Visiting Philine in Münster, Germany

It was a year ago when we last visited dear Shutterchance friend, Philine, following her knee replacement, and was definitely time to visit her again, to see her progress with our own eyes.  Also, because of a renovation on her apartment building, where she had lived for 50 years, necessitating a move to an assisted-living community around the corner, we wanted to see her in her new home since February.

It's a trip that can be done in one day (2½-3 hours each way, 484 km round-trip) but, to make things easier, we decided to spend a night in one of our favorite Fletcher hotels this past Tuesday, April 29, and then drive the rest of the way, Wednesday, for our visit with Philine.

As you know by now, Astrid loves doing the research for these trips (big or small)

and found a lovely city for our lunch stop on Tuesday:  Doesberg.

Population:  ca. 11K.  Exactly our kind of place.

Where we ate lunch was at La Fleur Lunchroom, full of a gazillion teapots,

and all kinds of quirkiness.

Needless to say, both Astrid and I went crazy with our iPhone cameras.

The lady on the right is Fleur, the owner and matron of the place for 37 years!

Totally worth all the oohing and aahing!

It was another half hour's drive to our hotel in Lochem, over the back roads...

through farm country and wooded areas.

Exactly our kind of place for leisurely driving.

After settling in at our hotel for a couple hours, we went downstairs 

for our version of a Happy Hour:  nachos, beer and Five Crowns.

Exactly our kind of "snack" after a big lunch.

After breakfast on Wednesday, April 30, we left at 9:15am for our arrival at Philine's by 11am, in time to see her apartment before lunch.

OMG.  Where she lives in her assisted-living community is absolutely fabulous,

with 300+ residents in cozy and modern apartments.

Besides enjoying her own apartment, she took us on a grand tour of the place,

followed by treating us to a main-meal lunch in their communal, restaurant-style dining room.

That one meal is included every day in her rental fee, which we love for her, meeting her neighbors!

As you see, she was a good sport, letting me go crazy with my iPhone camera.

After lunch, Philine hailed a taxi to take us to the nearby 1684 Café, up on the 12th floor,

where we could view Münster's famous landmarks, recognizable by now

after several visits to see her over the past years.

She was up for walking the 15 minutes back to to her complex, trooper that she is,

passing many of the Münster highlights that by now are familiar to us.

Once back at the complex, we said our goodbyes to dear Philine, leaving for home at 3pm., fully thankful and relieved to see her being taken care of.  She's mostly on her own these days, at age 83, having lost her mother and brother in recent years.  Some of her past friends are also gone but we fully expect that by the next time we see her again, she'll have gained many NEW friends there where she lives.  

In the meantime, we'll stay in touch with Philine on our Shutterchance photoblog, where she posts regularly at Philine.  It's a small world after all, isn't it!  Exactly the way we like it.

Daughter Amy in the Netherlands, 2025

 

The fourth year now since 2019 and we're loving it!  Last year was the first year she came apart from a business trip, as with this year, making it even more special!

And for some reason, this was our best time ever, from Thursday-Saturday, April 17-27, for ten days! 

We made the most of Thursday's arrival in Amsterdam by eating lunch at Wagamama,

after walking through the bike/pedestrian passageway at the Rijksmuseum.

The photo of the peeing-in-public poster is Amy's!  Only in Amsterdam!

Good sport that she is, Amy joined us for our senior-community's Easter lunch on Good Friday.

Astrid, btw, always makes the soft-boiled eggs (for 40 people) and I make the mutsjes egg-warmers.

The next day, Saturday, was spent with dear friends, Femke & Jeannette, just a wee walk away.

Oh, and don't forget Prince Finn, the ragdoll cat, who "gets" Amy.  They get each other!

By now we're at Easter Sunday, April 20, staying at home for Astrid's very Dutch white-asparagus with potatoes, ham and boiled eggs with Hollandaise sauce for lunch...of which no one took a photo!  😕

But later that early evening at the La Caponnière wine bunker, I remembered.

Amy loved it when we were there last year, another wee walk away.

Once at home, I couldn't resist this, not noticing I had also included me.

Happy Campers!

Monday, April 21, 2nd Easter Day, was a day of rest here at home.  We all needed it, before the big day on Tuesday at Keukenhof, the largest tourist attraction in the Netherlands, for which Astrid had obtained tickets months ago.

We did teach her Sjoelen (hand shuffleboard), which she picked up quickly,

but had to stop because of the number it did on her back.

Did I mention that she's a good sport?!

Tuesday, April 22, we left at 9am for the 1½-hour drive to Keukenhof for our 11am ticket arrival (yes, they do that to help pace their 18K-people limit for the day).  We were glad to arrive early.

It was quite chilly but at least without rain!  Just a bit of sun towards mid-afternoon was most welcome.

Not too chilly for ice cream, as you see (at 11-ish a.m., as I recall)!

Happy Campers!

I overheard a lady saying "I've seen enough tulips to last the rest of my life!"  HA!

We even visited the Beatrix Pavilion to see the orchids, and were glad we did.

Wednesday morning, April 23, was time to rest before we spent the afternoon and evening, first with Hailey and Sem, followed by the rest of the family.

Astrid and I first picked up Hailey at the house they're renovating for their new July baby,

before then picking up Sem for lunch at our favorite pannenkoeken restaurant out in the polder.

Talk about a sugar-bomb pannenkoek for the kids!  And the healthy uitsmijter for the adults.

The kids, who are a month apart in age (almost 7), play well together.

See what I mean?

They even enjoyed helping each other "grab" their freebie gifts afterwards.

Then it was hunting with Amy, during a brief walk in the Lingebos before going home to our house.

Our Sjoelbak (shuffleboard) kept them occupied for the duration,

playing 6 games each before it was time to leave again.

In between games, Amy entertained them with cat videos!

Then it was time to meet up with Jeroen and very-pregnant Marissa at her parents' home, where they're staying during their house renovation.

Tom and Jetty, Marissa's parents, were with us for a happy hour, joined by Jaap (Astrid's ex),

before they left for a movie date, leaving us to ourselves.

That's when they taught Amy a new game, with her and Hailey teamed up against Jeroen and Sem.

To be honest, I have no clue who won or even what the game was called, but they had fun.

With no school the next day (Spring vacation) the kids stayed up late for our pizza supper.

How's that for one day...pannenkoeken and pizza!

After all that, we deserved to stay home on Thursday, April 24!  On Friday, Amy was again a good sport, joining us at our weekly Happy Hour from 2-4.

She and I played a nice, long game of Five Crowns, while enjoying our beer/wine,

followed by my favorite, frikandel speciaal.  Kees, bottom-right, who was at our table

for our Easter lunch the previous Friday, made sure he gave her a sweet goodbye.

Then it was Saturday, April 26, when we left for Amsterdam at 9am for Amy's flight back to Atlanta!

What I didn't mention is that all the time in between our out-n-abouts we were eating, playing Five Crowns (a great game for interspersed conversation!), or watching 2 movies ("Wicked" and "A Time to Kill").  Totally relaxed and the best time ever!  

Three Happy Campers!

As a child, Amy would say "We should do this more often!"

We totally agree...and can hardly wait till she comes back next year!

[Note:  all the above photos are from one or the other of us.  As they say in Dutch, "maak niet uit," which means "it doesn't matter!"]