Eliot's Travels: January 2007

We met Gina and Merrick at the big park and playground East of town. We had biked by it last summer but never stopped to play. The boys loved running the bike park asphalt hills and kicking the soccer ball around. We biked by Den Hoorn to take a look at Deborah's soon-to-be new neighborhood, and then Miles and I headed to school to get Eliot. At school, they were still learning about the medical things. Eliot had made an ambulance out of clay.

Eliot had school all week. We lucked out with the weather and were able to bike each day. This was great because biking is by far the fastest and easiest going-to-school method. Since I had to take Miles with us, I had to wake up both boys around 7:15. We ate breakfast and were heading downstgairs by 8:05. We'd put on gloves and helmets in the elevator and jumped on the bike by 8:10. We had a great biking week! So lucky for us.

Jim's last night in Delft. We ate at our favorite Pannekoeken huis. It was yummy. Jim got his favorite: kaas, spec, ui. Big day tomorrow.

This morning, Jim left early to catch the train to Schiphol. His flight was at 11 am to Chicago and then Denver. The boys and I just hung out all weekend and got caught up from our Spain trip. The boys and I went grocery shopping via stroller to get food for the week.

We arrived at the Rotterdam airport just after 1:00 pm. After getting our luggage and some food for our Miles monkey ("eat something now" is his favorite phrase). We got to our apartment about 2:00 and had a quick lunch. After checking our mail, we realized that our resident cards were ready. Jim already had his, but the boys and I had been waiting for our for months. The city was open until 3:00 so we booked over to the Gemeente at 2:40 to try to sneak in before they closed for their dinner break. We got them (2 weeks before heading home for good!).

Jim worked on packing his suitcases and laundry. Then we headed out for and early dinner at the pannekoeken restaurant one last time as a family. Both boys were tired so it was a bit trying! Afterwards, we went back to the Gemeente to official deregister from Holland for our move back to the US. She was able to do all of ours even though the boys and I were leaving 2.5 weeks later.

After our errands, Jim and Eliot took apart his "paper-saving" box, so Jim could take the pieces back to the US.

Heading to Anadulcia

When the tax picked us ap 5:30 am to head to the Rotterdam airport, our driver said that the trains were still down because of the weather and debris on the tracks. He had maded 2 separate trips during the night to Brussels and back.

When we arrived at the airport we grabbed breakfast and waited for our flight. Luckily, our plane was still going as planned - 7 am to Malaga, Spain. We arrived without problems in Malaga. We tried to find the city bus, but it was unclear how often they came, so we just took a taxi to the main bus station. Based on advice from the travel guide, the way to travel around Spain (from major city to major city) was via bus. The trains were about the same price, but much less frequent and not as reliable. A totally different system from Holland where train travel rules! We arrived at 10:25 which gave us plenty of time to catch the 11:00 bus (the next one would have been at 1:00). We piled on board for the 2.5 hour ride to Sevilla.

The scenery in route was totally different than that of Holland: rolling hills, even mountains, olive groves, and white-washed buildings. Outside Malaga, we saw a beautiful cemetary on a hill with its white masoleums and huge headstones. There were olive groves everywhere - almost any open land was a farm. The landscape was dry and brown. We arrived at the Sevilla bus station around 1:30.

Wind storm

Today was Jim's last day of work at Ensim. He spent the day talking with clients, his boss, and cleaning up his files and such. He was very happy to be finished!

It was rainy and quite windy, so I left Miles at home sleeping and headed to school via train at 11:45 to pick up Eliot from school. Eliot wanted to take the bus home, so we headed toward the new busline. I wasn't sure of the exact stop location, so we stopped to study the map. Bus 82 drove past us as I was folding up the map. I tried to run, but the bus stopped a block or 2 away. We had missed it, after all that husstling. Since the bus only comes every 30 minutes, we decided to walk to De Hoven Passage (a decent walk) to catch the tram.

The weather forecasters were calling for dangerously high winds all afternoon. As we walked along the path, the wind picked me up and carried me (carrying Eliot) 3 or 4 feet into a big tree. It was good that the tree was there, because I almost went into the road. We made it to teh stop and waited and waited for the tram going our direction, as we annoyingly watched 4 trams come and go the opposite direction. We watched a cardboard box fly above our heads and people trying to hold their ground as the wind gusts blew. Finally after 45 minutes, the tram came. I am sure it had problems with debris on the track. After 1.5 hours, we arrived at the apartment.

