Holland - Part 3

Friday, July 22
Today was uneventful, a good thing, since it was a final travel day. Our suitcases somehow survived many miles of being dragged over rough, cobblestone roads, bumped up and down thousands of stairs, and heaved onto too many trains. We bid farewell to our girls and took the train to Amsterdam, where Joanie's cousin and her friend were there to see us off. The flight home on KLM was excellent and it was really good to be back in our own house, with all its modern conveniences. The trip was so long, that Italy seems like another vacation all together. There are no regrets, but much satisfaction that we have had a good feel for Holland, seen as much as we needed to, and are happy to move on now, appreciating where we live as well.

Thursday, July 21
Today was a nice final day with our girls. The weather was good, and we drove to Gouda for the cheese market. The girls bought big, fresh stroopwafels which were warm. The best I have ever had! After that we biked to old Harderwijk and the girls treated us to lunch. Mom and dad are broke and the girls have money. We'll see if they do at the end of their trip. After dinner we visited my uncle and aunt. Will miss being able to hop on the bike to visit and bike home at night, seeing many other bikers. Tomorrow its off to Amsterdam and a long trip home. I think we are ready.

Wednesday, July 20
We drove to Elburg today in our tin can because it was market day. After that, we drove up to Giethoorn, and very cute little place where all the houses have thatched roofs and are surrounded by canals, so the only way around is by foot paths, bridges over the canals and boats. We stopped at a place and walked into where some houses were. Joanie and I did not think it looked familiar from our visit 4 years ago, since we remembered more restaurants, boat rentals, and tourists. We had lunch at a restaurant and asked both the waitress and some other Dutch patrons. They said we were in the right place and it is just a matter of walking up and down the foot paths there. After we spent some time there we decided to drive up the road a little. About 1 km. down the road we found the turnoff where the main area of Giethoorn was. Here were many terraced restaurants, boat rentals, shops, and a busy walkway. Seems really strange that people a km away did not realize this is where we were asking about. Could it be because there area was deserted and their boat operators had nothing to do? While looking around, I found a postcard with a picture of a bird we saw a number of times. I asked Leah and Lauren to remember the name "Fuut" so I could look it up later and see the English name. Lauren, my sweet, innocent youngest child immediately piped up, "I'll remember FU and Leah, you can remember the rest." Despite a brief shower that drove us inside during lunch, the weather was good. Today was final laundry before we go home so we sit in a house with wet clothes hanging from every nook and cranny. Wait until the Dutch hear about the invention of clothes dryers! Of course they still prefer this because it gives everything a nice, crisp feel.



Tuesday, July 19 Homecoming
We actually had a nice weather day all day, without any showers! We took the train to Rheden with my uncle and aunt and met my cousin Ron at the train station. Together we rented bikes and biked to Velp. There we showed our girls the famed church, the Oude Jan, one of the oldest in Holland dating back to the 12th century, the tree which still stands and stood in front of my mother's family farm a short distance from the Oude Jan (since torn down for housing), the house I was born in, my oma's house where my dad grew up, the park they played soccer in, the forest they played in, the lake they skated on, the church they attended, and the Rosendaal Kasteel. This was a difficult day for Lauren. The castle shook her plans to marry in the castle near Den Bosch. She could picture where her horse drawn coach would go, where the reception could be held, etc. At the end of the visit, reality must have taken hold and she declared that her real wedding will be so boring.
Leah is a quick learner and following in her uncle's footsteps, fell as her bike slid out from under her on some sand, badly scraping her bruised and battered knee and putting a hole in her new pants.
For dinner, we met up with Ron's wife and two of his daughters, as well as his mom, my aunt, and we ate at Struiland, my aunt's favourite pancake house. A perfect end to a perfect day.

Monday, July 18
Plans to go to Velp were put off until Tuesday because the slight decrease in the chance of rain. It rained most of the day, and we spent the day at T and L's place (where we move in Tueaday) because our B&B had no internet and that gave us something to do, besides reading. It dried long enough for us to take a trip to the old city centre in search of some Bosch Bols for L, who is leaving tomorrow and has yet to have one. We were unsuccessful. We then found the old bakery that has the best sugar bread. They have closing hours that are different every day of the week. Today, it would have closed at 2PM, and we were later than that. However, a sign said the owner was going on vacation and so the store closes for 3 weeks, in the middle of summer when touriste are around. Strange way to do business. This is another reason Holland seems to be slow at recovering from the recession. And yes, we did get rained on again, but not too badly.

