2011 Vacation Part II - Holland

Tuesday, June 5
An early morning bus and train ride brought us to Delft, where we dragged our suitcases for what seemed like several kms to find our hotel, an inconspicuous little place. It was quite nice. We all (4 of us) are sharing one room. After putting on some cooler clothes, hooking up with Joanie's brother J and wife B, we went to Den Hague and stopped for a quick coffee and lunch in the main square, but in true Dutch fashion, it took over 1.5 hours. Tipping is generally included in the bill and it is reflected in the speed of the service. We then explored some of the buildings and took a guided tour of the old prison where for centuries prisoners were held, tortured and executed. Saw some gruesome ways of getting people to confess their guilt. Hard to imagine that these 16th through 19th century people were human by the way they enforced justice.
We checked out the Royal working palace, the Peace Palace and Peace Flame, and then proceeded to Scheveningen for a drink, a walk on the beach and a dip of our feet in the water, and finally dinner on the pier. Joanie was to see where she lived and her family grew up but we decided to put that off until Wednesday morning. A beautiful day.

Monday, July 4
The day began rather normally, with breakfast, and Joanie falling, this time slowly sinking to the floor as the leg to her stool bent and then broke. No real damage done this time, except to the stool. Lawyers are working on a lawsuit. We took Lauren and Leah to see the castle Heerswijk, which we had visited a few days ago. Lauren felt it was the perfect site for a wedding. We then visited Genderen where Joanie's mom grew up and took some pictures of the house she lived in, which is still occupied by family members. After visiting C.'s apartment in Andel, we drove to Slot Loevestein, the castle where Hugo de Groot was imprisoned until he escaped, hidden in a wooden chest with the help of his wife and maidservant in the early 1600's. If you don't know who I am talking about, Google Hugo De Groot and read Article 6 of the Belgic Confession.
What started out as a typical cloudy, cool day turned into a beautiful, sunny day with temperatures reaching 26 degrees.
It is difficult for the girls in the evening because they often watch TV, which is in Dutch and is about local interests that mean nothing to us outsiders, like tonight's program on the problems with using parking services at Schiphol. Conversations also are mostly in Dutch. It will be good to get out on our own tomorrow. I have had enough of being in other people's houses, without feeling under control. Despite the wonderful hospitality we have experienced, it is time to move on.

Sunday, July 3
Joanie, Leah, Lauren and I took the bus to Den Bosch for the day. We began our official tour of the city as is required by local custom, with a coffee and a Bosch Bol (the best and biggest cream puff around) from Jan Degroot's Bakery. Some days, people line up outside for his pastries, and local restaurants advertise that they serve the real Jan De Groot Bosch Bols. We then explored Sint Jan's, the big Catholic Catherdral which dates back to 1230. There was still a service in progress when we first arrived, so we stood at the back and listened to the choir and organ. Very nice. After the service ended, we could explore the sanctuary and take many, many pictures of the art, ceilings, carvings and gorgeous stained glass windows.
Then we took a boat trip under the city. Den Bosch was originally built over the canals, with water ways going under the houses, and in places, holes in the ceiling where the dwellers could either go in and out from their house to their boat, or could throw their garbage into the canal. The city was walled and well protected by the water, and was almost impossible to invade during the 14th and 15 century, until a plan was devised to build a dike 5 km. around the city and drain the water, making access easy. Pete Hein, of folk lore fame, defeated the Spanish Armada and kept much of the plunder from the boats. With some of this money he funded the building of this dike and the defeat of the Spanish in the city, thereby using their own money against them. Very interesting tour. It was market day so the market square was wall to wall people. We had to leave the main part of the city just to find a place to have a drink in the nice sunny weather. In the evening we took our hosts out for dinner. A very nice day.

