The End

Today I bought some Dutch goodies and then spent several hours figuring out how to pack everything. We'll see how it turns out in the morning! Coby took Mom and Dad and me to see the windmills in Weesp and then we had tea with her mom. We had dinner at De Schalkse, a nice restaurant in Weesp and ate waaay too much. But I did have a yummy baked goat cheese salad to start things off, which reminded me of the most amazing goat cheese salad I had in Seattle just before I left. Mmmm... goat cheese... To top it off, Mom and I split a crepe with speculaas ice cream in it. Uitstekend! Then to Tante Jenny's for tea, and home for watching the speed skating championship in Salt Lake City and more rummikub. So this is it - we leave for the airport around 10 AM. Excited about sleeping in my own bed and seeing my ferocious girl cat.

Dag allemaal! Tot ziens - dui!


Weesp windmill


Mom and Dad by a Weesp windmill


Blooming Daffy's


The restaurant we ate at is that green building to the right of the red boat.


Another Weesp windmill and its reflection


Us at dinner


De Lange Vechtbrug at night



A ride through Weesp. I wanted to capture the church bells ringing (most likely made by Petit & Fritsen) but ended up get a goofy tour of Weesp.

Amster Amster Dam Dam Dam

It dawned on us yesterday that we were leaving Holland soon and should start buying some souvenirs. I also wanted to spend some more time looking at the canal houses - next to windmills, I'm a sucker for a cool looking canal house. Coby, Mom and I took the train into Amsterdam this morning. I didn't have breakfast so stopped at the first FEBO - a food automat found throughout Holland that, in addition to other delicacies, serves up a mean kroket for just
1.20 euros. We walked down Kalverstraat, the famous shopping area, stopping in pratically every souvenir shop. Then we strolled down the Herengracht, Reguliersgracht and Keizersgracht (gracht is canal in Dutch) looking at the cool architecture. On the way back we hit the Bloemenmarkt, which I wish I had known was there - I would have planned to spend more time at it. But Mappie found anemone bulbs, which made her very happy. On the way back up Kalverstraat, we passed a draaiorgel - or as I called it, much to Coby's amusement, an ordraaigel. I used to love these when I was little, so it was neat to see one so unexpectedly.

We returned home and Coby and I did some grocery shopping in Weesp. Lukie returned from visiting his father's grave in Haarlem. And Oom Leen came over to Tante Jenny's to visit his sisters. Tomorrow is another day of shopping - for kaas, krentenbollen and hagel sla (cheese, currant balls and chocolate sprinkles) - and then packing. We have reservations to go out for a final dinner together at a restaurant in Weesp, too. Although it has been a great trip, I am ready to go home and be in my own space. I am also ready to be back in the land of no smoking. Between Tante Jenny and the rest of the chain smokers in the bars and restaurants here, everything I wore reeks of cigarette smoke. While I question the constitutionality of Washington state's ban on smoking in public places, I do so love being able to eat, drink and bowl without coming home smelling like an ashtray! I am also ready for "normal" toilets and showers. Off to bed with my dreams of America...


In the middle of this pic is a cart of Heineken barrels being pulled by horses.


Me at FEBO eating my kroket


Koninklijk Paleis - the royal palace on the Dam


Moving things onto the third floor


Rembrandtplein


Canal houses


I bought this one for my next visit to Holland...


Mom and Coby


More canal houses


The 2 houses on the right are leaning forward about a good foot or so, if you look carefully. Gotta be careful when building on man made land!


An Italian restaurant in a Dutch canal house for Ellen


A street in Amsterdam


Me and Mom and a draaiorgel

Lukie comes to the rescue at Robert and Thea's

On Wednesday we went to my cousin Robert's. Also coming with was Tante Jenny and Tante Yo. Robert's wife Thea made a nice lunch - she had some interesting salads in addition to the usual cheese and wurst. I tried a curried chicken salad and tuna salad - they were yummy! (Although Subway's tuna is still the best!) After lunch, Robert, my dad and I left the ouwe frouen (old ladies) at home with Thea and went to see the Afsluitdyk, another of the Dutch peoples' attempts to conquer water. When on it, there isn't much to the Afsluitdyk. But to imagine building a 20 mile dam across a sea around 1930, it's pretty incredible. Amazingly, there was a snack shop at the view point we stopped at so that Dad could have a cup of coffee!