Sunday, July 17
Contrary to my aunt's wishes, we did not go to church or spend the day having coffee but went with T and L to Zwolle. It was a good day. The great chocolate milkshake search finally ended with a decent shake in Hattam.
Zwolle was very quiet because stores are closed on Sunday. Zwolle is a nice, interesting city to explore and has old city walls. After lunch we hopped on a bus and went to nearby Hattam, one of my favourite old cities from our last trip. We visited the Anton Piek museum, and went through a bakery museum, which had old equipment used to make spekulaas and Droste chocolates. Nice little place. We returned to Zwolle for dinner. Again we had issues, as the restaurant did not accept credit cards, greatly depleting my cash reserve. Getting more and more disallusioned with how this country operates. But, things did not end there. It was sunny, but just as we were about to leave the restaurant, the skies opened up. We waited a short while, but then impatience set in, and we headed for the train station, a walk of about 10 minutes. A few times we were teased with a let up, only to be followed by a torrential downpour. We were all soaked to the bone. 10 minutes later it was dry and it was sunny by the time we reached Harderwijk, a 29 minute train ride.

Saturday, July 16
After saying goodbye, we dragged our bags to Centraal Station and took the train to Harderwijk. It was a mixed bag weather day again, with sun, clouds and showers, much like almost the whole trip. We got settled in to the B&B at 29 Mastmeen where we will be at the next 3 nights. We have a huge room upstairs with a large seating area, TV, sink, and access to our own stocked fridge and microwave. The girls have a room one floor down without seating area. The bathroom, unlike so many we have seen, is actually modern with a regular, enclosed shower. What a concept! We went for dinner and drinks at my uncle and aunt. The weather forecast for the rest of the week is depressing.

Friday, July 15
Grey morning skies gave way to sunny weather. Due to a lack of volunteers, I again had to lead the bike trip into Amsterdam. We left the boat at 9AM and rode to Emdijk, where we boarded a little rope-pulled ferry (60 cents) and rode over flat pasture land to Huizen. There we found the centrum and coffee. Some found herring as well. We rode through bush to Naarde. This is a beautiful old, walled city with a nice moated entrance. After a short wrong turn, we found our way out of the city and on to Muiderberg and Muiden where we stopped at the Muiderslot kasteel for lunch and ice cream. There were no takers for doing a tour of the castle. Leaving town, we rode along side the highway and over a big bridge over the Rijnekaanel towards Amsterdam. The first part of our route along the canal was closed due to construction of a new bridge, so we had to detour around a few kms. This went quite smoothly and soon we were motoring to Amsterdam. Crossing into the city, we had a few concerns with crossing roads at unmarked intersections, but the route we took brought us away from the heavy bike traffic and north of the tracks, so we nicely cycled onto the dock and found our boat. A few (actually a lot) of last minute pictures of cyclists on their bikes in front of the boat and it was time to turn our bikes in for the last time. I found it a little sad.
For dinner, there was a surprise, a stampot dinner feast of hutspot (carrots and onions), gehart ballen (hamburger balls), endive stampot, sauerkraut stampot, rookworst and for dessert, vanilla, chocolate, mangos and hopjes vla. S and V had their first authentic Dutch stampot meal and quite enjoyed it. I led devotions for a second time (where are all the volunteers?) and we thanked the crew, who were awesome.
After dinner, a few of us wandered into the city for one last shopping spree. One thing I noticed throughout this trip is a lot of PDA (public displays of affection), from wives and girlfriends saying long goodbyes at train stations to excessive making out in places like the middle of the Dam square. One young couple I did feel sorry for. They seemed to have trouble unlocking their tongues. Joanie and I got right into it though, holding hands in the middle of Amsterdam, right where everyone could see us.
I am proud to report that everyone finished the bike trip and there was only one real casualty, or rather, only one person with many casualties. (fell off bike 6 times, often avoiding other people or camouflaged white and red poles in the forest, and injured head while touring the inside of a windmill). His identity will remain a secret.

Thursday, July 14
The boat left at 7:10 AM for Elburg. We all stayed on board and had breakfast. It was raining but it looked like the rain was less, and the wind was less strong that yesterday. At Elburg, nine of us, myself included, took our bikes and headed for Harderwijk, through Nunspeet and Elspeet. Joanie and the rest of the gang walked about 1 km into Elburg before returning to sail to Harderwijk. The first hour or so of our three hour bike ride was not nice, with wind and rain causing some discomfort and soaking through four layers of clothing. This was a good test for my frog togs rain gear. They failed. Once we reached the Velouwe (forest) we were more protected and the biking became much more enjoyable. We took only two breaks to do the 39 km trip, knowing we were in a time crunch to meet the boat. We arrived in Harderwijk about the same time as the boat, and after spending some time searching the secondary harbour, because the main harbour was full, we found the boat, which was not finished tying up yet. We climbed on board and immediately left for Spakenburg. At Spakenburg, the weather again turned very ugly. Gale force winds and heavy rain made it almost impossible to stand up straight on the dock and the short walk into town made everyone thoroughly soaked.

