Still catching up....

What a wonderful day!

We drove up to the north of Holland to visit Wikke's aunt Dorijke and her husband Peter.   The sun was shining and the kids played in the beautiful garden while we talked.  Dorijke was in Australia last year, and I was really thrilled to see her again.   Dorijke and Peter live in the area of Holland which is full of dikes and windmills, and we went for a drive to see (and understand) how they work.  We saw areas of poldars (land below sea level that was once covered by water) surrounded by canals of water and drove around the perilously thin roads on top of the dikes.  It was fascinating.  Peter was a wonderful tour guide and the boys and I learned a lot. 


And then Wikke, Merlijn, H, F and I drove into Amsterdam.  The drive itself was absolutely hysterical.  The main tunnel into Amsterdam from the north (the IJ?) was closed, and although Dorijke had assured us that there were clear signs explaining how to get to the other tunnel, we couldn't find any.  My trusty TomTom (GPS device) seemed to relish in directing us to a ferry crossing!!!!! And so we had to turn around and try again (a few times, it seemed!).

We finally made it, but we were too late for the Van Gogh Museum.  We simply parked next to the Rijksmuseum and walked into the centre of the old town.  We crossed a few canals, narrowly escaped being run down by a few trams, ate bagels at a canal-side cafe and then went back to the car.  It was a tiny taste of Amsterdam.... hopefully enough to entice my boys back one day.  I remember loving the museums, cafes, canals and architecture of Amsterdam when I last visited...

And then we had a wonderful last supper with Wikke's Dad, Geert.  

It's extremely hard for me to say goodbye to Wikke's wonderful family.  They are very special to me and a big part of me wishes that I could stay just to spend more time with all of them.  

So then home to pack.  And then, in the morning......

...... It's difficult to talk about the leaving bit.  Let's just say that we did.  Many tears were shed (most of them mine, of course).

See you soon, darling Wikke.

Three Countries in One Second...

There's a huge carpark and a tiny pole at the most southern point of Holland at which it is possible to be in three countries at the same time! It's called Drielandenpunt (literally Point of Three Lands) and we went there on Saturday night, after the caves and a wonderful dinner in Maastricht.
The boys got quite a thrill from spending a few minutes in Germany.  And from running wildly around in scary circles.

It was WAY cool!!!

Mergelgrotten...

This is the most amazing series of tunnels that started as a sandstone mine hundreds of years ago. 

In the 1940's, when hiding from the bombing, over 50,000 people lived in these cold and totally dark tunnels.

They were there for so long that people created artwork on the walls and even advertising signs for things to buy or do in nearby Maastricht.

It was an amazing experience to walk through the caves..... although my camera and my glasses blurred from the humidity when we walked back out into the rain.

Kasteel Hoensbroek

This beautiful castle, in Limburg, sent shivers down my spine.  Something about it simply gave me a sense of awful things occuring (particularly in the courtyard and the tower).  Still, we came, we played, we put the kids in the stocks and we left.

Quiet Day in Eindhoven...

We rode, we played, we visited a farm and patted baby calves and we had a wonderful and relaxing day.

And then Wikke and I hit the town!  Shopping, dinner and cafes and a nightclub in the Stratumseind.  We (gulp) stayed out until 2.30am and paid for it this morning.

GREAT fun!!!  Even if I felt every minute of the 20 or so years that I had on everyone else in the nightclub!

Oh..... but yesterday morning H and F woke me up with a screaming fight.  A physical, awful fight.  Which filled me with fear that the wonderfulness of their behaviour on this holiday is coming to a distinct end.  Time will tell.

Utrecht....

Today was simply a wonderful mix of sightseeing, parenting, travelling and friendship.

Wikke and I took all the kids on the train to Utrecht.  There, we walked and sat and ate and rode a boat along the canal, and listened to the kids talk and talk and talk.  The littlest ones have the most amazingly animated conversations with their toy dolls and puppies and selves.  They create universes in which siblings and parents die (!) and kings and queens always win in the end.  Oh, and which are peppered with the extremely loud barking of imaginary dogs.  

The bigger ones discuss all things relevant to their lives.  And when that conversation falters, they revert to pikachu hand games.  And tickling.  Mostly they stroll with their arms around each other and discuss ways to annoy their Mums (ways which NEVER work, may I add!).

We BIGGEST ones discussed heaven and earth and all things in between, while appreciating our environment (and resolving kid-arguments between sentences).  

Utrecht is arguably the prettiest city in Holland.  If it's not... I'd like to see the prettier one.

This was an unexpected sight along the canal....

While we were walking through the pedestrian area of the town, Wikke was stopped by a couple who recognised her from her book cover (click here for details of her book - in Dutch only, I'm afraid) and who had been so inspired by her travels through Malaysia and Thailand with her children that they had taken a very similar trip with their own children.  They had used her book as their own "lonely planet" type guide, and were thrilled to see her in the flesh.  They sometimes look in on her blog too, which means that may look here as well (having met me today!!)  "Hi!!".

It was wonderful for Wikke to know that her book had impacted someone else's lives so positively.  I was just damned proud for her.  And embarrassed for me because I was standing there like a fool because I don't understand Dutch.  Why oh why aren't I fluent in 7 languages (at least)?  

More Cycling!!!

After a wonderfully slow LOUD morning (my favourite short girls, Jara and Keri are extremely l0ooouuudddd!!!) Wikke and the kids and I rode into the centre of town and went to the markets.  We wandered for hours, had a wonderful lunch, and rode home.  F and Merlijn spent the day with their arms around each other.  Sweet.  They've really missed each other.

H tried to jump over a pole!  OW!

"The Beehive"

My favourite short girls on the Carousel

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Hugo, his Dad, Wikke's parents and her brother were working all day on the "family build" (a term H made up to describe the renovation of Wikke and Hugo's new home).  We're staying with them across the road and everybody is looking extremely exhausted and paint-covered.  They're doing a fantastic job though.  The house is going to be spectacular.

Finally.... FINALLY.... my boys got to see "Kung Fu Panda" tonight!  It seems that we've missed it everywhere we've been (and everybody else has already seen it!) and they have really been wanting to see it.  Wikke and I put all the kids back on the bikes (except Jara who rides in a bike car, and F who wanted to ride on the back of my bike) and cycled 20 mins to the cinema.  

Worth my sore and aching knees!

Five Countries in One Day!!

Guess which country we're in now? 

(if you noticed that the above photo is of a bike rack... you may have guessed the Netherlands!!)


YIPPEE!!!  We're with Wikke and Hugo!!  

We left Portugal at 7am, flew to Paris (over Spain - and Wikke tells me that the airspace counts as a country), picked up a car and drove THROUGH Belgium into Holland!  It was a long long long wet cold day, but we were rewarded with a warm welcome and a huge Mexican feast.

And signs telling me everything I need to know (if I drink from a bottle, not a glass I won't be fined 50euros, and if i'm a girl and pee in public I won't be fined 75euros).