After we spent those couple of hours in Lage Vuursche (last post) back on May 31, we drove the 10 km north into Hilversum, the city where Astrid was born and raised. (And yes, it's the same city where the victims of MH17 are being identified...but we didn't know any of that back then.)
Hilversum is a city of ca. 87K inhabitants...with it's city center, the water tower from 1893 (top-right),
the new city hall, where Astrid's parents married on July 20,1949 (top-left), etc., etc.
Oh, and Meddens (right-center) was where Astrid had her first full-time window-dressing job.
the new city hall, where Astrid's parents married on July 20,1949 (top-left), etc., etc.
Oh, and Meddens (right-center) was where Astrid had her first full-time window-dressing job.
But that's not what we went to see.
We went to see the places important to Astrid's growing-up years.
First up was the Mennonite Church where her family of 4 were all members.
Neighbors outside told Astrid the place is now a meditation/yoga center.
Primary school was from age 6-11, within walking distance from home.
Secondary school was from age 12-16, a bike ride away.
The stories I have heard about what happened at those side windows!!!
But it was Astrid's house...where she was born and raised...that made my day.
We parked the car across the street and walked through the side driveway to the back of the house...
where we met the Bosnian lady who now lives there with her family.
We stood and chatted out back, behind the house, with Astrid catching up on the neighborhood
since her mom's move to a senior center around 1999.
Much to our surprise, the lady invited us in to see the house!
We walked in from the back, through the kitchen...saw the basement,
the toilet room (without wash basin or shower)...
...the living room, dining room, foyer, sliding door, wood floors,
much of which was exactly as Astrid's dad had planned and built in her youth.
What was NOT there when she grew up was the central heating with wall radiators!
Upstairs was exactly how Astrid remembered it.
Her bedroom was on the left, brother Sander's on the right, facing the back yard,
with their parent's room at the the front of the house.
The upstairs bathroom has a sink and shower...but no toilet, which is very typical old Dutch.
I'm still pinching myself about seeing this with Astrid, from 60 years ago!
The memories, the stories. Her whole family life was here in this place...and I got to see it.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
It so happens that Hilversum has a museum and since we're trying to put our annual museum card to good use, we stopped in to see it.
It's in the old city hall where Astrid's parents actually got married July 20, 1949.
An "Oh My God" exhibition was going on at the time...
...asking the question, What do YOU believe?"
Of course, there were the other "normal" museum pieces,
including information on Willem Dudok, the architect of many city buildings, like the new city hall.
A lower floor had some bits-n-bobs to be seen....
But it was the renovated interior of the museum that enthralled me with it's columns down to the lower floor. Whether looking down or up, I felt I was in a holy, meditative space. It's what I will always remember most about this particular museum.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Next up, nearby Laren and its museum, all in the same day!