When we returned, the others were playing games and drinking advocaat. Thea served us tea and tompoezen and we continued playing games. The big draw to the day's gathering was that Thea would be making erwtensoep for the first time. She was using Tante Yo's recipe, and Tante Yo did a lot of the cooking. :-) But it was very good and filling on a cool, somewhat drizzly day. As we were about to eat our toetje (dessert, pronounced "toot-cha") the lights went out. Thea reset the breakers but the lights went out almost immediately again. After a few rounds of this, I observed that the outside patio lights flicked briefly on just before the lights went out. There had been some men doing yard work out there earlier in the day and it seemed likely that they might have messed something up. Dad went outside with Robert and Thea and they dug up the light in question and discovered one of the wires and the ground wire had been yanked loose and were touching, causing the short. It's a good thing Dad was there - identifying the source of the problem was as far as I could go (that is my job, after all!) and Robert has no electrical skills! Once the power was restored, coffee was made and all was right with the world again.

Tante Yo is amazingly well despite her rheumatism. Still so wonderfully peaceful. Thea was a fantastic hostess - even with a house full of guests and no power she remained ever calm and continued to call us all "lieverts"(a term of endearment, like sweetie, that Thea invariably calls everyone). Jaimey and Wes were good, too. We got home around 10:30, and Coby called me something in Dutch that I didn't know but I'm sure meant "no good, stay out all night bum".

Friday, Dad will go to Haarlem to visit his father's grave and have haaring while Coby, Mom and I will go to Amsterdam. The weather is supposed to be nice and we have shopping to do!


Windmills on the way to the Afsluitdyk.


Typical Dutch scene.


Modern windmills


The Afsluitdyk


Dad goosing a monument at the Afsluitdyk

A day of rest

Today there is not much on the agenda. Dad is going to Haarlem to meet his old high school buddies. Mom is spending the day at home with Tante Jenny. I slept in and then Coby and I went to the market to get some groceries. It is pouring so it's niet lekker to be outside. We had kroketten for lunch, and will have bloemkool (cauliflower) and gehaktballen (meatballs) for dinner, which I can smell Coby cooking already - yum! Tomorrow we will spend the day with Robert and Thea. All for now - I'm going to go downstairs and be social.

Oom Dick and Tante To in Belgium

Monday we drove down to Steenokkerzeel in Belgium. Fun fact of the day: This town has the luck to be associated with the 1961 plane crash that wiped out the US Figure Skating Team. Oom Dirk brought Tante To to his apartment for the day so we would have more room. He spends most of the day with her in the care facility she is in, so we had a bit of a chuckle over the state of his "bachelor pad". We had the traditional cup of coffee/tea with baked goods when we arrived, and then sandwiches a bit later. Cor and Coby and I had a good laugh over the great reality TV show we could make called "The Oude Vossen"- The Old Vosses. Between deafness and general not listening, it was hysterical to hear to the conversation that Mom, Dad, Tante Jenny, Oom Dirk and Tante To had. Although I have to say that out of all of them, Tante To was the best! Coby and I regretted not bringing Rummikub with us, and we went for a walk with Cor to get some "fresh air". When we left a short time later, it was sad to think this would probably be the last time my mom and her brother would see each other

For dinner we got some bami take out from the Chinees restaurant. There is a huge Indonesian influence on Dutch food and despite being called a "Chinese"restaurant, the food is definitely more Indonesian than Chinese. It was yummy!


Oom Dirk and Dad


Mom and Tante To


Oom Dirk and Mom


Dad, Mom, Oom Dirk, Tante To and Tante Jenny

The Vos Feest

Saturday was the Vos gathering - 39 people from my mother's side of the family. In the morning, Jesper, Lisanne and I helped Cor and Coby get the food prepared. And then before you knew it the house was full of people! It was a very nice time - these are people I have met before or have at least heard of!

I'm not sure what to call her, but Melanie, the daughter of my cousin, and I shared fuzzy memories of my last trips here. When I was 7 and she was 5, I remember us making mud pies on someone's sidewalk. She remembers - and still has - a rainbow necklace I gave her, which must have been during the trip we made when I was 13. I was VERY into rainbows back then... I think I successfully convinced her and her fiance to come to Seattle in the summer of 2008!

There were a lot of blond little children running around - at once point there were 9 under the age of 5! Plus Ron and Han brought their dog, Youpie. It was hard to talk to many people because of the activity and sheer number - I wish I could have had more one on one time with everyone. I have a much better grasp of everyone's names from this group - here is a pretty good idea of who was there and how they fit it. Actual attendees are in bold. All names on the left are my Mom's brothers and sister.

