Netherlands May 3rd, to May 14th 2013

---

Netherlands May 3^rd to May 14^th 2013



Friday May 3, 2013

Was met at Schiphol @ 7 AM by Petra and Wim van Vliet, my cousins, these persons have such generousity of spirit, since I could not get into my apartment in Kijkduin, until 3 pm they were willing to entertain each other for a few hours.this was no problem to them at all and they suggested things to do for the day, We decided to start off by having a coffee at the airport,while taking my suitcase and putting it in their car. Since I needed to look into the travelling system of the OV chipcard etc, with which Petra was familiar and explained it we purchased an "anoniem" card for myself, which allows travel on most

OV (openbaar vervoer) (public transportation) on most vehicles including trains, it allows one when checking out ( this can be tricky) and tells you how much money is left on the card, when running low you need to find a ticket seller to ad on cash, as tourists do not have the pincard system used by everyone in Holland.



We took the train at Schiphol and traveled to Amsterdam, as I had received notice that there was an invitation put aside for me to attend the national remembrance day services in the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam,on May 4th, http://www.amsterdam.info/nieuwe-kerk/ we picked this up from the May 4-5 remembrance committee, which was an interesting trip, and walked around the Jewish neighbourhood, + open market and enjoyed the fantastic sunny weather. We did a mini walking tour of the Amsterdam area then had another coffee and interesting cake in a bakery, with limited seating, the tiny outside patio overlooking a canal only had seating for 4 persons only, we watched the preparation, and baking of the foods they were selling, I had something with rhubarb we all had something different and enjoyed it all.





We wandered back to the train station, the immideate area is under constant repairs, as they are busy working on the subway system, creating a bit of a mess all around.





Took the train back to schiphol picked up car and traveled to Den Haag, since it was around noon, and had a few more http://panorama-mesdag.com/ hours to kill for the 3 pm arrival at the apartment time, we went to see Panarama by Mesdag , which by the way is located around the corner of the Canadian Embassy, it was a bit surreal having just arrived in Holland from Canada and seeing our Canadian Flag hanging there, Mesdag painted a panarama painting depicting the dunes and sea in the Scheveningen area, I was very impressed as I had heard it mentioned often, it really was worthwhile seeing, at one point I was asked to stop using my flash, which I guess only went off a few times, based on the lighting.

Petra and Wim then drove me to my apartment in Kijkduin, http://www.denhaag.nl/en/visitors/the-beach/Kijkduin.htm at this point I was exhausted having been up and around for many many hours, they kindly dropped me off and realized I simply wanted to be alone we parted company looking forward to seeing them again on the 13th, in Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel.

Unpacked a bit, (why am I hauling all this stuff? took a walk along the beach, took a shower and crashed until the next morning













Saturday May 4th, 2013

Took a hike along the beach in the morning, had made plans earlier to meet Jan, my cousin Allet’s partner for several years, to meet at the bar in the Prince Hendrik Hotel, (Chuck Barry was found dead here)@ 4 pm located across from Amsterdam Centraal Station Jan arrived, we sat had a drink and chatted about Allet, now deceased and what was happening in Jan's life today. @6 pm I needed to get ready to get to the

Remembrance service in de Nieuwe Kerk on de dam, we said our goodbyes and I walked to the dam, had my passport checked before entering into the waiting line up for the service to begin, I was escorted to a section in the church, which the reason it is called the Nieuwe Kerk is it was built in ….and the old church was built in …http://www.amsterdam.info/nieuwe-kerk/

It is an impressive gothic building, and with the tv screens set up all around anyone could follow the service as it progressed. Before the service begain, The King and Queen were observed via live tv walking towards the church as soon as they entered, the doors closed and the service began, there was a time frame listed on the program, which was followed to the second. Great music, ladies choir, Pauline Broekema a Dutch author read a moving piece which spoke of some Jews returning from the camps, having left some of their belongings with neighbours or friends, only to be told they could not have their property back, as they owed moneydue ti fact that they had taken care of it, there was one occasion were a persons returning from Germany was given a hydro bill for arrears over the three years they had been gone. The 6th verse of the national anthem was sung, not without shedding a few tears, we then lined up to walk along the route amongst the

Thousands of people who waited behind barricades, to be led to the front of the monument, with seats. It started to become windy and rather cold, a fanfare especially written for the occasion was played by one of the forces, last taps then 2 minutes of absolute silence, which was rather amazing considering we were in the centre of a busy city surrounded by thousands of people, one could indeed hear a pin drop, a poem was read by a school girl chosen for this occasion, after which the royal couple started off by laying the first wreath, which was followed by many various organizations, schools, laying wreaths, a fanfare would be played the announcer would say who was laying the wreath after placing the wrathe on the holders the person (s) would bow observe a moment of silence then step away for the next person, all done in an orderly fashinon.





