Monday, November 14, 2005
A Brief Synopsis of my Holiday in the Netherlands
My holiday began Friday morning when I took a train to Den Helder. From the Den Helder Zuid train station, my dad picked me up with Eppie in the car my parents rented for about two weeks. We drove to Wilco’s home where I met his kids and my dad and I played a place your hands on your head game. Jellie and my mom were there as well. I spent the remainder of the day in Den Helder where we visited a museum which included my laying in a bunk on a Russian submarine. (confined quarters…I will post pictures as soon as I get them from my dad; perhaps, I will burn them to a cd this evening so I can upload them tomorrow.)
From Den Helder, we drove to Friesland and stayed in bed and breakfast outside of Harlingen. My grandpa is from Harlingen and the first thing I looked for when I arrived was the red rooftops and shown in a picture of the city he had hanging in his room. We visited the town historian and I learned some history pertaining to Harlingen and WWII while looking at some very intriguing artifacts and pictures. Pictures of Harlingen included pictures of my Grandpa when he was a young boy and a young man. We spent the following day visiting more family. This included one indulgence after the other. Let’s just say those Frisians know how to make a delicious suikerbrood and the art of feeding and milking a Frisian cow should be taught all over the world! There are some very good cooks in my family as well.
Other time spent in Friesland included visits to more relatives and learning a lot more about my family roots. Part of a day spent in Friesland included visiting the Scaatsmuseum in Hindelopen. (Skate Museum) Here, pictures of my beppe are displayed as she was a very good speed skater. My mom was able to see pictures of her mother/my beppe she had never seen before and after talking to the man who completed research for the museum, he said he would look for more information on my Beppe to send to my mom; this includes pictures. We also visited Sneek where my mom was born as well as several other dorps of Friesland. We made our way through quite a few of the eleven stads and the next time the ice freezes over, you can bet I will try to be there to watch the skaters.
Complementing all the fantastic Frisian food, I had the best coffee in the world while visiting Tante Oppie. She had a very old percolator coffer pot and it brews fantastic coffee. Out of luck, my dad managed to find one when randomly going into a Douwe and Egberts coffee winkel in Joure. It works on stoves so I will be able to use it both in the U.S. and in the Netherlands. A lucky girl I surely am. The Frisian coffee milk adds to the flavor as well. Lekker. Heel lekker.
After zigzagging from house to house and dorp to dorp and stad to stad throughout Friesland, we went the other way - South. Here we were able to spend a day in Maastricht and caught the opening of the Carnival. People were dressed in elaborated costumes, music was played, and beer was rampant. My parents and I had a good time watching the crowd. My mom and I did a bit of swaying with the music. At our hotel in Roermond, the carnival was also going on in our hotel. It wasn’t as elaborate as Maastricht but nice to watch.
Drielandenpunt. I went there. Where is there? Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. I was in all three places at once. Tante Rees, Caroline, my parents, and I walked to a cafe in Germany. I tried the German beer on tap there, Bitte Bier. It was quite tasty. Mijn ouders, Caroline, and Tante Rees had coffee. It was a pretty tasty coffee met slagroom.
I ended my holiday with the arrival of Sinterklaas. Boy, did I enjoy this. We have been celebrating Sinterklaas in Arizona since I was born. Although I partake in the elaborate poems and goofy gift giving on Christmas Eve with my family in Arizona, I always place out my shoes for Sinterklaas on the 5th of December. (I even place out my wooden Ajax shoes…I don’t think Rink would appreciate them considering his loyalty to Feyenoord.) I sang what words I knew to the songs with the kinderen and have been humming them in head ever since. Dank u Sinkerklaas!
From Den Helder, we drove to Friesland and stayed in bed and breakfast outside of Harlingen. My grandpa is from Harlingen and the first thing I looked for when I arrived was the red rooftops and shown in a picture of the city he had hanging in his room. We visited the town historian and I learned some history pertaining to Harlingen and WWII while looking at some very intriguing artifacts and pictures. Pictures of Harlingen included pictures of my Grandpa when he was a young boy and a young man. We spent the following day visiting more family. This included one indulgence after the other. Let’s just say those Frisians know how to make a delicious suikerbrood and the art of feeding and milking a Frisian cow should be taught all over the world! There are some very good cooks in my family as well.
Other time spent in Friesland included visits to more relatives and learning a lot more about my family roots. Part of a day spent in Friesland included visiting the Scaatsmuseum in Hindelopen. (Skate Museum) Here, pictures of my beppe are displayed as she was a very good speed skater. My mom was able to see pictures of her mother/my beppe she had never seen before and after talking to the man who completed research for the museum, he said he would look for more information on my Beppe to send to my mom; this includes pictures. We also visited Sneek where my mom was born as well as several other dorps of Friesland. We made our way through quite a few of the eleven stads and the next time the ice freezes over, you can bet I will try to be there to watch the skaters.
Complementing all the fantastic Frisian food, I had the best coffee in the world while visiting Tante Oppie. She had a very old percolator coffer pot and it brews fantastic coffee. Out of luck, my dad managed to find one when randomly going into a Douwe and Egberts coffee winkel in Joure. It works on stoves so I will be able to use it both in the U.S. and in the Netherlands. A lucky girl I surely am. The Frisian coffee milk adds to the flavor as well. Lekker. Heel lekker.
After zigzagging from house to house and dorp to dorp and stad to stad throughout Friesland, we went the other way - South. Here we were able to spend a day in Maastricht and caught the opening of the Carnival. People were dressed in elaborated costumes, music was played, and beer was rampant. My parents and I had a good time watching the crowd. My mom and I did a bit of swaying with the music. At our hotel in Roermond, the carnival was also going on in our hotel. It wasn’t as elaborate as Maastricht but nice to watch.
Drielandenpunt. I went there. Where is there? Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. I was in all three places at once. Tante Rees, Caroline, my parents, and I walked to a cafe in Germany. I tried the German beer on tap there, Bitte Bier. It was quite tasty. Mijn ouders, Caroline, and Tante Rees had coffee. It was a pretty tasty coffee met slagroom.
I ended my holiday with the arrival of Sinterklaas. Boy, did I enjoy this. We have been celebrating Sinterklaas in Arizona since I was born. Although I partake in the elaborate poems and goofy gift giving on Christmas Eve with my family in Arizona, I always place out my shoes for Sinterklaas on the 5th of December. (I even place out my wooden Ajax shoes…I don’t think Rink would appreciate them considering his loyalty to Feyenoord.) I sang what words I knew to the songs with the kinderen and have been humming them in head ever since. Dank u Sinkerklaas!