Oom Dirk/Tante To - Kees (son) and his wife Joke, son Jesper, daughter Flortje.

Oom Jaap/Tante Yo - Marja (daughter) and her husband Loutje, daughter Anouk and her "friend"( what the Dutch call someone you have children with but aren't married to) and 3 daughters, Marja and Loutje's son Andy and his 2 daughters.

- Robert (son) and his wife Thea and their sons Jamie and Wesley.

Tante Jenny - Ronnie (daughter) and her husband Han, daughter Melanie and her "friend"and their son Thomas and daughter, Ron and Han's daughter Marsha and her "friend"and their twin sons Wes and Raul.

- Cor (son) and his wife Coby and their son Jesper and daughter Lisanne (the party hosts and who I am staying with)

Oom Leen

Mom, Dad and Me

Hopefully that makes sense. I seem to be missing someone... Oh well! Here's the pics:


Marsha, Thea and Wesley


Han with he granddaughter


Loutje, Marja, my Dad and Oom Leen


The spread


Loutje, Anouk with her youngest daughter, Robert and Wesley looking at something cool on the computer


Tante Jenny, Tante Yo and me


Andy, Dad, Han, Melanie's "friend", Marsha's "friend"


Marsha, Melanie's "friend", Flortje, Joke and Jesper


Ronnie and Han (no, Ellen - you don't look alike anymore!)


Dad, Mom, Oom Leen, Tante Jenny, Tante Yo and me


Raul and Wes


Mom, Thea, Marja and her youngest granddaughter


Jesper making the zalm sla - salmon salad


Lisanne wrapping up wursts


The moie zalm sla (pretty salmon salad - decades of "odd" summer salads have been explained on this trip)


Melanie, Thea, Andy's youngest daughter, Marja and her youngest granddaughter


The smoking circle - Thea, Tante Jenny and Mom (who was just keeping them company)

Woerden and Rotterdam with the Lodder's

Today we spent the day with Luuk Lodder, a cousin of my Dad's on his mother's side, and his wife, Connie. We were picked up at 10 AM (far too early for me - I was not my normal pleasant self just then
:-) ) and went to their house in Woerden, where we were promptly served coffee and baked goods, of course! After some talking we had a lunch of soup and broodtjes (sandwiches) and then Connie, Mom and I took a walk around the neighborhood while Luuk and Luke were supposed to take a nap. Well, Luuk takes one everyday and we thought it would be a good idea if Luke would, too! When we came back, both men were sitting up talking - apparently the phone rang a few times interrupting any possible nap, but I think Luke might have had something to do with it, too!

We then headed out to Kinderdijk to look at the windmills. I have a bit of a thing for windmills so despite seeing them practically around every corner, I was excited. This is a site of about 20 windmills and was pretty cool. I wish we were there earlier when the sun was still shining but the greyness adds to the pictures, I think.

As the rain started, we got in the car and headed to Rotterdam. Luuk and Connie had the great idea to have dinner in a restaurant that was built on the dock where my parents boarded the ship that took then to the United States 55 years ago. The Hotel New York is in the building where the Holland-Amerika Lijn had its offices, and where my parents were dropped off by their parents and friends oh so long ago. It was a fantastic idea, which Dad really appreciated. We were joined by Luuk's brother, Ari, and had a delicious dinner.

When I got home, I watched a little bit more of the World Cup Speed Skating Final from Calgary - an event that barely registers a blip on any other country's radar but here is shown on TV in 4+ hour blocks over several days. I gave up after a few of the women's 3000m races - my brain is reaching overload from translating Dutch to English as well as having to attempt to speak it beacuse my father has told everyone that I can speak it fluently after my 3 continuing education courses. Sigh... Off to bed - tomorrow we go to Belgium to see my aunt and uncle, and need to be on the road by 9 AM. I will post about the Vos family gathering soon - it's too much to do yet tonight.

Oh! And thanks for all your comments! I am glad you are enjoying this blog so far - keep the comments coming!


A canal in Connie and Luuk's neighborhood


Connie and Mom talking and walking


Crocuses in bloom!


A windmill


Several windmills


Luuk and Luke talking, not walking


More windmills


Dad, Mom, Luuk and Connie in front of a windmill


The Nieuw Amsterdam - a ship similar to the one my parents came to America on


Luuk, Connie, Mom, Dad and Ari


Hotel New York