So far we had visited with two of Diederik's four sisters. Next in line was Jolien who we met in Nijmegen with her children Borus and Nica. We met them at museum the Valhof. This is a castel build on the site of the most northern fort of the Roman Empire on the European mainland. So this site has been occupied for almost 2000 years. The museum partly covers this history. |
The next day took us in two different directions. Jordan went to a monkey zoo with Stephanie and his grand father. The big boys went to het klimbos, Dutch for climbing forest. They only have a website in Dutch. This is an obstacle course in the trees, where you go higher and higher if you dare. You are wearing a security harnass, so it is not as dangerous as it looks, as long as you follow the rules. The course consists of 4 levels. You start out low and end up 50 feet above ground. Only Nathan and Stephen did the course. Diederik and his mother stayed on solid ground. |
Amsterdam was also Stephanie's first chance to do some shopping. Here is comes with a few bags in her hands from the Albert Cuyp open air market. Some of it was for keeps, but a lot of it was for resale at home. |
The rest of us went to Amsterdam. The first picture is of the royal palace in Amsterdam. Once upon a time this was the town hall of Amstrdam in the time when Amsterdam was the dominant trading city of the world. In front of the palace is the center of town. There is always something going on there. Here are a few mimes that try to talk us poor tourists out of a few euros. |
2009 trip to Netherlands and France In July we went to Europe to visit Diederik's family in the Netherlands and France. We also took time for some beach time and to see a few things in Paris. If you want to skip the pictures from our time in the Netherlands, you can jump forward to Paris' or Aunt Louise's pictures. We flew into Amsterdam and drove to Deventer where Diederik's parents live. We checked into our hotel. Our hotel was a small hotel in the center of Deventer, where an old bakery was converted into a reataurant/hotel/store/museum combination. Our room was a complete apartment that was originally the house of the baker above the bakery. The first picture shows the main store/hotel entrance and to the right the entrance door to our apartment upstairs. The second picture was the upper part of the building and thus the windows are our place, |
As mentioned above the hotel is also a musem filled with molds for cookies and chocolates. There are also endless coffee mills. The first picture is the front of the store (looking out of the front door) with Hortance, the lady that owns the hotel. The second and third picture shows some of the museum items. Finally then a picture of us in the museum. |
The first day, we visited Diederik's parents of course, but we did not do a lot more. The red eye flight took its toll and we took it easy and went to bed early. The second day, we walked around through Deventer and went to Cornelie's (Diederik's youngest sister) house who also lives in Deventer. There we had a barbeque in the backyard. Cornelie and Mark have one son, who showed Jordan his huge lego collection. |
Day three was the birthday of Diederik's father. That of course involved a visit and a celebration. First birthday cake at their house. Stephanie had brought over a home made cheesecake. And later dinner at a mexican restaurant in Deventer on the market place. |
The following day was July 15th, our Anniversary. Jordan spend the day at Cornelie's house playing with Duco. |
The rest of us went to Amsterdam. The first picture is of the royal palace in Amsterdam. Once upon a time this was the town hall of Amstrdam in the time when Amsterdam was the dominant trading city of the world. In front of the palace is the center of town. There is always something going on there. Here are a few mimes that try to talk us poor tourists out of a few euros. |
Amsterdam was also Stephanie's first chance to do some shopping. Here is comes with a few bags in her hands from the Albert Cuyp open air market. Some of it was for keeps, but a lot of it was for resale at home. |
Then it was time for lunch, where Nathan enjoyed the fact that the drinking age here is 18 years. |
After lunch we walked aroiund admiring some of the old Amsterdam views. |
Amsterdam is also well know for its not so traditional sites. The liberal attitude towards sex related bussinesses and towards soft drugs was easy to notice. |
Of course there was another opportunity for Stephanie to go shopping (with Diederik in mind?). As she points out to Nathan, a sale is never to be missed. |
The last shot of Amsterdam is a nostalgic picture of Stephanie and Diederik in front of the hotel where the spend part of their honeymoon 21 years ago. |
The next day took us in two different directions. Jordan went to a monkey zoo with Stephanie and his grand father. The big boys went to het klimbos, Dutch for climbing forest. They only have a website in Dutch. This is an obstacle course in the trees, where you go higher and higher if you dare. You are wearing a security harnass, so it is not as dangerous as it looks, as long as you follow the rules. The course consists of 4 levels. You start out low and end up 50 feet above ground. Only Nathan and Stephen did the course. Diederik and his mother stayed on solid ground. |
That evening we all had dinner with Christine (Diederik's oldest sister) and Lara, her youngest daugther. |
The following day, Diederik took Jordan to a toy museum. There were lots of things on display, but there were also many toys to play with. |
On our way to the market we came by an old entrance gate to a "Jordan's Garden". The market offers the typical things like flowers, fruits, vegatables, meat, cheese, candy, clothes etc. But there is also some entertainment as you can see. |
That evening dinner consisted of pancakes, dutch style. They are very large (a foot or so) and very thin and come will al kinds of topping most of which are baked in. Jordan enjoyed watching the cook bake them. |
So far we had visited with two of Diederik's four sisters. Next in line was Jolien who we met in Nijmegen with her children Borus and Nica. We met them at museum the Valhof. This is a castel build on the site of the most northern fort of the Roman Empire on the European mainland. So this site has been occupied for almost 2000 years. The museum partly covers this history. |
Ouside the museum was a large fair with lots of attractions. The trampoline was very popular with our kids. |
That evening was our last dinner in Deventer, so Diederik's parents took us to a special place for a last meal together. |