At one point a Father spoke about his son, who had joined the army to serve in Afghanistan, 6 months earlier and died while on duty it was a very moving, and courageous of this father to speak about a son he obviously loved and missed very much, and would never see him grow up.























Sunday May 5th, 2013

Took a walk along the beach in the early morning, then with the bus to the Central Haagtrain station to travel to Arnhem, as I had made arrangements with Olof and Ramon, Olof being the son of Mia and Kees Mudde, and Ramon his partner who had offered to give me a tour of the liberation trail,

http://www.holland.com/uk/press/holland-news/follow-the-steps-of-the-allied-forces-liberation-route-extends.htm

One needs to always be aware of the days when traveling by train, since week day schedules are not the same as weekend or holiday schedules, I arrived at the Den Haag Central in time, although due to major renovations one needs to wander around signs and long stairways to get from the bus to the train platform. I waited on the platform, and a veteran recognized by his medals started talking to me about the big day for veterans in Wageningen, we got on the train, where he offered me a chocolate from a box , and started telling me about what would be happening that day, he was obviously looking forward to it, and at the next stops more veterans would get on the train, and sit together and talk old times. I arrived in Utrecht, were we were told that the platform to Arnhem and places further had been changed, it was good in this case that I could understand Nederlands as an avalanche of people started climbing up the stairs, and since I had spoken to a couple who I knew was going Arnhem I simply followed them, up the stairs, down another flight, across the platform, until we arrived at the right train, there seemed to be some confusion, as well as delay in time, as I had told Olof and Ramon I would be arriving in Arnhem @ 10:29 well we finally got moving, and I arrived in Arnhem @ 11 am, meanwhile Olof had assumed something had happened, and sent my messages which I did not receive, but found once I got home. Arriving in Arnhem I noticed two gents waiting on the platform, and I knew they were Olof and Ramon, we decided to have a coffee before starting off on the liberation trail and had a coffee at the museum of moderne kunst in Arnhem http://www.mmkarnhem.nl/ in a beautiful backyard with statues and all sorts of older things around it, the coffee was great and it gave us the opportunity to get to know each other a bit better, since we had never before met,Olof had programmed his ipod to all the important locations of the trail,https://sites.google.com/site/freedomtrailarnhem/home giving us information as we went along, it was a beautiful day, and I was grateful for having Olof and Ramon as guides for the day, being rather shy I no doubt "nattered on" The liberation trail is located in the downtown area, around the river, since the bridges were the focus of the battles in Arnhem during the second world war the sidewalks have a pink tile indicating that a site, house or location is there the information is given on the freedomtrail site. We paused at the hospital which was at times run by the Germans then by the English, as this was an ongoing battle. I was amazed at the beautiful location of Arnhem, surrounded by hills in the distance, and rivers flowing all round the area, Ramon comes from Nijmegen, and one can see the outlines of the city in the distance, this whole area was an important battlefield in the second world war, walked the area around the hospital were people had been shot,saw the Koepel (Dome) Prison, walked along the water's edge stopped for refreshments in one of the many cafe's along the water, we walked through the ancient gates, across the downtown area which has churches, of which the Eusebeius was greatly damaged, we walked around the area were Olof has his office, as he works for the province of Gelderland, in which province Arnhem is located, we wandered around and decided it was time for lunch, and sat at Dudok for lunch https://www.facebook.com/Dudokarnhem?directed_target_id=0 After lunch we went inside the Eusebius church http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Eusebius%!_(MISSING)Church%!C(MISSING)_Arnhem its tower had been destroyed during the second world war, now there is an elevator in the tower which whizzed us to the top of the tower allowing us a great view of the city of Arnhem, one could see were the damage had been done during the war as most areas close to the church had been rebuilt, and there were several pictures showing the before and after, the view from the top of the tower, gave a great view of the bridge, which played such an important role during the war, as Germans and allies fought over the control of the bridge. we walked through the old part of town,stopped at another museum, were a lady kindly explained facts about the battle of Arnhem en route to the railroad station as I needed to get on the 4:02 Train to Veenendaal de Klomp, were cousins Francien and Wim were going to meet me and take me to visit my Tante Wil in Amerongen, we had aboout 15 minutes left to spare, when I noticed Telfort store, as I still needed to get my mobiel working, we walked into the store asked the guy what kind of deal he could give me for my short stay in Holland, there was some 7:50 EU in plan, so I said I will take it, well he wanted my pincard which only Dutch nationals have, fortunately Ramon said he would put it on his card and I re-imbursed him, Olof and Ramon took the mobiel and while walking towards the train station were able to open the mobiel, put the sms card in, close it, they then had to call a number which would then activate my phone, well thank god they knew what they were doing as when I got on the train my mobiel worked. we said goodbye, thanking both of them for giving so generously of their time, to schlepp me around Arnhem and see these wonderful historical sight,+it was very nice meeting both of them. many pictures were taken, however I am having a problem placing them in the right order on this journal so will ad a link for more pictures of Arnhem:http://picture.bbnl.nl/pictures-of-arnhem.html

