Visitors from Home

As some of you already know, my parents flew out for a week over Easter to come visit me, meet my host family, and explore a bit of the Netherlands.  For both of them, it was their first time to leave North America.  I picked up Mom and a very sleepy Dad from the Zwolle train station last Monday and headed back for some much-needed coffee and a small walk through a bit of Zwolle.  We took it relatively easy that evening.  As Dad said, "No one should be awake for over 30 hours."

Tuesday, I had a fair amount of class, so we stayed near Zwolle - we took a long walk with Marja through the countryside behind my house and past some farms that afternoon and a long bike ride with Albert and Marja on the dikes to a nearby town that evening.  Mom and I also made tacos for supper.  They don't eat much Mexican food in the Netherlands and loved the tacos.  We noticed that more taco fixings have mysteriously appeared in the pantry, and I have heard Marja telling several different family members about it.

On my way to class on Wednesday, I dropped Mom and Dad off at the centrum of Zwolle.  They were planning to just explore for a good three hours, but I got out of class early and was lucky enough to be able to find them fairly quickly and show them a good bookstore and some krokets.

Later that afternoon, we took a bus to the nearby town of Epe to visit Theo and Coby Kool, some distant relatives on my Dad's side.  They had been a bit confused about the date, so when we arrived, Theo wasn't there.  Coby opened the door and, at our introduction, got a bit worried.  "Ik spreek helemaal geen Engels!"  I was so thankful to be able to know some Dutch, and she definitely relaxed upon hearing it.  She called Theo home from his billiards game and we talked a little bit until he came.  We saw pictures from Grandpa and Grandma's farm and just got to know them a little bit.  It turned out to be a great experience and a lot of fun.  That evening, we went out for some Indonesian and tried some real nasi goreng.  Lekker!

Thursday, Mom and Dad came along on our class excursion to Westerbork, a holding camp from the Second World War that was used to send prisoners to other prison camps.  The weather seemed fitting of the place - strong wind, cold rain, and even some hail.  That evening, we went with Albert and Marja by car to walk around the nearby town of Kampen, a gezellige evening.

On Friday, they were able to experience lots of trains, as we had a bit of travelling troubles.  Our first train dropped us off in Amersfoort, as it was experiencing troubles, our second to Rotterdam went no further than Utrecht, so it was then necessary to take 2 stoptreins to get to Dordrecht.  Still, we had time enough to enjoy seeing their first European cathedral in Dordrecht, take a peak at Zwijndrecht, where my great grandfather was born, and hit the market before leaving for Kinderdijk.  Our ride home was also not without troubles.  We took the bus from Kinderdijk to Rotterdam, where we were unable to use our strippenkaarten, so we ended up walking for an hour in order to get to the train station.  So, they got to see a lot of Rotterdam - the Erasmusbrug, the Maastunnel (walking tunnel under the Maas River), some beautiful parks, the newness of the city, etc.

Saturday, Albert and Marja offered to travel with us to Haarlem.  Our first stop?  A coffee break in the parking garage.  From there it was on to visit the grand St. Bavo's Kerk, the Corrie ten Boom huis, and a great souvenir shop for Mom and Dad :).  The organ in St. Bavo's Kerk is magnificent and both Mozart and Handel have played it.  The Corrie ten Boom museum was one of the week's highlights.  The tours are given by volunteers who tell the ten Boom's story and work to share the gospel as well.

We then headed over to the Keukenhof, though we stopped before for another coffee break.  The weather was poor (or should I say pour?) most the day, but the sun did peak out for a while while we were at the Keukenhof.  We walked the beautiful gardens and I think even Mom got her fill of flowers.  After the Keukenhof, we set out for Sandvoort - the Noordzee.  Despite the cold weather all day, the beach was sunny and warm.  We enjoyed our bit of sunshine as we walked the seashore and stopped for some pannenkoeken nearby.

Sunday morning we spent in Amsterdam for a canal cruise and the Rijksmuseum before heading home for an afternoon Easter service and a wonderful last meal with Albert and Marja.  Another walk for a few last pictures that night and a bit of packing and planning for our last trip to Schiphol and the week was over.  The week sped by, but I think they had a great time despite the cold and rainy weather.