Daughter Amy in the Netherlands, 2024

 

You may recall that daughter Amy has visited us in the Netherlands twice now (in 2019 and in 2022), both times in conjunction with business trips to the Mercedes-Benz worldwide headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany.  Lucky for her, it was mostly a trip on her company's dime!

THIS time, however, she came totally on her own...and just for her/because of us!  And guess what:  It was a week's visit, from Monday to Monday (March 25-April 1), ending with the Easter weekend.

Tuesday, March 26, her first full day after arrival from Atlanta, was our fullest, longest day out, mainly because it was the only day when rain wasn't predicted.  It was the day we drove to the North Sea, which Amy hadn't yet "experienced."  It's only 81 km from Gorinchem, where we live, to The Hague/Scheveningen, our goal for the day. 

But we decided to stop first in Gouda, halfway, for a koffie break

and a chance to show Amy a famous Dutch city, known for its cheese and city hall.

I was caught off-guard by the memorial to Alexei Navalny in this remote place,

but thankful for such a worldwide event having an impact here, nearby.

It was also a chance for Amy to observe a "more Dutch you cannot get" moment,

when the 2 gentlemen at a nearby table shared bitterballen with their beer.

Amy treated us to a delightful lunch in the world-renown 1818 Kurhaus Hotel on the beach,

over-looking the Scheveningen Pier, near The Hague.  And, yes, the North Sea!

The next day, Wednesday, March 27, was the perfect day for Astrid and me to babysit both Hailey and Sem, who are always out of school Wednesday afternoon.  We spent the time at son Jeroen's house and neighborhood to give the kids plenty of time to be with Amy again, and vice versa....

[collage credit:  Astrid]

first picking Hailey up from school,

[collage credit:  Astrid]

and then watching the kids play at the playground across the street after lunch.

[collage credit:  Astrid]

From there we took a wee walk through the neighborhood, giving us all a nice workout.

As you can see by our coats, it was still quite cold on March 27.

[collage credit:  Astrid]

Once back home, Jeroen joined us to start preparing supper.

(Remember that Jeroen (age 35) and Amy (age 51) are half-siblings!)

[collage credit:  Astrid]

That's when Marissa (Jeroen's wife) and Jaap (Astrid's ex) joined us for Jeroen's poke bowl.

[collage credit:  Astrid]

And guess what pjs the kids wore for bed:  the ones Amy had bought for them at Christmas,

which were colored by the kids and Astrid and me.  They may even fit another year!?!

Thursday, March 28, was lunch on De Stroming barge in Woudrichem, across the Merwede river from us:

Lucky for us, there was a window of about 2 sunny hours afterwards for a nice walk there.

Friday, March 29, was a stay-at-home day for our community's Easter lunch, for which both Astrid and I helped to prepare:

Even Amy helped out with setting the tables, and, once again, like last year,

Astrid prepared the soft-boiled eggs and I knit the mutsjes (little hats) to cover them.

I was so glad Amy could experience a communal event like this with us.

Saturday, March 30, was another stay-at-home day except for a surprise late-afternoon outing we made for Amy at a place we knew she'd love:

La Caponniere is a wee café in a war bunker just a wee walk from our apartment.

We hadn't been there for years, since changing management, but wanted to try it again.

We were not disappointed.  In fact, Amy said it was one of her favorite memories of this trip.

Definitely something to make a tradition out of!

Easter Sunday, March 31, was a true stay-at-home day, when we relaxed and just went with the flow, before Amy's departure home from Amsterdam early the next morning.

Astrid makes this white-asparagus meal for me every Easter,

which I was glad to share with Amy!

Most of the fill-in-the-blanks throughout the week were playing our favorite Five Crowns card game (thanks to Lis from England who got us hooked a few years back).  Lots of talking in between, of course, and just BEING together.

Thank you, Amy, for making it happen.

Let's keep doing it as often as we can!

[Addendum: this was a post meant for a week ago to be more current with the event, but didn't happen because of an unexpected world-wide unavailability to Blogspot for a week.]

Ayush in Our Own Backyard

Remember Ayush?  Ayush from India, living in Singapore, and sometimes working in Venlo, NL.  Yes.  THAT Ayush.

This past weekend we had the good fortune of showing him around our own backyard when he took the train to visit us for an overnight.  Lucky for us, our senior complex here has a guest room across the courtyard from us, so it all worked out splendidly.

Astrid and I drove to Geldermalsen to pick him up at the train station.  He could have come all the way to Gorinchem
but this gave us an extra hour by driving to another station, without him having to change trains again.

Besides, Geldermalsen was near the stork village we wanted him to see...our first stop.

Even Astrid still gets excited by storks, though having grown up with them.

I had never seen a real one till I moved here!

Then we drove along the dijk to Brakel, to catch the ferry across the Merwede river,
saving us miles and time for the rest of our day.

The first big stop across the river was the Loevestein castle from 1361.

Those who've followed me for awhile should recognize it, right?!

It's one of those child-friendly castles, catering to Kids of all ages.

Ayush was a good sport!

What's there not to love about a real castle!

For one thing, they have a way of working up your appetite.

So we drove to nearby Woudrichem for lunch at our favorite De Stroming restaurant.

Woudrichem is Gorinchem's sister city across the river from us, remember?

The Nooit Gedagt windmill there is where Astrid gets her flours for our bread machine.

It's also where you can climb to the top...which Ayush and Astrid did.

Woudrichem has a picturesque harbor, too, so it was the ideal place to end our first day.