Saturday, July 2 Family Reunion!
This is the start of the next phase of our trip. This morning we (Joanie and I) hopped on the bus to go to Amsterdam to surprise (like they didn't kind of know anyway) the girls by meeting them at the airport. I assured Joanie we would have no problem catching the 10:08 train because C. told us the bus only took 15-20 min. to get to the station, leaving me 15 min. to buy tickets. There has never been a line-up for tickets. Today, the bus was a few minutes late, we hit a lot of red traffic lights, and there was a line-up at the ticket office, so that when I got the tickets, we had 1 minute to departure. The doors closed just as we stepped off the escalator. We waited 30 min. for the next train. We arrived just as the plane was about to land but then we had a 45 minute wait before they came out. See, I was not late!
I heard through the grapevine that a certain friend of mine used this blog to see what we ate every day, so today I am not going to say. However, Leah had her first kroket "out of the wall".
For the rest, we had a quiet day until we all went for dinner together somewhere I am obviously not going to talk about. Therefore, you will not find out about Lauren eating "kikkerbillens" (frogs legs) and octopus. It is so nice to have the girls here with us. It was also nice to finally see them after 45 minutes of Joanie fretting to me about whether we missed seeing them, were these passengers off of the same plane, etc., etc.

Friday, July 1 Canada Day
An 1.5 bus/train trip brought Joanie, I and C. to Den Hague. Even though this is on our plans for next week, one day seemed too short so we went to see a few things we may not get to then. We wondered around the city and took a guided tour of the Knight's room, where the Queen gives her speach to open parliament every September, and then to the Second chamber, the lower house of the government system. The second chamber is a modern facility and therefore not so interesting, but C. was interested in seeing it. Visited the Mesdag art gallery, where the artist created a 360 degree panoramic painting in 1898 of Den Hague and the beach as it looked in the 1800's. Quite neat to see the canvas painting and the beach forground which seemed to just blend in with the painting. We stopped at the Canadian embassy but it was closed for Canada Day. We also took the tram to Scheveningen to the famous hotel which is on most pictures of the Dutch beach resort on the North Sea. We walked the beach and pier and many beach restaurants, with their pillowed seats where you could actually lounge around a gas fire in the middle of the seated area. We ate pannekoeken for dinner. Joanie had a pannekoek with so many raisons and apples on it, there was still a huge pile on her plate when she was finished. I, having had withdrawal symptoms from not having quesedillas for so long, tried a mexicano pannekoek, which had spiced chicken, lettuce, tomato, sour cream and guacamoli on it. I though pouring syrup over it would be too much so I ate it as is. Quite good, though the pannekoek taste was lost a little. Another real enjoyable day. And tomorrow we look forward to our daughters joining us. We plan to go to Amsterdam to pick them up, supposedly to surprise them, although they know their mother so probably expect it anyway.

Thursday, June 30
After spending some time working outside, cleaning up the mess (leaves and tree branches) from the storm Tuesday, Joanie and I were picked up by her cousin and C.'s sister and spouse, A&P, who took us around for the afternoon before bringing us to thier house for dinner in Heusden. We drove through the tiny streets of Zaltbrommel, and visited the Christian Reformed Church there. It dates back to the 12th century. It was a Catholic church originally, but then was converted over. What happens then is that the protestants remove all of the crucifixes, art, etc. and replace the stain glass windows with clear glass. Therefore, these churches are not so interesting. What was interesting was that the gravestones on the floor of the church were well preserved and you could still clearly read the inscriptions dating back to the 1500's. As J. said, who is Catholic, they ruined the church and the fact that the stones are not completely worn down as they are in most old Catholic churches shows how many fewer people walked over them over the centuries. C., a protestant couldn't agrue too much except to point out that Catholic churches are open all week long and therefore subject to a lot of tourists, etc., while protestant churches are closed except on Sundays. It was also pointed out that the rich old farmers, who were more like land barons who had others do the farmwork for them, were buried near the front of the church. The richer you were, the more prominent place you got buried in. However, these graves often had to be opened to bury the person's spouse or other family members with them. You can imagine the odour inside the grave after someone has been in there a long time. Supposedly this is where the old Dutch expression comes from, "stinking rich farmers".
We drove along the dike bordering the Maas river to the point where the Maas and Waal rivers meet. A lot of river traffic on the Waal.
For dinner we had a concoction of white and brown beans with string beans. For dessert, hate blikson (sp?), and typical Dutch dessert of whipped egg whites and berries. Other than a quick shower, the weather was great and we had a nice visit.