The train to Veenendaal Klomp, to visit Tante Wil arrived and left as schedules

Francien and Wim were waiting for me at the station, in my hurry I did not "check out" my OV chipcard, at the train station, and needed to rectify this on my way back, Francien and Wim drove me along a scenic route to Amerongen, to visit Tante Will enroute we stopped to p/u some flowers for Tante Wil, and since it would be Francien's birthday the next week, got her a nice bouquet as well.









We arrived at Tante Wil's who lives in a wonderful seniors residence,it was very emotional to see her again, she knew who I was and we hugged, like she always loved to give stevige pakkerts, like a real warm hug, she has an amazingly beautiful cat called Billy obviously totally spoiled. We had to shout at each other as Tante Wil does not hear too well, and neither do I, but after a few minutes we got used to each other, Francien made us a coffee, and we all sat around and carried on a conversation, often talking about the old times, about family members who were no longer here, Tante Wil is pretty alert for her age, but forgets things, like I have always forgotten things, or cannot remember even when I was a child.she showed me several pictures of her grandchildren, Oom Aart, handicraft either she or the children had made for her, there was their wedding text on a wooden plaque over her bed, so typical Dutch and a needlepoint of an angel which Oom Aart had made, it made for a cozy comfy room, with windows looking out of the courtyard, and a door to get out on a balcony,Francien and Wim presented me with a set of pastry forks, small forks with which to properly eat cake, with Delft blue figures at the top, we have since used them, I need to explain to my friends what they are, they are all very impressed.



We had made plans not to stay too long, Tante Wil offered us something to eat but that simply was not part of the plan. I had eaten a large lunch, Francien and Wim had kindly offered to take me back to the train, and after a good hour or so, I had to say goodbye to Tante Wil, heavens, I find these goodbyes sooooo difficult, and simply had to walk out, but once more hugged her, and out the door I went, it was a great visit, Francien and Wim drove me back to the station were I realized I had not checked out my OV chipcard, so I got on the train, a bit nervous hoping no inspector would check my card, travelled to Utrecht, got off the train, went through the exit, checked out then re entered checked in, and I was "legal" again, it is soooo easy to forget this checking in and out even locals find this difficult at times, I got home around 9 pm, had a snack and hit the sack, it had been a very busy day indeed, and so worthwhile, so glad I had taken the time. to see Tante Wil.











Monday May 6th, 2013

I had made plans to have coffee with Ina and Herman in the afternoon, in the morning responding to my earlier request I had asked my cousin Kees Mudde, a far removed cousin to drop by if he was interested in taking a hike from Kijkduin to Scheveningen and since the weather was perfect he decided to drive his car from Lekkerkerk to Gouda, then get on the train to Den Haag then the bus to Kijkduin, he arrived there around 9 am, could not believe this, I thought it would take hours, we met at the end of the bus stop by kijkduin, had a coffee and decided to start our hike.

It was great, as although I met Kees several years ago, and played scrabble with him daily we had not talked often, although I tend to "hang things out" this hike gave us the opportunity to get to know each other somewhat better while walking away. There is a harbour in between Kijkduin and Scheveningen,one needs to take a detour, which was a lot longer and further then I had anticipated, in any case we made it, had a look at the newly structured boulevard in Scheveningen which is fantastic, it has mini sculptures of characters out of children's stories all around, the landmark pier is in a sorry state, and awaiting funds to fix it up, or do something with it, over the years it has not been kept up too well.

We arrived in Scheveningen after a 2 ½ hour hike, got on the bus back to Kijkduin, in order not to be late for Ina and Herman. We did not realize that this bus would give us a tour of Scheveningen, Den Haag, Voorburg, and other suburbs, in any case it took us a good hour before getting back to Kijkduin, were Ina and Herman were waiting for us.

We went up made coffee, and enjoyed the wonderful pastries Ina and Hermand had brought, Kees left to return to Lekkerkerk, and we spent the afternoon looking at the pictures Catharina had brought with her and since I had not seen Ina for 55+ years get updated about her life, and getting to know her partner Herman.

Had a nice snooze, took a walk along the beach and had an early nite, as our hike had tired me out.





Tuesday May 7th, 2013

Today was scheduled as a relaxing day, walking the beach etc, it turned out to be a super day, and I did my usual early morning walk, did some shopping in the store nearby to keep my supplies at a low level, I had hope to have seen Maud and Jaques, neighbours in the buildin, however our schedules never seem to meet, so I got them a nice pot of flowers and not wanting to interrupt their schedule left it in front of their door with a greeting, to them.

