moved on to the North Brabant museum. Earlier we realized that we had got the dates wrong for the major Hieronymous Bosch retrospective there – it ended back in May. But never mind. There was one exhibition by the Dutch artist Jan Fabre, entitled Homage to Bosch from the Congo. Most of his pictures were made with the wing cases of jewel beetles – dark emerald green and rather spooky, and difficult to photograph. He also has a line in stuffed birds. This parrot is perched on a bone covered with the wing cases, beauty and horror combined:
Another exhibition featured Dutch painting from a museum in Romania. It had some gems like this pair of Hans Memling portraits:
And this terrific, though little, Van Eyck:
The Bruegel was good though a copy by the son of the original by his father:
We wended our weary way back to the boat, pausing only for a beer in the market square, where there were three fish stalls open, so we bought some excellent, truly excellent, crab salad at one of them. After lunch, we started to notice people drifting down the river past our mooring in rubber dinghies:
More and more came by, many well lubricated with beer and wine. Two or three young women asked to use the loo on board – and repaid our hospitality with cans or bottles of beer.
When, intrigued, we asked what this was all about, it turned out that it is a spontaneous water and beach party that has taken place in the past four years on one or other Sunday in the summer, arranged on Facebook. Apparently more than a thousand people were expected to take part this year, and having watched the cavalcade drift by for three hours or more, we wouldn't quarrel with that estimate.
There were plenty of eccentrics, as well as exhibitionists jumping off the swing bridge. But two or three lifeguard boats were pottering about just in case. A thoroughly good-humoured and jolly afternoon – even if it seemed a little more alcohol-fueled and raucous as the hours passed!
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