Just a relaxing few days..

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Just a relaxing few days..

(so these few days was really just catching up with family, and relaxing about.. )

DAY TWO:Like i mentioned in the previous blog, my mornings were a bit out of routine.. a 5:30 wake up for me and i wasn't even the earliest. This was evidence that the 20 hour flight took more of a toll on us that we realized, so we were already mentally preparing for a long day. After seeing oma the day before for mum, we planned to visit dad's father today at the retirement home in Hippolythushoef. Before leaving for that, we needed to make an appearance in my uncles smoko room. At 9:00 in the morning and 3:00 in the afternoon on a working day they have smoko, and everyone who is anyone is welcome to come in for a coffee and a chat. It doesn't matter if you're working for my uncle, or are just passing through for some reason anyone is welcome when it's smoko time. Every day there's different people stopping at the room for smoko, some are regulars and others come just when they can and some are completely new.
I think the friendliness of it and how welcoming everyone is, it's just something you wouldn't see in Australia. I think it's a good example of how Dutchies and Aussies personality differs... AND THE AMOUNT OF COFFEE THEY GO THROUGH IS JUST INSANE!

By 10:00 everyone heads out and back to work wherever they're from. that was our cue to leave, and that's when we jumped in the car and headed to Hippolythushoef. The car we were lucky enough to get lent is a blue classic Volvo. Super old and super stylish, but it gets the job done.. and at the end of the day that's what matters. As well as a excessively large Dodge ram, which is a pick up truck. A truck license is actually needed just to drive it. Most of the time dad was in favor of driving the dodge, and with the size of the dodge on the small dutch roads along with all the cyclists, it was bordering line dangerous.. with dad driving to opa's, you can imagine which car he insisted on taking.
IT WAS AN ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE! at the retirement home, we had to park on top of the dividing strip between the car parks, just because it was not physically possible for the dodge to fit!
Anyways we eventually got to the retirement home, and chatted with opa for a bit, he was very happy to see us and looked well. A few hours in, a nurse came to tell him that lunch was ready and the meals were being served, whilst he went to do that we decided to explore Hippolythushoef and grab a bite to eat. The town of Hippolythushoef was originally an island and had alot of viking history but now it's more of a calm rural town. It wasn't big or hectic, just quiet and relaxing. We stopped at a cafe for brunch, dad and i had a Frikendal and milkshake and my little sister just a hotdog. After lunch we headed back to the retirement home, but it wasn't as simple as that. even though the town wasn't to big somehow we still managed to get ridiculously lost.. and then it rained. OF COURSE! so we had to do a pacey walk back trying to maneuver between the dry patches as much as possible. We arrived back, then chatted for another hour or so before leaving. Our next stop was Schagen where we had to go to the bank to sort out confusion mum had.

Unlike Hippolythushoef, Schagen was crowded and hectic, there were bikes and cyclists everywhere cars everywhere, and once again the dodge was a nightmare to park. After realizing we didn't have the right ticket stuff to park in a paid zone, dad then attempted to park along side the road somewhere. With a car the size that the dodge was, it was ridiculous, he nearly just took up half the road with his parked car it was definitely more than unnecessary and i'm sure all the passing cars were hating on the dodge too! Just leaving it there we went to the bank, it was a 5 minute stop and then we went to walk along the streets of Schagen looking for a nice place to stop for lunch. Finding the 'Grand cafe de smisde' we thought it looked classy and stopped there. Ordering a toasted baguette, a toasted sandwich, and nachos we had quite a delicious lunch. Wandering the hectic streets a little more after we slowly made our way back to the car and drove to our next stop.

Our last visit for the day was to see dads aunty and visit her, she lived in Barsingerhorn on a nice little bit of land, and her house was gorgeous. For a lady of her age she looked fighting fit, happy and healthy! that was the best to see, her partner was just as good! We sat there and chatted, they had a labrador puppy that they had gotten recently. it was most of my afternoons entertainment. By then it was nearing late afternoon and tea would be soon, so we got back in the car and drove home.

Other than that our night was fairly basic, tea consisted of tandori wraps, which where very nice! then afterwards we played cards, rummyclub and chatted until it was about bedtime. So it made for a nice relaxing day for everyone.

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Photos

the only way to get around..
bikes are the #1 transport in holland, and a good explanation to why everyone is so fit.

NOTHING BUT THE BEST!
this is the smoko room i was talking about, looks pretty basic on the outside. but it's got everything you need on the the inside.
.. including a ridiculous amount of coffee.

the nachos i had!
when we stopped for lunch at the 'Grand cafe de smisdese' in Schagen.

little extra scenery,
this is a picture of a canal we were following, you can see the boats in it and how peacful it all looks. it's quite pretty.