My Cousin Jan Mudde and wife Eugenie, had told me they would come by later in the afternoon, and we would go out for dinner somewhere along the boulevard in Kijkduin, this gave me the opportunity to roam the beach, in the morning,especially since someone had told me about the way in which the Dutch protect their shore lines. From my apartment building while overlooking the sea I could see enormous sandbanks in the distance at low tide, these are man-made in order to move the sand slowly toward the shore and avoid erosion, I decided to walk out there, it took me about 2 hours to reach that area, and yes it was flat sand as far as they eye could see, unbeknownst to me the tide had begun to come in and when I looked back it looked like what was sandflat before had now turned into water, this meant I had to continue walking until I got to the beach way in the distance, that way I only had to cross two 5 feet deep rivers to get back to the main beach, as it was holiday the beach was slowly filling up with families giving me some idea what it must be like at the height of the season, far too crowded for me.

Around 4pm Eugenie and Jan arrived at the apartment, it was good to see them, we sat around having a coffee and cake,caught up on what has been happening in our lives over the past few years, it was very comfortable being around them. by 6 pm or so we decided to walk to the Kijkduin boulevard and see what type of foods were available, there is a good variety to choose from we settled on a Turkey's restaurant, and since it was that time of year, white aspergus were available in many places, we chatted, decided on what to eat, had a few glasses of wine, had a great time talking and eating, had a tomatoe and cheese salad which was delicious, in fact it was large enough for me to have been a meal, however we continued enjoying a variety of foods, fish for me, and talk about each one of our families, it was a great time. Since I had been entertained at their house several years ago, I had made it a point to tell them this dinner was on me, never thought too much about it, however at one point Eugenie got up, I assumed to use the facilities, that by the time the meal was over and I asked for the bill, I realized she had gone inside and paid the bill, much to my consternation, a deal was a deal.... but I realized that there would be no way to get around to this, I tried to give some money to Jan for him to give to Eugenie, but she caught on, o well, next time I will simply be smarter. We went home sat around had a coffee and it was soon time for them to go, what a wonderful end to a wonderful day, I was so glad the we were able to spend some time together.



Wednesday May 8th, 2013

Today was one of the most important days of my whole trip to the Netherlands, I had written some stories about the Mudde family, however never too much about my Paternal Grandparents Mudde, even though I lived across the street from the for 14 years of my life, in fact I was somewhat afraid of my grandmother as she tended to appear very stern, always dressed in dark clothing, which was not unusual for those days, my grandparents had 12 children, and living across the street from the we always interacted with the aunts, their boyfriends, who would through marriage become uncles, there was always something going on, off course we had a large family my Father ran the bakery which took a lot of his time, and unfortunately he had a major stuttering problem which tended to limit his conversation. in any case I wanted to write about our Grandparents called Opoe en Opa Mudde, to create a record for those members of my family born here, interested in were they originated from so I connected with my Cousin Connie Wasmus-Brand who said she would check this whole idea out with her Mom, whom I figured would be a good person to pass it along to, and if she was not interested there would be no purpose in pursuing this whole issue, well Connie got back to me, telling me a bit about how she experienced her grandparents as a child in Lekkerkerk, but that her Mom and subsequently the remaining aunts would be very interested and would think of stories, or write them out, and we would decide on a time and dat were we could meet, I had thought a restaurant in Lekkerkerk this way no one had to prepare anything clean up etc, however the date was agreed upon May 8th, 2013 at Tante Nel's since she felt sitting in a restaurant would be far too noisy for most of them, I then went ahead planned my trip.

As I was staying in Kijkduin, and needed to travel to Lekkerkerk, which can be a bit awkward traveling via Rotterdam into the polder called De Krimperwaard, Connie kindly offered to pick me up from the Gouda Train station we would then travel to Lekkerkerk in her car, well the day arrived I must say I was somewhat nervous about the whole idea, and questioned why had I bothered to plan this, but realize if it was not done now, we might never have this opportunity again.

I met Connie in Gouda, no problem recognizing each other and we traveled to Lekkerkerk, which gave us the opportunity to get to know each other a bit better, it is interesting the bond there is between family members, even though I did not know Connie well, this would not have happened without her active participation Connie had done most of the prep work. It was interesting entering Lekkerkerk the place of my birth passing the house and traveling downtown to, were my aunt lived, there was some sort of market happening so parking was at a premium,( how nostalgic to see all these memories from my youth) Connie looked around and found a place to park we then walked to tante Nel's were we were warmly greeted by Tante Nel being able to thank her for her hospitality,and participation. soon Tante Riet and Tante Lijntje en Oom Jaap arrived, after some refreshments Connie was set with her pc to take behind the scenes notes, the conversation started very naturally and once the Aunts got going on the stories they came out one after the other, we laughed at some of the things told,saddened by some others there was a bit if inside conversation, as when talking about an event we all have a different take on it during this time we were supplied with cake coffee fresh drinks as the conversation flowed, once it was overwe realized it had been a great success, the aunts had written out stories and evens as they remembered them, these I can use for my story flow. The details of this project will be available sometime later this year!

