Holland

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The weather in Holland was initially cool, wet and windy. The weather may have been cold but the hospitality with our friends in Rotterdam certainly was not. They showed us around and took us to visit family, helping us to communicate as Sam's spoken Dutch was not so good.

One uncle took us around Schiedam and Vlaardingen to see where Sam's family was born and lived before coming to Australia. With another aunt and uncle we visited the old township of Woudrichem which is one of the most beautifully preserved Medieval towns in the the Netherlands.

We had a day in Amsterdam and visited the Rijksmuseum (with paintings from Rembrandt). Unfortunately, it was very cold that day, so the sight seeing was not so comfortable.

We saw working windmills at the Kinderdike (these help pump the water out of the low-lying areas and into the dikes).

On our last morning we had a pleasant walk, in the sunshine, on the beach at Schevinengen near Den Haag. In the afternoon we watched Australia vs Holland in a friendly pre World Cup soccer match. Fortunately the result was a 1-1 draw.

We left Holland by overnight ferry from Rotterdam to Hull, England - and yes, this time we had an outside, above water cabin and we both slept ;)

A very big thank you to Els and Thijs for their wonderful and generous hospitality.

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