July 23, 2019

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Two of my aunts are quite elderly, one is 96 and the other 93, and no trip here would be complete without a visit to these very spry ladies. Each live independently in retirement apartments and are a wealth of information for many stories, some quite funny, others less so. What was so satisfying was to see how positive they are, and how they present themselves. I’m loving having some of the same genes!

After we got back to Eindhoven we had some quick dinner and a couple of cold ones, then walked over to the Philips Stadion to watch local professional voetbal (soccer) team, always a contender in The Netherlands (22 national titles), take on Basel from Switzerland in the Championship League. According to local “experts” the soccer was not all that good, but the home side won 3-2 with a goal only minutes left in regulation time and another in extra time. We found it rather exciting to be there live with the extremely noisy fans. From what I learned, there’s another game next week in Basel to see who goes to the next round, with the winner having to win two more rounds before they even get to the main round. This is indicative that even the best of Dutch teams are no match for the big boys this year, such as Liverpool, Manchester, Real Madrid, Benfica and the like. But great entertainment nevertheless and a level of play you likely don’t get to see in North America.

The heat in the stadium was almost unbearable, with the tens of thousands cranking up the 33C temperature. Tomorrow it will be 39C and even higher Thursday!

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