It was time to go, parting is always difficult for me, especially when it involves older people, person who were part of the first 14 years of my life, but we did say goodbye, after which I invited Tante Nel and Connie out for dinner, but Connie had brought some dinner, and I think the afternoon had been tiring for Tante Nel and it was decided to stay in, and after cleaning up I washed and Connie dried, like it used to be when we were at children home, some of the dishes were returned to the sink, as Connie did not think they were clean enough!! it felt like old times, it felt comfortable being around family members even though we really did not know each other too well before then, we had some time to talk while eating dinner Connie drove me back to Gouda were I took the train back to Kijkduin, it certainly was a worthwhile day, and so grateful for all the work Connie did,we promised to keep in touch.

Thursday May 9, 2013

Took my last walk along the Kijkduin beach, it was once again one of those bright sunny mornings although clouds had been forecast later on in the day, today is also Ascension day, which is celebrated in the Netherlands as a national holiday, which meant I had to make sure I was using the holiday schedule traveling.

Cleaned up, packed my suitcase, which seem to weigh tons, why did I need all this stuff?, managed to make it to the Den Haag Centraal, were upon swiping in I was told I was short money on my OV card since the ticket office was closed I found a railroad worker and explained my problem to him, he suggested I get and additional eu 4.50 which would get me to Rotterdam, I said alright he had to write out a ticket then gave it to me, after I gave him the money, just before leaving he asked to see my card then decided the train I was taking to Rotterdam was a metro and those low fund restrictions did not apply it meant I had sufficient funds on my card to get to Rotterdam, which meant he had to dig up the ticket he wrote out to me, and refund me the money's, which he did with a smiling face, it sometimes pays not to speak the local language. after a transfer I managed to get to the Capelse brug, now Ewoud had offered to pick me up, which I declined being independent!, but since I had gotten so far, it could not be too much further, Laurens called me via his mobiel, and I thought he was calling from home, and he told me to get off the second stop after getting on the bus, and he would see me there, I got off the second stop, no idea were I was, fortunately Ewoud had seen me getting off the bus, came out and met me, and took me to his house, which was directly behind the bus stop although I did not see it, met Marlies end Simon, sat down in their cozy kitchen for a cuppa coffee and off course always a sweet treat, it felt comfortable being there, they have a cozy house filled with bookshelves, books everywhere, in the back of the house is a nice yard were one can sit with 12 persons very comfortably, hauled my far too heavy suitcase upstairs, the usually winding narrow stairs one finds all over the Netherlands, once I got it into my room we went downstairs had a wonderful home made soup, and decided to go out for a hike Ewoud drove us to De Loet, which is a heritage nature area at the bottom of Lekkerkerk the weather was fantastic, we returned home and sat in the garden, had some wonderful bubbly and some interesting conversation, while Marlies and Ewoud were preparing a wonderful dinner, which turned out to be a full house with all of the children in attendance, it reminded me of a meal at home when we were children, after dinner we sat and talked, Marlies and Ewoud generously presented me with the embroidery of the towns shields, within the Krimpenerwaard, we had some orange bitter, which is a special for the Queens/Kings birthday and retired to bed.















Friday May 10th 20

Had a super sleep, got up went for a hike to the shopping mall, as I wanted to get some flowers for Marlies, she and I simply are kindred spirits, even though I only met her once at the reunion, we met again and it was like old friends, very comfortable, the plan was for my cousin Petra to pick me up @ 2 pm, or when she was finished working, we had a wonderful breakfast, Simon, who is an interesting and bright person for his age, baked the croissants and all sorts of goodies they have for breakfast in Holland, hagelslag,(candied crumbs) in various flavours, off course the cheese, and often a variety of this, and other calorie laden foods, with a good strong cup of coffee to wash it all down, and lots of things to talk about. afterward Ewoud and I went for a hike in the neighbourhood, which is very family oriented with a sport field, and wonderful pond, on which they can skate in the winter if it has frozen enough, we walked around, climbed the dijk and turned around and came home, in a few minutes Petra and Maarten arrived, hauled the heavier suitcase in Petra.s car drove to Krimpen aan de Lek, were they are doing major re-building, bought some flowers in the local flower store, the owners wife, who served us dedected an accent in me, and the questions started...... good heavens even Petra was surprised at this, she simply did not seem to stop, she seemed to know everyone in the neighbourhood, I guess life in Krimpen aan de Lek, and working in a flower store is boring.......!

