The Netherlands - Wow!

Hello everyone from Houten, The Netherlands.

If you didn't already know I am spending 2 weeks over Christmas with Jan Pieter and his family, here in Holland! I really needed a break from ship life, a bit of cool weather and of course to meet JP's family.

I arrrived here on Wednesday, and had a nice relaxing day. It is so cold, I am starting to get used to it, but we went cycling around Houten and it was a bit chilly. The de Jongs have been great and organised warm clothes, shoes and a great big jacket for me, so I have not been too cold. It is a beautiful country, having never been here before, I was amazed at 1) how flat it is, 2) how everyone (I mean everyone) rides a bike, 3) how everything is made out of brick, and how busy it is.



On Thursday we went to Utrecht, the nearest big city. It is an amazing place, canals, cobbled streets, wonderful food, and I had a great time just wandering around and taking photos, in other words acting the tourist. I also had to shop for some warm clothes, as coming to Africa I was not expecting to spend Christmas in wintery Europe!

Friday Jan Pieter and I went to Amsterdam! I could not stop exclaiming 'wow!' everytime we went around another corner. Bigger canals, very old buildings, more cobbled streets, trams and just generally so different from Wellington. We visited Anne Franks house, which was sobering. Having studied her diaries in school, I was prepared, but seeing the actual annex, walking through it and imagining hiding out in there was something quite different.



It is hard to believe looking out the window onto the canals and beautiful dutch city, that only 55 years ago Jews were being marched down the street, onto trains and away to Germany or Poland to their death. It is so weird to think that in this modern country that has happened so recently.

On from that we went to het Rijksmuseum, and saw a large collection of Rembrandts, Vermeers and other Dutch painters from the 'Golden Age' of dutch history. One of the paintings even had Elmina Castle (Ghana) in the background, which was pretty surreal!



Today we are relaxing, and I am going to attempt to bake a typical NZ christmas cake! I hope you are all well, and enjoying the lead up to Christmas - only 2 days to go!

Tot ziens!

Soph