Easter Weekend

Aaron & I headed north to the cottage that my parents had rented for the two weeks between the time that they are staying with us.  It is out in the middle of the bush, with just a wee little bit of phone service.

We caught the train from the south end of Amsterdam and headed up to Beilen, about 30 minutes from the cottage.  Even at 10:30 in the morning, when we left, it was already hot out!  And it proved to be the basis for the weekend!  At one point the temperature outside was 28C (82F), and that was in the middle of the trees!  Thankfully there was a bit of breeze going through, so we didn't totally shrivel up! :)

Saturday after we got in, we stopped and did some groceries, and then just went back to the cottage to relax and unwind.  It was nice to sit outside and enjoy the breeze, listen to the birds and look at the clear blue sky overhead.  After supper we went for a little drive around the countryside, through a area of land that is owned by the government, and has animals roaming free on it.

Sunday afternoon we went for a drive and ended up in Giethoorn, a little village made up of walkways and canals, no cars allowed.  It was incredibly busy there, being a hot sunny day, as well as Easter weekend.

After that we headed out to Urk, an old fishing village.

The lists of names on the wall are of husbands and sons that have not returned from there fishing expeditions.  The lady is a memorial to the women that stand and watch, waiting eagerly during the storms for the men to come home.

Nothing much is planned for this week until the weekend, when my parents will be back with us a for a few days before they head back home to Canada.

Keukenhof!

I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather we've been having lately, and go out to visit Keukenhof on Wednesday.  (April 20th ~ yes I'm a little behind in blogging, sorry )

It wasn't too bad of a bus ride there, but they cram you in till there is only standing room only, and they have no ventilation in these things either really, so 35 minutes on a bus with a lot of other people is not fun! :)

The weather was beautifully sunny, warm with a nice breeze once in a while.  It was quite busy there, but it was still fun to see.  I realized after I got home that I didn't take too many landscape shots, mainly just closeups of the flowers.  I guess I'll have to go back? ;)

If you want to see the day's full picture montage, click here.

Beautiful weather

So my parents got into Amsterdam on Thursday morning.  I met them at the airport at about 8:30 am, and took them back to the apartment so they could rest and sleep for a bit.  We didn't do much Thursday since they were so tired from flying all night.

Friday after lunch, I took my Dad down to Amsterdam on the Metro/Subway line.  We walked around Centraal Station, down to Dam Square and the Palace, and then over to the Westerkerk and Anne Frank  House.  {The line for the AF house was quite long, so we didn't go in}.

Saturday afternoon we headed out to Culemborg and Wijk bij Duurstede.  Two old towns, just to explore and say we saw them.

Sunday morning we listened to a sermon by Dr. VanVliet, a professor at the Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary.  After lunch we headed out to Spakenburg-Bonschapen to visit with my Dad's cousin and his wife, as well as go to church with them.  Even though it was in Dutch, they had some overheads which Aaron was able to translate on the iPad, so we got a bit out of the sermon.  But it was really nice to visit with family.

This morning my parents left, to go stay in a cottage up near Steenwijk for two weeks.  Aaron and I are heading up there for part of the Easter weekend, and then they'll be coming back down to stay with us for a few days before they head back to Canada.

After they left I headed off for a little bike ride.  The weather is supposed to be 20C (68F) all week, I'm so excited! :)  I stopped to pick up some groceries while I was out, and there was a guy selling flowers there.  I got 50 red tulips for 4.95 euros ($7.10 US; $6.85CAD)  That made me even more excited!! :)

:)
Bren