Wednesday, July 13 April showers bring June and July showers
The weather was ugly!!! A heavy mist hung in the air and came at you in waves because of the strong wind. The plan was to sail from Zutphen to Deventer, and begin biking there to Kampen. However, only 5 hard-core bikers decided to take the plunge. Reports later confirmed that I had made a good choice not to go, as they struggled with a strong head wind and constant rain. Most of us who did not bike, explored Deventer for an hour before we sailed on to Kampen. A few of us ventured out to walk through Kampen but it did not take long to get very wet. We had no choice but to dry up in the bakery and refuel with pastry. We also visited the old Greformerde (sp?) church, but most protestant churches look rather bare in comparison to the old catholic catherdrals we have seen. Reports of stronger winds and heavier rain tomorrow caused some tensions in the evening as I tried to walk the line between the majority who had no interest in biking under these conditions, and a few who felt this was the purpose of the trip, and therefore the route should accomodate their desire to bike regardless of the weather. The schedule for tomorrow was very tight, since we were essentially covering as much territory in one day than what we had done in two days four years ago.

Tuesday, July 12
Nephew M agreed to lead today and took the task seriously, checking out the route online at an internet place in town. We biked from Arnhem along the wharf and to the Westervoort bridge. We crossed over and onto the bike path. One or two people struggled early. We biked to Giesbeek and discovered that no restaurant in town serves coffee before noon! What kind of country are we in? We carried on to Doesburg and had a good coffee by the old church in the centrum. We then traveled along the dikes to Bronkhorst, one of my favourite places from the last trip. It became more and more difficult to bike with a strong wind in our face and a few people struggled a lot. We missed the first turn-off from the dike, so did not go through Rha as planned, but straight to Bronkhorst, and the windmill just outside town. Since many had eaten their lunch during various rest stops on the dike, our lunch stop became a refreshment stop. From Bronkhorst we took a small ferry and about an hour later we crossed the bridge and into Zutphen. Towards dinner time, it began to cloud over quickly, and soon it was raining very hard, with heavy showers forecast for the next day. I explored bad weather options with Captain Tieman

Monday, July 11
Brother-in-law G (or Geo) was the bike leader today. It was a beautiful, sunny day. We biked to Amerongen and walked to see the castle (from the outside only). It was too early, so we biked to Elst for coffee. Nothing was open. NO coffee in the entire town. We carried on to Rhenen where we went to Tanteloos (recommended by someone) for coffee. We then bike to Wageningen and ate our bag lunch in the square. The plan was to avoid the hill leading to Arnhem, but due to construction closures, we ended up on this same hill, as we did 4 years earlier. We biked through the centre of Oostebeek into Arnhem. The boat was late due to problems with locks at Dreg, a few km away. My cousin and his entire family (wife, daughters and son-in-law) all came to visit the Meyer clan and we had coffee together. It was nice to see the Canadian second cousins laughing and being able to communicate with their Dutch second cousins.

Sunday, July 10 - 35th
Day one of our biking trip was also our 35th anniversary day. We sailed to a spot near Breukelin, where I lead the troops. We had a little trouble finding where the instructions for the bike route began relative to where we were but soon were on our way, with 24 people trying to stay together, always a challenge. This was the most difficult day because we had to go through Utrecht, a major city. We found the centrum where the old church was without too much difficulty. Entering the city, we passed a row of houseboats. At first it seemed strange that the houses had women standing in front of them clad in bikinis (it was nice weather but not that hot). By the time I spotted the fishnet outfit, my suspicions were confirmed. These were whorehouses. It was very difficult to ride around the men driving their cars and bikes very slowly.
The rest of the day went smoothly, except going to Oldijk. Instructions said to turn left at a cafe but it seems the instructions are old and I never saw a cafe. We rode a few kms before realizing we were going wrong and had to back track. This was not good news for a few people who were really struggling with the biking. We rode past Kasteel Sanenbury, which was very nice to see. When we arrived at the boat in Wijks bij Durstede, it was all decorated for our anniversary, and there was chilled champagne waiting for us. After dinner they brought out an anniversary cake. After dinner we walked to the local castle. While one or two may disagree, I found it a great first day!!!

