Now that we have a summer home, we have to furnish it. Our floating house needs all the things that make a basic shelter a home; we must buy bedding, dishes, pots, silverware, towels, cooking utensils, trash cans, etc., etc. Thank goodness for Ikea, in more ways than one. Using Google Earth, we discovered that the Ikea store in Groningen is a short walk from Veha Motor yachten BV where our Orca is berthed for the winter. Oh, whoppee, is this a sign that we are doing the right thing? A friend of ours once said sometimes what you think is a sign is really a stop sign.........nahhhh!
After we finish our Ikea shopping, we will take our boat to Spaarndam to see the statue of the little Dutch boy who stuck his finger in a leaking dike to prevent a flood. The statue was erected in 1950 after American tourists complained that they couldn't find the dike or anything pertaining to the story about a noble little boy saving his town. The story, well known in America, was first published in 1865 in a book written by the American author, Mary Mapes Dodge. Although the legend was unknown in Holland, the agreeable local tourist bureau, knowing a good thing when they heard it, erected the statue and Spaamdam became famous. Good on them.
The inscription on the statue reads:
Opgedragen aan onze jeugd als een huldeblijk aan de knaap die het symbool werd van de eeuwigdurende strijd van Nederland tegen het water.
Dedicated to our youth, to honor the boy who symbolizes the perpetual struggle of Holland against the water.
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