Parks, Pictures, and Pancakes

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Well... we woke up again!  Breakfast was delicious -- we had some of Julie’s Gouda cheese.  Yo and Peter picked us up after we packed our bags, which would meet us later at their house (courtesy of Aunt Gijske & Uncle Joe).  While we drove, we discussed the need to expand almost all of the country’s highways.  Holland is the most densely populated European country, with 16 million people in such a small area.  However, this is somewhat difficult to imagine because of the abundance of farm land in the country-side. 

We also noticed that houses in Holland are surrounded by more greenery in America.  Almost everyone has a garden and most houses have trees surrounding them.  It is almost impossible to see some of the houses from the highway because they are surrounded by tall trees. 

The cars in Europe are much nicer than in America.  Peter said they are also more expensive.  People tend to take car of their cars better, but we also did not see many dents or rust on the cars. 

Today, we went to De Hoge Veluwe, the largest national park in Holland.  We rented bikes and got to bike through the trails.  Inside the national park was the Kröller Müller Museum, whic included 1/3 of Van Gogh’s works, along with many others.  His most famous works at the Museum were: The Terrace, The Potato Eaters, and The Langlois Bridge at Arles with Women Washing.  This last painting is especially interesting because Van Gogh was known for his rather depressing and dark paintings for the majority of his life, but The Bridge is different, he painted it in the last two years of his life, it is a happy and bright picture.

After viewing the museum, we rode about 12 km around the park.  The paths and scenery were absolutely gorgeous.  Although we did not see much wildlife (actually no wildlife except the snake/lizard)  it was absolutely enjoyable.  The feeling of jus triding a bike to enjoy the scenery and not have to be anywhere in particular was freeing.  What a contrast to the gym and being on a schedule.  I was completely content to let my hair blow in the wind, swerve back-and-forth on my bike, and bask in the sunlight!  The temperature was in the low 60s but the sun was shining and it was quite comfortable once we got moving.

Following the park, we stopped at Yo and Peter’s house, where Yo and Aunt Gijske switched places.  Laura also had some friends over, it was funny to watch them running around!  (I really don’t know how they have so much energy!)  From there, we went to see a near-by castle.  It was old by American standards but not by European ones.  It was much different than Julie and I expected, but we will see more castles later in our trip.  Across from the castle were cows.  Not just ordinary cows, but tan and light brown cows!!  We had never seen such a thing before!   Aunt Gijske and Peter said they were from France.

After a stroll through a near-by garden – which was absolutely delightful, such an array of fruits and flowers!) – we headed back to Pete’s house for a snack.  We sat outside on the patio and enjoyed some hummus and bread.  We did not each much however, because we had pancake dinner reservations at 6pm!  This was to be a fun treat because Dutch pancakes are not like American pancakes but they are not quite French crepes either.  They had so many different kinds it was so hard to choose from!  I settled on strawberries with powdered sugar while Jule got bacon and cheese.  We have pictures of everyone’s meal to share.  (As we have said before, pictures are taking a long time to upload and videos do not work at all)

After the meal, we took a nice walk around the town.  Burren, the town we were in, was preparing for a festival the next day.  There were flags all over and workers setting up tables throughout the streets.  In a near-by river, we saw two mother ducks with their little ducklings following them.  They looked so cute and cuddle-y!  Unfortunately, out of 8, only 1 or 2 will most likely survive.  As we rounded back to the cars, Jule and I noticed a group of “Danish gangsters”!  They weren’t really gangsters, but they acted like they were really tough, wore “cool clothes” and carried loud music.  One even had a NY hat on! 

We spent a relaxing night at the house, Jule sharing some of her music with Laura and Laura playing the guitar for us.  She is slowing speaking a little more English each day.  Sometimes we have to trick her to get it out of her, but it works!

Tomorrow, Laura and Peter are going on a Scouting trip (like girl scouts & boy scouts combined) while Yolanda, Jule, and I go into Amsterdam!  I’m sure we will have a lot to tell you about then.  Hope this gave you a little better idea of the country.  We just cannot get over how nice everything looks here.  Julie is now disgusted with America and never wants to return!  (I’d be okay with that too!)

Love you all, take care!

Lauren and Julie