We arrived at Tante Fie"s place who was waving to us from her window, which is soooo Tante Fie, it was good to see her again, Henk, Ellen en Sander were there as well. we sat around chatted for a while and as the Dutch saying goes, "dragged a few cows out of the canal" Like all of us Tante Fie has gotten older, but pretty much on the ball, they need to make sure she is eating sufficiently and watches her food intake to make sure it is not too outdated, so great to know she has her family around her. We took several pictures, and it was time to leave, after a tearful goodbye we drove off to Henk and Ellen's, as I had asked Laura to show me her horse Ilonka, which she has been taken care of for several years, and is a major love in her life. Henk decided he would get dinner and we were off to the farm along the dijk right across from the swimming pool in which I learned to swim and was pushed off the diving board by the swim instructor as he felt I was taking too long to dive, The farm in which Ilonka is stabled is a massive old fashioned farm, with various stables, one stable had many milking cows, young calves, well I met Ilonka, off course she recognized Laura right away and reacted with pleasure at meeting an old friend, the stalls reminded me of being a young child and visiting farmers in Lekkerkerk

We had a great visit with Ilonka I wanted a picture with Ellen and Ilonka, but no dice, o well, afterwards I drove with Ellen back to the Rijnstraat were Cousin Henk had set the table filled with all my favorite types of fish, it was a real feast and I had a taste of everything on the table it was a super meal Henk and Ellen had kindly agreed to drive me to Lekkerkerk, but Laura had to go to a rehearsal for an upcoming horse show in Berkenwoude so we drove there first dropped Laura and friend off, and we were off to Lekkerkerk to Mia and Kees's house, as I would be staying there the next few nights. We found the house and Henk and Ellen dropped me off there, were I met Mia we had a quiet evening and I went to bed early.

Over the years Mia and Kees have been renovating their home, and Kees would send me pictures of its progress, it was amazing to see the actual work done,off course I had never really seen the "before" but the present was certainly impressive,considering that in 1954 few homes in Lekkerkerk had indoor plumbing in their house the bathrooms has the latest gadgets going, with walk in showers, everything neatly tiled wall and floor, the result was beautiful, I had the bedroom upstairs, with an attached bathroom, giving me total privacy , I must say as in most houses the stairs always seem to have a narrow turn going up, and getting a suitcase up there is no small feat, but my suitcase was far too big, and had too much stuff in it,what was I thinking!!, O well I paid the price by me hauling it, then a frigging stand leg broke off, making the darn thing more wobbly when standing up,but... I survived!!

I got up early in the morning as I wanted to visit the local cemetery , as I love walking in cemeteries as they tend to be nice and quiet and filled with greenery and flowers in some cases," meeting" many person who I had known from my past,and yes talking, I took pictures of every tombstone that had "Mudde" on it, found my grandparents Pieter Mudde, and Maria Berger Mudde, boy there are many graves with persons with the same last name although they may not be related at all. I saw a classmate of mine Jan Herman Mudde, boy did he give the principal Montfrooi a hard time, he was a gifted artist and could draw beautifully, he was brilliant as well, and no doubt bored by the limitations of learning in our school, hence creating some scenes!, Saw the graves of cousin Marien and Pieta, and several aunts and Uncles, I would take a few minutes to talk to them, or recall a memory I had of them Saw the grave of George den Boon, who was murdered in the beginning of WW2 and his brother Gerrit who died shortly thereafter, the story is found in"The youngest of 18" bij Peter Knegt the story by Tonny Littel den Boon, who we visited later on that day, as I wanted and did buy the book, which by the way is interesting, yet a painful story about young men who were murdered by the germans

Walked back to Mia and Kees.s place picked up a plant for Mia, while buying the plant I turned to walk out of the store, and walked into a plate glasss window, wow that was scary, they joked it off but I could have really hurt myself. we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast

sitting around the large diningroom table looking at the daily newspaper. It was great meeting Mia, who is very quiet and unassuming, yet knowledgeable about many things,like books and author's foods,etc., she is a great and generous hostess, making sure I was comfortable, clean towels etc, it was a pleasure meeting her, she was easy to talk with. Kees had made arrangements that we would go up the Steeple of the Grote Kerk, it started pouring, but with an umbrella we remained relativeily dry, there were stands set up around the old raadhuis as there was a braderie happening that day. Pieter Roozendaal met us in the church and we started climbing up the stairs, I did not realize the height of the steeple, plus the narrow straight up stairs, that at one point I could not go on, having a great fear of heights, and when we reached the top it was open so the wind and rain blew all around us, I got as far as the bells which were taken down during the was and hidden, as the Germans took any metal to turn them into some type of ammunition.I would not want to be the person who has to hang the flag out on the top of the tower on special occasions! Kees and I spent some time at Tonny den Boon-Littel as both of us wanted to pick up Peter Knegt's book " The youngest of 18" about her brother George who was murdered by the nazi's we were entertained royally by her daughter in law with coffee and stroopwafels, and talked a mile a minute we could have stayed all day, however we had promised Mia we would be home for lunch, which we did, it rained every now and then, sometimes it poured, but started clearing up after noon, we decided to walk to Schuacht, along the dike, just before the duck sanctuary we turned off to go into the polder to the Wetering, all familiar places from my childhood, we saw some amazing storm skies, some passed over others rained on us, note the picture of the cows huddled together with their butts against the rain, who says these animals are dumb....! We had decided I would treat Mia and Kees to dinner at a local restaurant, which was very enjoyable, at this point we were like old friends and conversation was easy.