Wednesday, June 29 The Rigt to Maastricht
The big news this morning was last night's storm. There were times the wind and rain seemed to come from all directions at once. We were worried about cancelled trains but our trip was OK. Joanie, C. and I took the train from Den Bosch to Maastricht, a 1 hr and 23 min trip. Along the way we say uprooted trees, thousands of huge branches and or trees which had just broken at the trunk, lying everywhere. We even saw some corn fields, where the corn, which was maybe 2 feet high, was completely flattened. The weather however cleared by early afternoon and we had a great day.
Maastricht is a beautiful old city in the extreme south of Holland, far larger than we thought it was. It has many churches, some of which we toured. One church was started in the 11th century, and one church had its origins in a graveyard dating back to the 500's. We took the walking tour, which took much of the day. Joanie had also been told to see teh grotto, so we followed the signs for that. It was a ways out of the city centre and up St. Pieter's berg, where there is an old fort. C. was not willing to go down the grotto, and it was a full hour tour. The brochures made it less interesting than I thought so we decided not to do it. Instead we stayed there for lunch. Just after we ordered, who should walk in but the Meyer clan, G&G, T, E., and her daughter A. They had stayed in a wonderful place in Maastricht the night before (I thought they were there several day earlier,) and had just done the grotto tour. They were debating whether to stop for lunch when one of the noticed my bright orange shirt and recognized it. We had lunch together. We then resumed our self-guided tour of the city, and had drinks in a converted cloister, which looked like an old catherdral, but was now a pub and hotel. We did not get home until 10PM. A very good day.

Tuesday, June 28
Joanie and I spent the morning mowing lawns and pulling weeds. It was over 30 degrees so very hot. In the afternoon, we visited a local castle and took a guided tour. Very interesting. The castle's origine is around 1025, but it has been broken down and rebuilt many times over the centuries.
We also saw a photo album of cousin C.'s friend J. In 2009 their Carnival committee selected C and their male friend, for a farmer's wedding on Carnival. (An annual tradition.) They decked themselves out in crazy wedding clothes, had a stag party, a parade down the city, a wedding with the mayor, and a big party. Over 400 people attended. This place is filled with crazy people who look for ways to party.
Tonight, we are in the midst of a giant thunder storm. I can hardly see out the window. The temperature is expected to drop from 34 today to 20 tomorrow.
I find, the more you get to know Dutch people, you don't necessarily grow to like them more.


Monday, June 27
We woke to a beautiful warm day at long last! We went with cousin C. by bike from Berlicum, through Den Bosch, along the Maas River to Heusden, a ride of about 28 km. Heusden is a beautiful, old, walled city with its own three unique windmills. Its main industry is ship building. Joanie's cousin, and C.'s sister lives here and we paid a visit before exploring the city on foot. I have come to the conclusion that the Dutch are far too well taken care of by the government and therefore have lost the drive to work. Being Monday, almost everything was closed. Some stores close Tuesdays as well, and a waitress told us one store may or may not be open depending on whether the owners feel like working that day or not. Nobody seems concerned about maybe earning a living?

For lunch we had poffertjes, small mouth-sized pancakes with icing sugar.

The ride home went inland and then through the centre of Den Bosch, perhaps a poor choice on a day with temperatures of over 31 degrees. The concrete was very hot and the Henekin factory didn't serve beer on the street. In total, we put on between 55 and 60 km., and I must admit that I was a little tender, although in no time my butt felt fine. We are ready for our barge trip!

