Holland

 20 May

I had booked our train journey from Roskilde to Mildam back in Australia.  The trip was nearly 12 hours and involved 6 trains and 5 changes of train!  In Denmark Thomas was able to find a much better, two train connection, but it was too late - the journey I'd booked couldn't be changed at all.   We had to be up at 5am to make sure we were at the Roskilde train station by 6.20am (we were there by 5.45!!) for our first train, to Ringstead St.  We had 37 minutes to change to our next train, departing at 7.32am for Hamburg. I was able to book seats for this leg and opted for first class.  So it was surprise to find our seats and discover they were occupied by a German couple.  They claimed their seats had been taken by someone else and they had found these "vacant" ones and now we had to sort it out.  Not the sort thing you expect to encounter in first class!  The man went off to find someone when we refused to go away (the other passengers offering us support to take back our own seats!)  and came back with a man who encouraged some others to move from their seats....  not sure why they did!  The woman was clearly pissed off that we weren't prepared to take the other, newly vacated seats (it would be so much easier! she harrumphed) and moved with much bad grace when Greg said we were not interested in making their problem, our problem.  An interesting turn of events when the conductor came along: they were turfed out of the cabin entirely.  I felt like cheering!  

We arrived into Hamburg at 12.05pm and after working out our next gate, Greg went on a quick bratwurst search of Hamburg Hbf.  Unfortunately he couldn't find one, but he settled for a hotdog and I got a yiros.  Our next train left at 12.45pm, again with a first class seat (not as flash as the first train!), arriving into Onsabruck Hbf at 2.35.  The good thing about this train was that it clearly posted all the upcoming connections and the platform numbers!  We had 39 minutes to get to our next platform, for a 3.14pm departure for Hengelo, in Holland.  We arrived at 4.26pm.   Another 21 minutes and the next departure was 4.47pm, arriving into Zwolle at 5.39pm.  We were close now!  After we boarded in Hengelo a group of cyclists boarded.  An old guy was swearing loudly from the minute he boarded. "Godverdomme" and "Jezus" he said repeatedly and loudly because he felt there was no room for his bike.  He calmed down a little, apologised to the young mum and child sitting right in front of him, then started up again when the conductor came through and he couldn't find his ticket.  He found it, then barrelled his way off the train first.  We tried to get into the lift with him and he rudely pushed my suitcase out of the lift  (still swearing!) and took off!!  We had 9 minutes at Zwolle to change onto our final train, which left at 5.48pm and arrived into Heerenveen Station at 6.26pm.  Phew! My cousin Casper was there to collect us right on time!

By very lucky coincidence Casper hadn't been able to celebrate his 61st birthday earlier that month as not all his kids were available.  They had agreed to come down for dinner on the 20th of May, which meant we got to see everyone too.  Actually they had surprised Casper and turned up the day before with dinner, he was absolutely delighted.  Of course Bas, Noa and Sven didn't remember us at all (they did however remember Bella and Liam!  Old people are not memorable!)  Vivian did remember us - we are friends now on Instagram and follow each other's travels!  We finally met Casper's partner Charlotte.  They have been together more than 8 years now.  She was just as lovely as I expected!

21 May

It was a glorious sunny Spring Sunday and Casper and Charlotte suggested a forest wander!  One of the lovely things about Mildam is the space!  Just a few minutes walk from Casper's front door is the Bos Oranjewoud forest, originally part of the land surrounding the royal summer palace.  It is very peaceful and lovely.  And after a short stroll... you find yourself at the Parkhotel Tjaarda, which has a fabulous outdoor terrace area which was packed - because the weather was so fine!  We were able to find a table and with a bit of moving (it was warm in the sun, and cool in the shade) we set ourselves up (and then steadily moved the table, to keep up with the moving sun!).  I saw they offered a "High Wine" which sounded just like a high tea with wine.  Yes please.  Charlotte agreed with me!  The boys had beer (no alcohol for Casper) and a platter with bittenbollen.  (Not a patch on mum's, of course, Greg said).  And then Charlotte and I found ourselves plied with five courses of food and five wines!  Way more than we expected!  It was very delicious and as a bonus, the boys got to eat my lamb course :-)  It was a lot of fun.  Needless to say we needed a very small nap after we had wandered home again!