Sunday May 12, 2013

Attended church service in De Grote Kerk, met several people I knew. Mom's cousin Piet Brouwer was there we had a pleasant conversation Piet loves to travel and was off to Turkey in the next few weeks, Otis's grandmother introduced herself,interestingly as well they had a collection there for MAF for which Brent and Helena work in Angola. Went home had lunch and we took off for Gouda via the wonderful country side with its old and stately farm houses, and some estate that go way back in history, how people drive there is a mystery to me, you are on this narrow road, with a canal on sometimes both sides, one needs to know the driving rules as to who passes who, and how and when, Kees is a good driver but loves to keep up..... we arrived in Gouda, parked and walked to the central square with its grand stadhuis, walked around the St. Jan's Church neighborhood, the church was not open for tourists only regular Sunday church services, we ended up by going to Centraal Cafe, which claims the greatest appeltaart in the land,we had a nice coffee and some dessert, drove back to Lekkerkerk and went over to Kees's Brother Ernst and wife Nellie it was great meeting them in their lovely home, enjoying their hospitality.

Monday May 13th, 2013

The day had come to say goodbye to Mia and Kees, it was great getting to know Mia and getting to know Kees in his home setting, I had a great time there, it was very relaxing, enjoying their generous hospitality, Mia had gone out and bought me two blocks of cheese, which was so sweet and generous of her, the cheese was made in Lekkerkerk by: http://www.kaasboerderijspeksnijder.nl/ and was thoroughly enjoyed by us friends and other family members, I declared cheese on my custom form, and got it through without any problem, it simply was gone too quickly..........Kees had made plans to drive me to Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel, as fate would have it Kees and my cousin Wim were both in the same class of the MULO in Lekkerkerk, so once we arrived there Wim made us a coffee and they had a lot to talk about, having been classmates recalling other students in the class.

Petra arrive home from her gym class, we had some lunch and Wim suggested a bicycle ride around the town, I roder Petra's bike, interesting as I had not pedalled a bike in many a year, and after a few minutes of getting used to it, was like something stored in the back of my brains, and although I had to follow Wim to make sure I knew were we were going, staying on the bicycle paths, giving signals!! carefully crossing motor ways, we got to the dijk, were it was rather windy, and the dijk roads are rather narrow, one needs to constantly watch for cars, other bike riders, but it is THE WAY to travel in the Netherlands one can stop at will and admire the landscape,it was overcast with fantastic cloud formations giving an amazing sense of colour now and then blue skies, then dark skies in contrast to the lush green of the land, with the canals running through the fields to indicate whose land it is, as well as making sure the water level with the help of pumps, sometimes windmills to keep the water at a safe level, my butt was getting a bit sore, but hey it was so worth it. My Hosts are familiar with my habit of taking an afternoon nap, and I crawled into bed for an hour or so, being totally refreshed when I got up, cousin Sya and her partner had arrived we sat around getting to know each other over drinks, then had a "do it yourself dinner" which was a unique experience, Petra had prepared the pancake batter, placed several frying pans on the stove had apples, smoked ham, several cheeses and we could make our own pancakes, this was great as it allowed us to get to know each other better, having a great time making ones own pancakes, making sure the heat was not too high so that the pancakes burnt, well it all came off very smoothly and we all enjoyed making and eating our pancakes, what a great idea!

Hit the sack slept like a baby, in the morning got up, did some final repacking, now the suitcase was heavier then before,( in fact it was now overweight, but escaped being charged by the nice KLM people) around noon Petra and Wim drove me to Schiphol dropped me off we said our goodbyes, checked in, and realized I had been upgraded to a much better seat, everything was on schedule, in fact we arrived in Toronto earlier then scheduled, were Bob met me, and we took a cab and went home, and it is true, no matter how wonderful traveling and visiting with people is there really is "NO PLACE LIKE HOME"

June 11, 2013, having trouble with the link given will try again!

---

Photos

The "AUDREY HEPBURN"
KLM Toronto to Amsterdam this plane was named "Audrey Hepburn" one of my favourite actors.