Sunday, June 26
Finally, a change in the weather. A cloudy morning turned into a beautiful sunny afternoon, with temperatures expected to reach in the 30's the next two days before plummeting again. After a long, slow morning, we went to a "cram feist" in the afternoon. This is a party put on by couples who have had a baby or had their baby baptised. There were many cousins of Joanie there and she met a few of them. The pastry was very good and the beer was free.
After this, we drove around Andel, where C. grew up, as well as Aalburg and along the dike we hope to bike tomorrow to Heusden. We stopped at a playground where C. says Joanie's mom would have played as a child. Nest to it was an outdoor cafe and we had a bitterball and pop. Later, we went and picked up fries and a croquette, a Sunday tradition. A lot of deep fry for one day. We walked around town after dinner and then skyped with home. The evenings here are often spent watching whatever happens to be on Netherlands TV, usually some expose on a big name in Dutch high society or sports.


Saturday, June 25
Today was a dark, wet day in Berlicum. We spent quite some time just hanging around, doing sidokus, etc. before going to a small local town for some shopping. On the way home we stopped by a windmill near here that was working. You could see the grind stones inside turning.
For dinner,, we went to a local Chinese restaurant for "wokling", food cooked in a wok. You pay one fee, 26 euros, which includes not only all the food you can eat, but drinks and dessert as well. You can put food on a plate and have it cooked in a wok as well as take selected meats which is cooked on a grill Japanese style. For dessert, there was a chocolate fountain, pastries, ice cream with assorted toppings, and fruit. You could help yourself to all the wine, beer, soft drinks, coffee, etc. you wanted. A very nice evening. The owner came and chatted and even gave us extra discount coupons for when our daughters come next week. We ended the evening with a jenever.
Overall a quiet day. The big event here is the opening of a new hospital which replaces several old hospitals. Today a new, fancy bound book was delivered giving the history of the hospitals here. Corry got one free as a former employee. Next week C & J plan to attend a musical about the hospital and suggested we go and tour it. Personally, I am not enamoured by hospitals and will forgo the musical, but I have a feeling the tour is a go.

Friday, June 24
Phase 3 of our trips began today. We packed our bags and hopped on the train to s'Herthovenbosch (?) , or Den Bosch. That went well, but I am getting very frustrated that so many places, including the train depot, will not accept credit cards. That means always having a lot of cash on hand.
We were picked up at the station by Joanie's cousins, C & J and went to their house in Berlicum. After dinner, we went for a walk around town. Could be an interesting week.


Thursday, June 23
This was to be an uneventful day. Joanie and I were on our own because the rest of the clan went to Rotterdam and my uncle and aunt were away for a family birthday in Gouda. After I snuggled up with a book for the morning, and Joanie conquered her greatest challenge, a level of "luxor" that has kept her glued to the computer for a week, we decided to go to Ermelo to see the town centrum where the shops are. The weather was off and on all day, so decided to drive. After some window shopping, we checked out the shop in the windmill. The owners asked if we wanted a tour, because they had the upstairs open. The original mill was destroyed by fire, and since 2008 they have been working to restore it to a fully working mill for grinding hops and animal feed. We got a first hand tour of the complete inner workings. Very neat.
For dinner I tried the pre-cooked boerenkoel (Kale). What a bonus to eat this in June!
After dinner, we went for a bike ride into old Harderwijk. It soon began to rain. The bike paths are usually lined with big trees, and while Joanie retreated to a bus shelter, I huddled under a tree to wait out the cloud burst. There were two other people across the street and a man in front of me doing the same thing. In no time, the rain ended, the sun came out and all was good.

