Netherlands trip October 2011

Eleven busy days. There was so much rain when we left that every flight was delayed, but we eventually got to Brussels safely and not much more than two hours late. Got the rental car - brandnew! I wish they didn't do that, it makes me really nervous - and drove to the Netherlands to see our siblings plus in-laws and nieces, nephews, and old friends. We were in Bergen op Zoom, Boxtel, Tilburg (all in the southwest), Delft, Zoetermeer, Leidschendam and Wassenaar (all around The Hague in the west), Bilthoven (near Utrecht, in the middle), and Berg en Dal near Nijmegen plus Aarle Rixtel near Helmond (in the southeast). We were warned of impending bad weather, but only caught one shower. Typically that was when I was not wearing the new rain jacket I specially bought... We even spent time sitting on a terrace and in my sister's backyard, went for walks and bike rides, all in plenty of sun. Chilly and windy maybe, but sunny. No complaints.

My favorite day, other than of course seeing family and friends, was when we toured Leiden. We saw a museum exhibit on Leyden's Ontzet, which they still celebrate every year in Leiden - when the Spanyards besieged the city in the 1570's.  If you're interested, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Leiden
(good article, only the writer uses dutch and english names for places somewhat haphazardly). The exhibit had giant paintings, interesting items, and a really neat animated movie entirely made with century-old drawings. Afterwards we checked out the Delft Blue tile collection, Henk looked at other paintings as well, they have Rembrandts because he was born in Leiden, but I was more interested in getting to the Museum shop...

After the museum visit we had an excellent and affordable lunch in the  Koetshuis (Carriage House), toured the Burcht (Stronghold) from which we could look over the old city center, and walked through the little streets and alleys, over the market areas and along the canals. My (Mary's) grandparents come from Leiden, but we never really spend much time there. It was neat to have a look around and imagine my Oma walking there as a little girl.

After dinner with the last set of relatives we drove back to Brussels on Tuesday night, stayed in a Marriott Courtyard (you really see those EVERYwhere) and got to the airport nice 'n early yesterday morning. All flights on time, and when the airport van dropped us off at the Park&Ride, the car even started right away. We got home around 8 and were in bed by 9. Home sweet home.

Now we have to get ready for our next cross-country trip to California...