22 May

Casper kindly drove us to Mijdrecht from Mildam - a significant detour which we greatly appreciated! - to his sister Nouschka's house.  We hadn't been to her house before.  No surprise to see that it was beautiful house with a delightful garden.  Lots of birds (her cat kindly does not catch and kill birds!) and, to our great surprise, hedgehogs!  It turns out that Nouschka is a wild life carer and rehabilitates baby hedgehogs whose mother has been killed.  When they are big and strong enough, she releases them into the wild.  How special to have a cuddle!  And surprisingly they are quite cuddly and don't mind being held.  You do have to be careful of their spikes though!!

Nouschka was very disappointed that she had to go off to work - she was really hoping to spend some tourist time with us but she had just started a new job.  She had organised for her brother Dennis, his wife Ank, and their son Joran to come over for dinner that night, as they also live in Mijdrecht.  Greg and I offered to cook, which Nouschka appreciated, and she went off to work.  We wandered into the town and bought supplies for dinner.  I found a hairdresser that could fit me in right there and then for a treatment (my hair was so dry after so much harsh cold weather!).  When I got back to the house Greg had prepped his main course.  He set off to find a gym and I made a dessert.  I thought I'd make a simple chocolate cake which involves whipping the egg whites and egg yolks separately.  Nousch had said she was not much of a cook so I wasn't surprised that I couldn't find any beaters... so I got a work out using a hand whisk!!  It was hard work!!  Greg was unable to find a gym that was open, so he has to delay his return to fitness for another day.  Dennis, Ank, Joran and Nouschka seemed to enjoy dinner which was great! Annika, their daughter (and mother of their two granddaughters!) was able to pop in after getting her kids to bed - and seemed to enjoy the dessert too, so it was worth the effort!! 

23 May

Nouschka got me to download the 9292 transport app and kindly worked out for us exactly how to get to the Rijksmuseum, and rushed off to work.  We found the bus stop OK, and while we discussing our next move the woman behind us asked if we were Aussies... it turns out she was a Kiwi who has lived in Holland for the last 12 years.  She said she'd show us where to go, and suggested we take the train with her rather than another bus as we were planning.  I think she quite enjoyed having a chat to us!  However we ended up at Amsterdam Central Station, and had to find the tram to the Museumplein, which we managed to do, and got to the Rijksmuseum just after our 10am ticket!    I made a big mistake today - I left my coat at home, thinking the fine weather would continue.  It was clear, but very cold.  I won't do that again!!

What a magnificent museum it is too.  The works of Rembrandt are so beautiful, before we knew it, it was lunchtime, and we were still on the top floor!  We had lunch in the cafe and made our plan to see more.  Two hours later and Greg needed a fresh air break - so he left me to it.  I wandered around for another half an hour then joined him outside.  We found the bus and made our way back to Mijdrecht!

It was the anniversary of Mum's death.  Being in Holland felt sort of right.  I felt very sad but not as depressed as I'd been on Mother's Day, which was the last time I got to hug Mum and tell her I loved her.  I did feel she was with me in Holland.  She loved all things Dutch so much.

The night before Ank and Dennis had asked us to have dinner with them at their house, as Nouschka had to work late.  Joran said he was free too!  They offered to collect us but I thought it would be an easy walk to their place - and it was, but not as quick as riding bikes, which almost everyone does in Holland!  They had said we would have pizza, and what a surprise to see that Joran had bought his mini pizza maker along, and we were making our own!  Ank provided a big variety of delicious toppings and a salad, so we had great fun cooking and eating!  The pizza maker cast a fair bit of heat, which I quite enjoyed, but it was getting a bit steamy for the others and they were happy when we finished and could turn it off!  Ank had bought a variety of Dutch treats for dessert, including one which was a lot like a vanilla slice - so yummy!  I consoled myself with the knowledge that we are doing lots of walking!