Mesdag
Part of Panoramic "Mesdag" Den Haag May 3, 2013

Tulip fields
As seen from train Den Haag to Amsterdam May 4th, 2013

Jan and Neil
May 4th, on the Prinse Hendrik Hotel Terras in Amsterdam

Royal Vacuum Cleaner
Amsterdam Royal Palace May 4, 2013 making sure no dust left on carpet before the arrival of the King and Queen of the Netherlands.

Queen Maxima and King Willem
May 4th, 2013 King Willem and Queen Maxima laying wreath on de Dam Monument.

Lunch @ Dudok's May 5th.
Left to right, Ramon, Olof and yours truly.

Kees Mudde "Photographs of Arnhem 2"
St Eusebius Church Amazin parachute sculpture hanging from ceiling in church
church painting and reflective mirror

Kees Mudde "Photographs of Arnhem 1"
The bridge, The saint himself war sculpture oops the church again, catacombs, Mia taking a tea break, a piece of art in the church

St.Elizabeths Gasthuis-Hospital
Olof and Ramon at the start of our liberation trail walk.

Olof and Ramon Miracle Workers on the run!
A few minutes before train departure we noticed a Telford store, ran in asked to have Neil's mobiel activated, could not take cash!, Ramon kindly used his plastic to pay, for which he was re-imbursed ( off course) they then had open the mobiel, put in the sms card, then dial a number listed somewhere on the info, to activate the mobiel, I don't know how, but they did it,my mobiel worked, and I got on the train as scheduled a hectic close to a wonderful day spent with Olof and Ramon in Arnhem.

Billy
Tante Wil's love of her life........

Tante Wil, Neil Francien and Wim
Francien and Wim met me at the station, and in my hurry did not check out my OV chipcard which needed to be rectified on my return trip
Picture taken by Francien and Wim

Scheveningse Woman and Neil
Kees Mudde took this picture on the boulevard in Scheveningen, depicting a Scheveningse indicated by her local costume awaiting the return of her Fisherman husband

Walking the beach at low tide
One needs always be alert on the water all around you as not knowing the tides you can be surrounded by water within a short period of time

Neil Herman and Catharina
At the Kijkduin Apartment
Picture taken by Kees Mudde

Eugenie,Jan and Neil Mudde + some staff members
We enjoyed a wonderful meal and a great time together although the next time the meal will be totally on me, and I will keep my eye on Eugenie at all times..........!!!

Kijkduin Sunset
Always a wonderful event watching the sun settle below the water level I believe that is part of Rotterdam in the distance.

Cousin Connie Wasmus-Brand
I am very grateful to Cousin Connie for talking to her Mother, ( my Tante Nel Brand-Mudde)then organizing the gathering of the Tante's at her Mother's house in Lekkerkerk, without her arranging this, our meeting would not have been possible.

Opoe en Opa Mudde at the beach 1936
Tante Lijntje Tante Marie Oom Aart bottom row
top row r-l Tante Nel Opoe Mudde Opa Mudde and Tante Adriaana (Sjaan)

Kermis sign along the dijk
Picture of dijk, red pavement bike path then road, another bike path and the river Lek, no driving a car for me here..

@ Marlies and Ewouds 2
In the left top corner is a picture of an embroidery work given to me by Marlies and Ewoud, depicting wapens of the various towns within the Krimpenerwaard. Pictures by Ewoud

Krimpen aan de Lek May 10, 2013
Petra picked me up at Marlies @ Ewoud
in pictures Tante Fie and I Henk me Sander and Steven, Laura with her beloved Ilonka Cousin Petra & yours truly. Petra took some of the pictures

(2) Krimpen aan de Lek
Ilonka, Neil, Laura Ellen Maaarten Aad and Petra and Sander some pictures taken by Ellen and or Sander

Lekkerkerk May 11th
Grave of George and Gerrit den Boon, Neil with Tonny den Boon-Littel Grote Kerk + Attic me going as far as I can go to high for me....! me and Cousin Piet Brouwer ( pictures by Kees Mudde)

Smart Cows taking shelter from the rain!
On our walk to the Wetering the skies were fantastic, clouds blue skies, then turning black watching the pouring rain come towards us

Lekkerkerk and Gouda
Ate in Lekkerkerk restaurant, visited Gouda had coffee and cake at Cafe Centraal looked at interesting sculpture

Lekkerkerk
Sunday May 12th.

Krimpenerwaard
Giving you an idea about the polder this area is surrounded by dijks to keep the water from the sea out.

The Netherland's polders.
See description on foto

Flood of 1953 in Nieuwerkerka/d IJssel
It appeared that there could be a break in the dijk during the night, and ship was placed in the weaker part thus avoiding a major flooding of the inland (polder) area