Wednesday, June 22 When it rains it pours
Today I had a bit of a disappointment. We started the day with Joanie and I each getting our hair cut. (No that was not the disappointment) Then we found that our laundry was still not drying, and Joanie decided, despite the weather, to wash both of our coats. It was partially due to the wine spilt all over hers. We therefore had to bring them to G&G's house, because they have a thing called a dryer. Then we went home, picked up our bikes, and biked back to Ermelo to meet up with G&G and take a bike around Ermelo and to Elspeet, a distance of about 27 km. After some ice cream treats in Elspeet, we were nice and cooled down when the first rain started. I had remembered my frog togs, so put them on. We waited a little while then returned to Ermelo, through some drizzle. After parting company with G&G, Joanie and I started our 7 km. ride back to Harderwijk. Within a few minutes, the skies let go with full force. We could barely see the roundabout ahead, as the rain swept across the street in waves. We retreated under some big trees along the bike path and decided to wait it out. We were there about 15 minutes. By now even the trees could not keep us from getting soaked, but I was happy to have my frog togs on. Joanie was less fortunate, with her rain jacket still in the dryer. Eventually the rain let up, and then after a few minutes, we were biking in full sunshine and blue skies. The real disappointment came when we got home and took off our coats. While my togs kept my pants nice and dry, even while sitting on a wet sheepskin seat cover, my jacket and even my t-shirt was damp. That was my big disappointment. The frog tog jacket had not done its job, at least not under severe conditions. So now I guess I will just have to settle for looking good in my cammo rain gear.
Last week we discovered a little known fact, that many Europeans apparently die from drink too strong coffee. My sister G had some of my aunt's coffee and failed to water it down with hot water, as is the rule, because she likes strong coffee. My aunt claimed she was going to die. We have maintained a vigil ever since but so far no sign of the dreaded coffee infestation.

Tuesday, June 21
Let me edit an earlier comment. The wash is not dry today.
Today we visited Gouda with G&G. (sister T is way for a few days). By the time we got there, the dark, overcast skies opened a little, and over the afternoon we had more and more sun. The stathuis of Gouda sits in the middle of the city square and is quite neat. Every half hour, at 2 minutes after, bells chime and the little wooden figures come to life, include two guards, towns folks, and the king and queen who step out onto a platform. The buildings around the square date to the 1600's. We also visited a cheese store of course, and sampled many different but delicious varieties of gouda cheese.
From there we visited a little place called Rijnburg, near Den Hague and Haarlem. Mr. G knew only that a friend at church said it was nice. We found a lot of greenhouses, and of course the old Grote Kerk, with a statute. We have seen so many churches that these 400 year old buildings start to look ordinary. From here we drove to Zandvoort, a beach resort on the North Sea. It was extremely windy, so it was enjoyed mostly by wind surfers. The beach is wide and quite nice. We enjoyed a drink and bitterballen at one of the restaurants along the beach. After exploring the town for shot glasses for my collection, the only souvenir store with potential was closed, we left, after the rest of the crew tried a bun with herring and onions.
e decided to stop for dinner in Hoorn. This was an unusually different town, with stepped rooflines and buildings that often leaned forward or were crooked. The port had a very nice old tower and there were many beautiful old boats moored there. At dinner, we sat on the terrace of a restaurant on the Roode Steen square. It was so windy, that the plastic menu cards blew over and knocked my and Joanie's drinks over. We went inside and we both ended up getting free new drinks. The meals were delicious. Another very good day.

Monday, June 20
Joanie described today as a "10" day. We drove with G&G across Flevoland to Den Herder, crossing the Ijsselmeer over the 28 km. Markerwaard dike road to Enkhuizen. From there we took the ferry to Texel Island, a 15 minute trip. The weather was beautiful, with sunny skies and at the end of the day my face and neck were as red as my shirt. Once on the island, we rented one-speed bikes for 6 euro per day and biked over 30 km., through sheep herds, along the shore, on farm roads, etc. When we reached the most northern point we planned to go to, I discovered I had a flat tire. We stopped at a farmer working in his barn, and he pumped my tire up. That lasted just over 5 minutes of biking. At the next little village, we stopped at a bike repair shop, left the bike there and went for a Texel beer. When we got back the bike was fixed, he had called the bike rental place, and I could ride off without a charge. We biked through 5 quaint old little villages, and had lunch (kibberling fish and fries) in Oudeschild. We got a deal on sheepskin bike seat covers, so Mr. G and I bought one. Of course, our wives, who forgot the ones they already owned, ended up using them.
On our way home, we stopped in Enkhuizen for some dinner and we all ate pannekoeken. Our pancakes had cheese and bacon. Quite tasty. Enkhuizen was a very nice old city with a beautiful water port.
Great day.


