Food for the body and soul.....

As I mentioned, we had been away for a few days. We drove to the very south of Holland in the province of Limburg. In the village of Holset, there is a small version of Lourdes. The village church is a place of pilgrimage to the holy Genoveva of France.

Holland is a very flat country except for this corner of the country. Here you can see beautiful rolling hills as the country spills into the borders of Germany and Belgium. Enlarge the photo and see if you can find the castle in the distant mist...

We found a wonderful little restaurant our second evening called In de Oude Stroopkokerij. It is run by a young man in his old family farmhouse. He cooks wonderful local specialities and is very welcoming. I can highly recommend eating here if you are ever in this area.

The building alone is amazing and, yes, that is a correct date over the door, 1767. You sit at one of the antique and vintage tables and enjoy the freshest food cooked to perfection. We were in awe of the owner when we happened to talk to his brother outside and he told us his brother is a bachelor who runs the entire place on his own with only a little help from young people from the area who he hires to serve the tables. The first evening, he came to our table himself and the second evening, he popped out from the kitchen to bid us goodbye.


In the back of the building, you can still see the old syrup presses where his family made their apple and pear syrup until well into the 1930s.


And look who we ran into...

It is Simon Slug who is Selby's cousin. *grins*

This is the village church. Come along inside with us...

As I mentioned, the church is dedicated to Saint Genoveva. People come here daily to light candles.

Even this tiny church is full of beauties like the stained glass...

Wrought iron...

and gold chandelier...


One of the magical things about this area is that you can visit three countries in a five minute time span. Roads wind back and forth through Holland, Germany and Belgium. We had to make a stop at a boulangerie in Belgium for a baguette and these delicious favorites...chocolate eclairs.
A better lunch cannot be bought anywhere for us! Care for a bite?