Saturday, July 9
After breakfast we checked out of the Nadia Hotel and walked our suitcases to our boat, the Liza Marleen. We then wandered over to the Nieuwe Markt and the Dam. The square was very busy because they were celebrating 100 years of Chinese in Amsterdam. This include a long parade with about 50 two person "dragons". After gorging on some exotic pastries and coffee, we split up, the women going shopping and Geo and I went through the flower market to the statue Lievetje and the Beheignhof (sp?). After this we went on a quest for a milkshake, in my case, a simple task of finding a chocolate shake, since I have yet to find a decent shake on this trip. We visited two McDonalds and a Burger King without success. They only have vanilla, strawberry and mango shakes. What's with that! Again I had to settle, getting a very mediocre shake from a gelato stand. After a beer with the group, we returned to the boat for dinner and one last round of souvenir shopping in the evening. The boat was wonderful. There was plenty of seating room at the tables, and a nice lounging area with sofas. Upstairs was a good seating area outside. The bedrooms had enough room for two or three people to stand and even get changed, AT THE SAME TIME! It was great having a separate bathroom with each bedroom. They were also very roomy with a nice shower.

Friday, July 8
After breakfast, Joanie, I and W. took the train to Zaanse Schans, while L&L took it easy before their visit to the Anne Frank house. It was very nice seeing the line of windmills and wandering around the little shops and streets in the area. After we returned and had lunch, we went with sister E & A plus M&M on the canal boat tour. Then it was time for a family dinner, since it was sister G's 65th birthday. There was 11 of us there and we had a great, but economical meal at the Svantje. After that we took a picture of our hotel, with all of those staying there hanging out of their windows or standing on their balcony. To finish the night off right, what better way than a nice family stroll through the red light district. Nothing strange about walking with your daughters through this area.
Amsterdam is a busy city but is very dirty. It is unfortunate that when you walk down the little streets along the canals, you have to step around piles of garbage and dog poo everywhere on the sidewalks. The smell of garbage is never far away. Holland also has a great deal of trouble understanding the service industry. While there have been exceptions, we often find waiters don't try very hard to serve, giving dirty looks or comments if you ask for separate bills, ignoring you when you want to order, bringing excellent but little coffees then letting you wait for every before bringing the meal, and then ignoring you again when you want to pay. It is almost impossible to have a quick lunch that doesn't end up taking 90 minutes. It is easy to see that they do not work for tips, which is included in the bill. As noted previously, many tourist services do not accept credit cards meaning that you always need a wad of cash on you. Overall, a very tourist unfriendly country. But, despite that, we are having a good time.

Thursday, July 7
A sunny day, but the wind picked up from time to time, making it a little cool. After breakfast Joanie and I walked to the train station to meet sister W., and find her hotel. We spent much of the day just wandering around Amsterdam, through the Jordaan district. We also did a little souvenir shopping. After lunch we took a tour of the palace on the Dam square. It was used as a place of justice (read torture, sentencing, etc.) in the 16th century before being converted to a royal palace in the 17th century by Louis Boneparte, Napoleon's brother and ruler of Holland before William of Orange. It was very interesting with a lot of sculpured scenes and old paintings on the walls and ceilings depicting the purposes of some of the rooms. We all met for dinner where many of us enjoyed a plate of hutspot, a traditional Dutch dish of mashed potatoes, onions and carrots, with a large meatball and gravy. Very good! A little more shopping after dinner and it was already time to wrap up the day with some drinks in our room at the Nadia.

Wednesday, July 6
This morning we went by tram from Delft to Den Hague to explore Joanie's roots. First to the Hoofkade where her family first lived together. It was not in the best part of town although it has deteriorated since the war years. The house was at one end of row houses across the street from the Den Hague HS train station. The street was neglected and many of the homes were boarded up. Undoubtedly, this area will soon be demolished for new housing. Next we went to the Drebblestraat, some distance away, where the family moved to and Joanie actually lived until immigrating to Canada. This apartment was much better than the Hoofkade. As we stood outside taking pictures as her brother explained some of the family history there, the current owner came outside and offered to show them the house. Joanie was able to get the tour. We walked to the church the family attended, now completely renovated, the area where the schools were, and where the family often went for Sunday afternoon strolls.
Then it was back to Delft, where we visited the markt square and saw the church where Hugo De Groot was buried. We had lunch under umbrellas just as it started to pour. We stayed reasonably dry and after 20 minutes or so, the rain stopped, and soon thereafter, it was blue skies. We took several hundred photos of shops, church steeples, old museum buildings and even a wedding party, much to Lauren's delight. Then we visited a Delft blue pottery factory, where Joanie and the girls took a tour, while I took pictures of the washroom with the delft blue painting in the toilet and nice tiles on the walls. We retrieved out suitcases, and part way through our long walk to the train station, it poured again, but we managed to stay reasonably dry under some trees.
We arrived in Amsterdam and, after a detour which doubled our walk, we found our hotel. We were met at the door by someone who said they had been expecting us, and took all of our bags up the stairs, which seemed to go straight up steeply from the street to the second floor reception area. We were treated to a cold drink and found a bouquet of flowers in our room. G&G met us and later, after dinner, all (J&B, G&G and M&M) joined us in our room for refreshments. Another successful day despite getting caught in two showers.