Sunday, June 19
If this is Sunday, its only one more day until yesterday's laundry is dry. Laundry is a challenge with an old little washing machine and having to hang wet clothes on racks in the little house because it rains all the time. I am looking forward to some clean clothes tomorrow. Of course, they won't be soft and warm.
Another rainy day and a sore throat kept me in bed beyond church time this morning. This afternoon we had a visit with my cousin Ron, my aunt Joop, who I never met before, and Ron's two youngest daughters. We had a nice visit. Tonight a skype home and another day in Holland is over.
On a slow news day, here are some of my reflections on our facilities:
a) back door lock which was worn out and needed a locksmith to fix because we were tired of walking around the house every time we came home from a bike trip.
b) laundry - an old washer that needed a wooden spoon to hold the lid open so you can fish around for the trap door in the drum inside
c) lack of dryer which required very limited laundry that must be hung up for two or more days to dry.
d) tiny, old, hard towels
e) oven - what's an oven?
f) toaster oven - only toast one side because who has time to wait for both sides to toast
g) dripping kitchen tap - instructions were to catch the drips to feed the plants in the garden. The rain is doing a fine job on its own, thank you.
h) little toilet closet with not fan.
i) toilet with a nice shelf above the water to catch anything you do, thereby allowing you to aromate your tiny closet more quickly.
j) Freezer- I think a tray of ice would have completely filled this baby.
k) Fridge - our van had more room in it. Everything needs to be small and narrow. That means the few things you put in it must often be put on their side.
l) TV - a note explained that the cable box for the TV broke two days before we arrived. We only get 3 local stations which do not carry much, so we have not turned it on.
m) Old roll-down blind in the livingroom is broken, and stuck covering half the window. Not a problem for short people though.
m) a little old car that seems to be made of tin. With all the round abouts and bike path crossings, etc., driving and shifting up and down is a lot of work!
OK, so I sound like an ungrateful old grouch. (Joanie just confirmed this.) Actually, the price is right, it does have wireless internet, and we do have a few cozy seats to snuggle up and read in. It is not all bad, but it is a bit like stepping back in time. Location wise, it is great. We can pop across the street to do some shopping, use the ATM and pick up croquetten. The train station is an easy walk from here and it is not too far to get into the old part of Harderwijk, which is beautiful.





Saturday, June 18
After a trip to the market for Sunday buns, and a trip to Albert Hein for a few other things, we all drove to my aunt Truus' house in Vaassen for my sisters G & T to visit. She is easily stressed out, so as a good relative, I chose to not overwhelm her and, instead, the rest of us explored the area for over an hour. We came across a working windmill in Wesum and chatted to the operator, who looked just as you would expect, a bit stooped, dutch cap on, weathered skin and missing teeth. We also stopped at the Grote Kerk in Apeldoorn. I did go in to see my aunt when we picked up my sisters. I had seen her many years ago in Canada. The first thing she did was look at me and say I looked different but had the Meyer look, then patted my stomach. That seemed like a strange ritual and not one I appreciate very much. I didn't pat her cane.
After dinner Joanie and I biked to Ermelo to visit G&G. We got caught in a shower and had to wait it out a few minutes under some trees. A few minutes later it was sunny. At the end of the evening, it was pouring again so we waited 10 minutes and it was dry. We made record time getting back home, only going through two drizzles on the way. We are getting very tired of this unsettled weather which today felt at times like the beginning of winter.

