Uncle Jan, Charlie, Yvonne, Aunt Annie
On Monday we drove to Jan and Gerta’s in Wageningen. They took us to visit Gerry in Bontebrug and from there to where my father was born in Gendringen. It was very interesting to see the barn and house in one building. From there we drove through the Hoge Veluwe National Park before returning to Jan & Gerta’s.
“Bergeind”
Tuesday we drove out to see the polders in Flevoland and Noordoost, Weerribben National Park before stopping in Sneek. From Sneek we drove across the Afsluitdijk to Andijk to see where Yvonne’s father was born. From Andijk it was back to Wageningen via the Markerwaarddijk. That evening we went to “Murphy’s Quiz Night”. Fortunately the questions were in English as well as Dutch.
“Honk” Charlie, Gerta & Jan
On Wednesday we drove to Leerdam to spend a couple of days with Joop and Jenny. We walked to the Glassworks and walked through “all” the shops nearby. After lunch we drove to the Biesboch National Park and toured through the area and small museum which taught about the reed harvesting and resistance during the World War II. The next morning we went to the market and toured the fire station. That afternoon Yvonne and I drove to Kasteel de Haar where we were fortunate to get a tour in English since we were the only ones on the tour. When we returned I had to buy a new camera since my old one would not work properly. That evening we again visited Aunt Annie and Uncle Jan.
Kasteel de Haar
Charlie, Joop & Jenny
On Friday morning we headed to Amsterdam. On the way we stopped to refuel our car since we were dropping it off at the rental place. Even with the GPS we had problems finding our way back to the highway and Yvonne thought we would end up in a canal when we met a truck on a very narrow road on top of the dike. It was very busy driving into Amsterdam on a long weekend but we eventually found the rental place (parked on the sidewalk since a fuel truck blocked the entrance) and found our way to our hotel. The next two days in Amsterdam we walked around downtown, walked through the flower market, toured the Rijksmuseum and the Heineken museum.
On Sunday we walked around the Vondelpark before we met up with our river boat cruise. Before boarding the ship we toured the Zaans Schans open air museum where we toured a working windmill, a wooden shoe factor and cheese factory. That night the ship sailed to Nijmegen. The next day we toured the Marshall Museum and Liberty Park in Overloon. That afternoon we sailed to Kinderdijk where we walked along the dike to look at windmills.
Monday night we sailed to Antwerp in Belgium where we had a tour the next morning and a tour of Brussels that afternoon. Tuesday night we sailed to Gent and toured the medieval areas of Gent in the morning and Brugge in the afternoon. Wednesday night we sailed to Middelburg where we went on a walking tour. From Middelburg we sailed to Veere where I toured the Delta works while Yvonne walked around Veere. When I got back she gave me a quick tour of Veere as well. Thursday night we sailed to Rotterdam and instead of touring Rotterdam we went directly to the Keukenhop Gardens. On the way we were given the history and information from our guide about Rotterdam so we did not miss much. The gardens are a very impressive place which took us 5 hours to walk through.
From the gardens we met our ship at Schoonhoven. Friday night we sailed to Hoorn where we toured Edam the next day. From Hoorn we sailed to Amsterdam where we went on a canal cruise.
On Sunday it was time to pack up and head home. We had a great trip, had very good weather considering the time of year.
