Dikes and Mussels and Castles

Breda Jazz Festival

Our tour of Holland has continued in fine style, with great visits to Breda for the annual Jazz Festival, to the Achterhoek via fortified Rees, Germany to visit with Derksen relatives in hometown Aalten, and to the Deltaworks project in Zeeland. This mega mega project of the 60's and early 70's was one of the first to seriously consider and include environmental implications of large public infrastructure, especially on the important ecological area of the Eastern Schelde. Built to protect the lowlands of western Holland against the devastation such as that experienced in 1953 (and many times throughout history) it is a series dams that can keep the seas at bay when the NW winds rise. A series of gates in the key parts of the dam are left open to allow for normal tidal activity but can be closed in high seas - amazing and a huge undertaking. We left the visitor centre at Neeltje Jans and caught our breath with cold drinks on the lovely beaches nearby where summer is getting into swing with increasingly warm and sunny weather.

At the Deltaworks

Breda is yet another beautiful city, and we consider it one of the highlight spots of our time here so far, along with the fortress town of s'Hertogenbosch, and the capital of Zeeland, Middleburg (not just because of Middleburg's (delicious) moules et frites). We had great company with tour guide and culinary advisor Ome Mathieu along the way!

One of the fabulous canals surrounding the town S'Hertogenbosch:

Two weeks ago we had a real treat - a 26 km bike ride around the national park at Hoge Veluwe, using their free (1800 in all) white bikes, and a visit to the surprising and incredible Kroller Muller museum, home to an extensive art collection, including the largest number of Van Gogh pieces outside the Van Gogh family collection - a real jewel within the surrounding scenery of sands dunes and forested trails. Holland continues to amaze us with hidden treasures and wide open space...

Taking a break within the dunes at Hoge Veluwe park...

Bike Rides, flower beds and sandy beaches

Ready for a bike ride to Schoonhoven - the silver city - on the Lak River a one-hour ride away from Stolwijk.

This is the old hospital we visited in Gouda.

It now serves as a museum of very interesting art and an old apothocary shop.

During the week of Monday May 11 we were very busy.
We visited the Keukenhof Garden in Lisse. This is a garden of colour with over 7 million bulbs in bloom at one time. It is one of the world's largest flower gardens and awesome to see in real life. They had a special tribute to New York this year - commemorating 400 years of Dutch history with the city.

Off to Zanfoort on the northsea, very close to Haarlem. (I really wanted to get to Corey Ten Boom's birthplace. She wrote a beautiful book called the Hiding Place in which she tells of how she rescued more than 800 jewish lives during WWII. She was caught and sent to a concentration camp but survived to write this story.) The sea was wild with wind and waves but the sand was very soft. Patrick went for dip only to regret it when I told him he couldn't get into the car soaking wet.

We drove through the City of Leiden, one of the oldest and most prestigious university cities. Also known as Rembrandt's birthplace, it is Holland's third largest city. As we were running late and all of us were hungry for some of Tante Heidi's dinner, we didn't linger. It was however, another beautiful city on our route.

Madurodam is a small scale, bird's eye view of all of Holland. In the city of Den Haag, Madurodam houses replicas of trains, ships, buildings and people, all precisely 25 times smaller than in reality. It is an amusement park and exhibition of 185 of Holland's landmarks and historical buildings but also a war memorial as it was opened in 1952 to commemorate war hero and resistance fighter George Maduro who died in a concentration came . His parents financed the town and donate profits from the miniature town to charities related to young people.

Scheveningen was a beautiful beach too. White sand and the feel of Daytona - shops and restaurants on the shore. It must really be hopping in July with a few more degrees of warmth. A short drive and we were in the harbour where fish is delivered daily. We ate dinner at the Brauw Cafe, a restaurant renowned for its home brewed beer. Uncle Ben knew it well and he was right about how good it was.

Off on Wednesday to visit with cousin Chris and Yvonne and Luca in Diemen just outside of Amsterdam. Luca had wednesday afternoon off so he and Patrick and another friend played outside. Wonderful to see how children can get along without very much language in common. In the evening we boarded the train and enjoyed an evening in Amsterdam. Chris and Yvonne enjoyed showing us the sites we might have missed on our own.

On Thursday we were sure to go back to the city and visit Dam Square (the very centre of the city), Anne Frank house, the Westerkerk and of course a canal tour by boat. Meagan enjoyed shopping on Kalverstraat very much! It was great to enjoy the big city for a day.

We were lucky to enjoy a dutch cheese market too. In Alkmaar they carry on a 700 year old tradition of trading, buying, and shipping cheese made in Holland. Patrick was in heaven!

We ended our busy week with dinner with my Tante Corey in Diemen. She just celebrated her 80th birthday and it was wonderful to see that she hasn't changed much at all. It was very special to spend some time with family I don't get to see very often.

One of our bike rides around Cuijk! Nice and green!

Monday Update

A week has flown by! We left Cuijk on Saturday to meet my uncle and aunt in Stolwyk - very close to the town of Gouda. Meagan and I were wisked away as soon as we arrived to go to Gouda to meet my cousin Ben who was shopping at the market. I can't say enough about how nice it felt to meet him again after so many years. We toured the St. Jan's Cathedral with many beautiful 'Gouda' windows - magnificent stained glass windows, all about 10 metres tall, that depict special moments in the life of Jesus Christ. We also toured an old hospital that is now a museum and Meagan had her very first warm stroepwaffel - a very yummy cookie type waffel with syrup in between the layers. And of course, no visit or journey is ever complete in Holland without a drink at a tarrace. They are all over the place and we like to enjoy them frequently.
Since Saturday we have spent lots of time with family. Our plan was to return to Cuijk after the weekend but upon the suggestion of my uncle, we have decided to continue on this week from Gouda to Amsterdam for a few days. We arrive to visit with cousin Chris in Amsterdam on Wednseday am. So tomorrow we are off to Den Haag and the beach at Scheveningen (that's tougher to say than to write) and then a fish dinner with my family from Gouda - whom we may not see again this trip. Because we did not plan to stay as long as we are going to, we left many items in Cuijk that we now wish we had brought. Pictures cannot be sent at this time but we will add some to another posting next week. Daag!

Liberty Park in Overloon

Started today with a great Dutch breakfast and then off to the site of Holland's biggest tank battle, now a historical museum with 150 war vehicles and equipment. Meagan sits atop the 500 year old tower that overlooks the village of Cuijk. Beautiful site and historical museum filled with artifacts found in the town. The tower is accessed by a winding, stone made, spiral staircase. Dizzying but worth it when you get to the top.

We're here !!!

May 5th is Dutch (and Rees) liberation day! We had a great flight from Toronto to Schipol airport in Amsterdam. We arrived early - at 6:15 instead of the forecast 7:00 am. Caught the train to Nijmegan and switched there to go to Cuijk. A true adventure - tired and a little punchy too. We were met by Jan and Thea at the station. The ladies walked and the gentlemen drove with the luggage to Grotestraat.
We've had a wonderful day - a weird one because we had two mornings and wine with the second breakfast (very hobbit like)!
This evening a beautiful walk along the Maas and then we got to check out Jan's new camping van. Very nice and cozy! I think we're going to like it here!