If anyone reading this has not already done so, they can check out the latest pictures posted on facebook.

Friday, June 17, It's all Frisian to me
We drive around Holland these days in a Mercedes that G&G have. Contrary to what you might think, the back seat is not designed well for 3 adults, and the person by the door needs to hang on for dear life because the seat raises at the end, and you feel like you are being thrown into the poor middle person. Due to the threat of rain, we cancelled a planned trip to Texel Island and chose instead to tour the province of Friesland. The Fris have their own dialect of Dutch that is almost impossible for outsiders to understand. However, we found most people we spoke to, with the exception of one guy giving us directions, spoke regular Dutch. We stopped at Hindeloopen, a very cute little harbour town on the Ijsselmeer. The houses here have one side where the roof is very long to the ground. This town specialized in artistically painted pots, coat racks, serving trays and pretty much anything else made out of wood. There was also an art gallery with 3D paintings well outside our looking range. We enjoyed coffee and either boerejongens (rum-soaked raisins and apple tart) or local waffles. The birds were eating out of Joanie's hand.
From here we made stops in Workum and Makkum, also cute little places. Makkum has its own special porcelain much like Delft's blue porcelain.
After this, we went to Sneek for a late lunch/early dinner. Joanie and I had a delicious sate chicken in peanut sauce and fried potatoes. Friesland is very much a farming area, with cows and sheep everywhere grazing on the flat strips of pasture or along the dikes.
We got home just before it started to pour. Shortly after that, we jumped into the car again and went to visit Marianne, a family friend who lives in Soest, just past Armersfort. A wonderful day!

Thursday, June 16 - Recovery
Spent the day trying to recover from Boys day out. Actually, I have a cold/hay fever and decided to take it easy. Woke up very late after suffering through a night of watching game 7 of the Stanley Cup. Didn't get to be until after 5AM, and the sun was already getting set to shine. Still got over 5 hours sleep. Woke up to the news of rioting in Vancouver. Watching some of the news footage made me sick. Any positive reputation Vancouver got out of the Olympics was suddenly destroyed. What really bothered me was seeing how many people on the street seemed to just stand by and watch, take pictures of themselves in front of the wreckage as though it was a great event, join in on looting, and cheer on the mayhem. That is a lot of lost people who have no sense of right or wrong. Relief to find that our daughter Leah, while held up with her cousins and friends after the "Wicked" performance due to the riot, did get home safely. Thank God for that.
Joanie and sister T. biked to Albert Hein to see if there was some food we could not get at our local grocer. I spent the day backing up our 1968 photos so far. G&G biked from Ermelo for coffee and drinks after supper. A very strange day, with sunny skies one minute, darkness and thunder showers the next. We are revising our plans for the next few day because of the unsettled weather throughout Europe.

Wednesday, June 15 - Boys Day Out
Today is boys day out. While the women got together and biked to Putten to shop at a local market, G, my uncle and I drove to Groningen to see my uncle and aunt there. My uncle J, wrote a book about his experiences growing up during the war. I asked to purchase a copy and he said he would give it to me with a 5 euro discount.
Uncle J drove us all around the Groningen area where he, my dad and the rest of the Meyer clan grew up. We saw the house that my grandfather and 2 generations before him lived in Oostwold. We saw the church my dad was baptised in. We also explored the cemetery in Oostwold. I took photos of all the gravestones with the name Meijer on them, as well as a few other names that I remembered from the work I am doing on creating a family tree. This is for research when I get home. My uncle shared some stories of my dad I had not heard before as well as general family history. We also drove into the city of Groningen which was a nightmare. We had wanted to see the tower where you can get a great view of the city, but with all the one way streets and turning restrictions, we were unable to get there. We drove on little one lane streets with bicycles coming out of every nook and cranny and riding around the vehicle, often within a few inches. It was crazy. I was so glad I wasn't driving! We returned to Uncle J's house in Eelde and enjoyed "snet", Dutch peas soup, and dessert. I must have made an impression because he got me a copy of his book, and gave me a 10 euro discount. I told him if I try to read it all, it would take me at least 3 years of steady reading. However, there are many family photos and pieces of family history I wanted to look at.