24 May

We made the bus easily today.  In fact we got an earlier bus than I anticipated: I didn't realise the departure time on the transport app was the time you had to leave home, it factors in the walking too!!  So it only took us 50 minutes and one change to get into the city.  We walked down to the Flower Markets.  When we'd last visited in October 2013 the markets had been lovely but I thought as it was spring, there would be a profusion of flowers.  Well there was a profusion of bulbs for sale!  So many stalls selling so many bulbs, and a lot of other touristy stuff too!  We ended up buying a bag of bulbs for Nouschka!  Then we had to set off to join our food tour.

Our food tour was very small; another Aussie couple from Hobart and a young American woman.  We had two guides: one was a trainee, Martina, and she was being mentored by Luna (who was fantastic).  It certainly made me realise how much you have to know to do these tours (as Martina did not know much) and also how confident you have to be presenting (Luna had confidence in spades).  Plus, although we've been on very good tours not conducted by locals, it can really help.  Martina was Czech and Luna was Dutch.  

We met at the Ann Frank Statue, near the Westerkerk Protestant Church.  Our first stop was the pancake restaurants around the corner where we had the most delicious poffertjes.  We probably would never have gone there - it looked very touristy - and they were so good!  The best I've ever eaten!  Then we wandered through the Jordaan area of Amsterdam.  This was a very poor and crowded area and now it is very expensive!  They showed us a secret garden - apparently there are quite a few of these scattered around the city.  Of course the Dutch love their plants and so many make lovely gardens in very tiny spaces.  These were more a series of courtyards, but interesting to see none the less.  We passed the Mouse Museum (Make Cheese not War!) which looks worth a little visit next time.  All the mice and mouse houses are made by this one woman who uses recycled materials to create everything.  Then it was onto a butcher's shop with an impressive display of meat and meat products.  To our amazement there was a very excited dog in the shop with his owner (no one batted an eyelid!) and he was rewarded with a treat before they left, obviously a regular!  I didn't try any of the sausages but Greg enjoyed them all.  Just down the road was the cheese shop.  We had three types of Gouda: young, spiced with cumin, and aged (served with pickled ginger and fig bread).  They were all delicious and reminded me of how really wonderful cheese bought directly from the source, rather than the supermarket, can be.  

Luna told us a lot about the canals (I didn't realise that most of the canals in Amsterdam were hand dug - apparently there is a very interesting canal museum, another one to add to our list for next time!).  A lot of them were filled in as there was not enough water in summer and they would dry up and smell (mainly because of the rubbish that had been thrown in during the year!).  She told us about the Eel Riots of 1886 when the police tried to stop the (horrible) entertainment of eel pulling.  A poor live eel was threaded onto a rope, soaped up, and men in boats underneath would try to pull the eel off the rope :-( Apparently 26 people died, and the rioting went on for 3 days.  I love some of these random stories we are told!

Our surprise taste was a chicken satay with peanut sauce from Surinam.  It was tasty but absolutely no chilli.  I do miss chilli in Europe, everything is very mild!  At the fishmonger we had salted herring with pickles.  I'm not a huge fan of salted herring but it was OK.  The highlight from this stop was the battered and fried cod cheek.  Fresh cod is amazing.  Greg whipped into the shop and bought some cod fillets for dinner that night with Nouschka.  Our final stop was a Bruin Cafe (Brown Bar).  They are small local watering holes which were traditionally brown from cigarette smoke - thankfully that is no longer the case.  We had a beer and some bittenbollen (mine was mushroom).  They were OK but of course the ones we make are the best!  Not part of the tour but this particular pub is a bit famous for its apple pie.  Bill Clinton heard about it and wanted the pub to close for him to come and try it.  They refused to close, saying it wouldn't be fair for their regular customers, so Bill came anyway.  He loved it. bought some to take away, and sent a note of appreciation.  There was also newspaper clippings of the event, all framed on the wall.  Of course we all had to try it.  Greg and I shared a piece, thank goodness, it was huge.  But  pretty good!

Back in Mijdrecht, Greg cooked up the fresh cod with a delicious cream sauce - Nouschka was very impressed!  I have just loved our stay in Holland.  The older I get, the more important the connections in my life are.  This was the first visit without  my mum or her cousin Anneke - they were very close and considered each other sisters.  Mum was distraught when Anneke died.  I talked about both Mum and Anneke with all my cousins and it was wonderful to know they are still so with us.  We love and miss them.