At home that evening we watched a good movie while eating peanuts in the shell.

Ayush was in Rome and followed suit like a very good gentleman!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The next day, Sunday, was another "see what's in our backyard" kind of day.

From our back door (top-right), we started the walk around Gorinchem's citadel.

I couldn't be prouder of where we live here in the Netherlands!

We actually wouldn't have to go anywhere ever for how beautiful our city is.

(But you didn't hear me say that, of course.)

Another windmill, De Hoop, allows climbing to the top.

For having never been inside a windmill, Ayush really lucked out...two in one weekend!

What is it about water and boats and harbors?

We ended up in city center to visit inside the protestant Grote Kerk, two blocks from our apartment.

And because the Italian ice cream shop is there on the square, we did our thing

before heading back home...before heading out again by car.

It was time to drive out into the polder to our favorite pannenkoeken restaurant.
Liddle lamzy diveys were skipping about all over the place, so we had to stop.

I especially loved watching the two who were inseparable the entire time.
It doesn't get much cuter than that.

And, yes, we each chose a different pannenkoek and shared one-third of each.

YUM YUM YUM

And then, for the grand finale, we drove to Kinderdijk, the UNESCO site of 19 windmills.

I hope you never tire of this place because this won't be the last time you'll see it from me,

God willing and the creek don't rise.

It was the Golden Hour already, time to take Ayush back to the train station.

What a great visit from such a kind, generous, considerate young man.

We'd do it again in a heartbeat, Ayush, so THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I told sister, Ruth, that this was a dry run for the two days she and hubby will be with us in July.

If it works for you, it works for us!

Grandson Nicholas in the Netherlands: Week One

A week is now under our belt, so to speak, and we're thrilled by what g'son Nicholas has already seen!  Remember that he just turned 15 and I just turned 70...so we're really celebrating big-time!

And for the record, here's a quick synopsis thus far, based on the collages I've been posting every day at Facebook.  Later, after he leaves, I plan to make a photo book with many more images in detail.

Day 1, Friday, 17 July:  Arrival at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam

Right outside the airport terminal is this art sculpture "I AMSTERDAM."

Talk about a tourist attraction we couldn't avoid/miss.

Later at home we walked into town to pick up museum cards...and an ice cream!

Day 2, Saturday, 18 July:  Fort Vuren, Loevestein Castle, and Woudrichem

We stayed pretty close to home but covered a lot of territory, starting with Fort Vuren.

It's an underground fortress from 1844.

We drove on the dijk along the Merwede river, crossed the bridge at Zaltbommel,

and drove back on the other side of the river to the Loevestein Castle, from 1357,

directly across the river from where we just were at Fort Vuren.

 With our museum cards we were able to go inside...my first time!

It didn't take Nicholas long to get the hang of walking on stilts.

Next door to the castle is a delightful town called Woudrichem,
our sister city across the river from us here in Gorinchem.
The "Nooit Gedagt" windmill sells the flour we use for Astrid's bread machine.
It also allows visitors to climb to the top, which we did.

While in Woudrichem we ate at the De Stroming restaurant.
It was Nicholas' first time to experience a Dutch uitsmijter!

Day 3, Sunday, 19 July:  Gorinchem Citadel Walk and Dinner with Jeroen and Eva

We had a stay-at-home day to walk around our Gorinchem citadel.

We stretched the normal one-hour walk into 2, stopping all along the way.

And as a huge surprise that evening, Jeroen and Eva invited us for Indonesian.

Jeroen is Astrid's son, so it was cool to see him, Eva and Nicholas interact.

Day 4, Monday, 20 July:  Kinderdijk and the Pannenkoeken restaurant

It happened to be a misty-rainy day but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

Nicholas said it felt "sacred."  His word.

And at our favorite pannenkoeken restaurant out in the polder,

Nicholas ate his first Dutch pancakes.  

Day 5, Tuesday, 21 July:  Paper Exhibition at the Gorinchem Museum

Again, because we had museum cards and were staying close to home,

we decided to see the Paper exhibition in our own city center.

Later that evening, Nicholas and Astrid did the dishes.

He's quite the sport, earning his keep.

Day 6, Wednesday, 22 July:  Amsterdam

 Have you noticed that we're pacing ourselves with days of rest between the big days?

Amsterdam was a long day but we did it, driving back-n-forth to the AJAX soccer arena,

and then taking the METRO into the city.

We started at the Rijksmuseum to see Rembrandt's "Night Watch" 

and then hoped to get into the Van Gogh and Anne Frank museums until we saw the long lines.

We walked by the apartment where Donica and I used to live, ate at Wagamama,

took the tram to the floating flower market, saw Central Station and the St. Nicholas Church,

and even walked the Red Light District, just to say we did it.

Nicholas giggled all day at the drug and sexual innuendos.

Day 7, Thursday, 23 July:  Malle Molen Restaurant and Mixed Fighting

  Besides going grocery shopping together and starting a 1,000 dot-to-dot drawing of Amsterdam...

 ...we went to the Malle Molen (Silly Mill) for supper (what the pot cooks),

and then immediately drove to Eva's father's house for  an adventure.

Nicholas had the chance of a lifetime to be mentored in Mixed Fighting

by Alex Hesseling (Eva's father), a real pro and instructor.

What a special and unexpected treat for all of us,

especially for me to watch and capture.

"Fighting isn't about winning or losing," the instructor said, 

"but about learning yourself and what you can or cannot do."

How's that for the first week!