All in all, a great day. The women also had a good day, although they did a lot of biking and did get caught in some rain. Tonight we rested up to see the last game of the Stanley Cup at 2AM.

Tuesday, June 14
Today we move G&G from staying with my aunt and uncle in Harderwijk, to their house exchange in Ermelo. After dropping them off by car, I drove home and we biked there, a 25 min. ride. After dinner, we again biked to Ermelo to join G&G and my uncle and aunt for desert at a restaurant after their meal. Lots of biking back and forth and I am getting used to the bike being our main means of transport. Today the weather was quite nice, and it stays light around here until after 10:30PM. Supposedly, tomorrow is the last day before a string of rainy days.
We laughed today at how set in routine the Dutch are, or at least, some are. My uncle does the grocery shopping, going out almost every day. I think his shopping list never changes. Therefore, they always eat the same "kook" every day but Sunday with coffee, (and have as long as anyone can remember), and have the same buns and the same selection of meals. Snacks also do not vary at all and we all can list the three main snacks which are served. While they claim to like other things, they make no effort to change their routine at all. Quite funny really.
With G&G now moved to their own place with their own bikes, I can now move up the ladder and get my uncle's old bike. I nolonger need to be embarrassed by the old, one speed ladies bike I was using.

Monday, June 13
Today was laundry day. With the constantly changing weather, our sheets went out more than we did. In the afternoon we loaded up our tin can, it must have looked funny with 5 adults in a car not much bigger than a VW bug, and drove to Urk, on one of the most recent reclaimed islands, Flevoland. We had a nice walk around the old fishing port on the Ijsselmeer and had coffee and croquettes for lunch. The evening was for relaxing. Game 6 of the Stanley Cup begins at 2AM so I need to get some rest before that.
Today was a holiday, 2nd Penticost Day, and all stores were closed. Sometimes that can be a good thing.

Sunday June 12

Today us Pentecost. This is still a big celebration here. People are out and about and have Monday, Second Pentecost Day, off. We went to church this morning to the sound of church bells ringing. Real nice. The service was long but OK. The organ player was a bit much, especially when the intro to one song sounded like it was straight out of the Phantom of the Opera.
After lunch we went on a 35 km bike ride around Ermelo. After that we relaxed and skyped with home. It was also nice to read some e-mails from friends. One of the things I find with extended vacations, especially since we do not watch TV or read newspapers, is that you loose touch with what is going on in the world as well as back home. Getting news from home is always exciting.
One of the things we have observed here in Europe in general is the lack of food safe concerns that we have in Canada. No one uses gloves to handle food. It is not unusual for a store employees to handle food with bare hands and put it in a bag for you, such as loaves of bread, unwrapped candies, fish, etc. Sometimes there are tongs but if not, bare hands are not a problem. I don't know that people are less healthy as a result. Recycling is also not a top priority. Many of the things we recycle get thrown in the garbage. Some of the comforts we take for granted are also different. We have a box of tissue paper here that is as thick and hard as paper towels, and the toilet paper is one ply, albeit a very thick ply. Our fridge is so small that we need to shop every two days or so because there is no room for storage. Luckily the store is across the street. You can get pre-cut everything from diced ham for use in omelets, rice dishes, etc. to pealed potatoes in every size and cut imaginable. You can also get individual stampot dinners that only need to be heated up, like boerekoel with gravy and sausage, chopped endive in mashed potatoes, etc.
Joanie has become hooked on a computer game, and has already spent hours climbing the ladder of success. That gives me time to blog, etc. since the game is on the computer here and not my laptop.