October 24th, 2009. Assen. Or the Ass-end of nowhere.

Saturday, we left Bakkeveen to head into the heart of Friesland. Henk dropped us off at the hotel in Oosterwolde where we would meet up later with Ton's folks. But Saturday, we were on our own! So, we hopped a bus and headed into Assen. It felt a bit more like "Dutch" than Bakkeveen, Roden and some of the other places. And it was market day when we were there. That always adds to the atmosphere of a place.

We opted to have lunch in the market and choose not to have the fish but instead ate lumpia with sambal sauce. Delish! There was also a man with his calliope in the town square. They are very prevalent in the Netherlands and always a joy to see.



However, most of the day was spent at the Drents Musuem. It was open house day at the museum and admission was free! But best of all, there were people in costumes from all periods of Dutch history and there was a re-enactment group in the ballroom doing clog dances. Very fun! The specialty of the museum is the history of Drenthe and the Hunnebedden.

The museum building itself was incredibly gorgeous and housed a fantastic exhibit of Belgian Art Nouveau and Art Deco design. This exhibition would influence our trip to Brussels because of our new-found love of the work of Brussels architect and designer, Victor Horta.







After the museum, it was time to head back to Oosterwolde and have dinner with Ton's parents. Tomorrow would be a day filled with new places: Leeuwarden, Franeker and the dreaded Afsluitdijk.

You can see the rest of my Assen photos on my Flickr page.