We decided to stay in that afternoon and get ready for our big trip on Friday. We were preparing for our last European vacation to southern Spain for a week. We had a nice dinner at home. In the evening, we packed for our trip. Gina called to tell us how to check for the flight information on the TV information pages. Apparently, the wind storm was quite intense, as predicted. The trains had been shut down across all of Holland around 5 pm because of debris on the tracks. It was too dangerous to send crews out to cleanup the tracks. This article is about the storm.
http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=19&story_id=35648

Tonight, we headed over to Leslie and Menno's house for dinner. I have enjoyed Leslie's company at the international women's dinners. She was going to be busy with overseas guests for my going away party and then out of town when I was to leave. This turned out to be our last opportunity to see each other. We had a nice evening and stayed until after 10:30 pm. As we headed to our bikes, Eliot was telling me that it wasn't too wet to go play on the playground right in front of their house. We got home at 11:00 - maybe we were gearing up for Spain time?! Crazy. Quick to bed, as it was a school day tomorrow.

In the afternoon, Deborah came over, and we all went to the Serpo (reptile) zoo. It was pretty rainy out, so we hurried over to the station. The kids enjoyed the snakes and the crocodiles. Timo liked picking Miles up to see the animals. The boys liked running from one glass tank to the next. I wasn't as nervous with the big snakes as I was the first time around. All the animals seemed less active this visit.

We parted ways at the entrance, and Miles splashed his way home. It was very rainy and there were puddles eveywhere. Both boys were quite wet. Miles ran to "see picture."

Things I will miss

Things I WILL miss:
Our friends, especially Gina
Public transportation system
Train travel
The specialty shops
Dutch cheese
A simpler life
Walking to the center for shopping
My bike and biking everywhere

Not seeing the tulip fields around Leiden
Missing Queen's day on April 30
The view from our apartment
Having to bring your own bags to the store
Eliot's school
Lucien, Eliot's teacher
Tram 1 outside our front window
The windmills
Old buildings and the tile roofs
Canals and water everywhere
Interesting bridges
Fresh cheap flowers
Our flower bouquets during our stay

Things I WON'T miss:
Dog poop
The dark
The rain
No grass in the city center
No outside area at our apartment
The posters and drapes in our apartment
The toilets
Windows without screens and mosquitos
Our apartment's kitchen
Scalding hot water
Cigarette smoke
No public toilets
Store stocking at 5 pm
Store hours

Dutch Favorites

Reflecting on our time in Nederland, I thought we'd list our FAVORITES.

FOOD

Cookie: C1000 bakker speculaas
Cracker: Tuc
Eliot's drink box: Dubbel Frisss witte druiven & citroen (white grape and lemon)
Miles' drink box: Chocomel
Groentemarkt: Paap
Vegetable: komkommer (cucumber)
Fruit: aarbeien (strawberries)

Cheese store: Verkade & Jacques
Cheese: belegen boerenkaas
Bread bakery: Bierhuizen Bakkerij
Eliot's bread: bruin sesam
Whitney's bread: waldkorn
Jim's pannekoeken: spec, ui, kaas (bacon, onion, cheese)
Boys' pannekoeken: plain with powdered sugar
Whitney's coffee: Koffie verkeerd
Whitney's beer: De Konick (Belgium)

Beer selections we tasted during our stay

Ice cream shop: IJssalon Van Bokhoven
Italian restaurant: La Dolce Vita
Daily-special cafe: Wijnhaven
Take-out pizza: Pizza Rapido
Lunch spot: Leonidas

SIGHTS
Whitney's boat: Avontuur
Eliot's boat: white sailboat (it has no name)
Miles' boat: gas boat
Whitney's train: new double decker
Canal: Molslaan
Walk: Poppesteeg to Huyterstraat and its 2 bridges
Bird: blue heron & the swan family
Eliot's bike path: tunnel under the train tracks (it's warm)

HOLLAND
Miles' Dutch word: paraplu (umbrella)
Eliot's Dutch word: acht (8)
Cultural trait: biking
Miles' thing about Holland: "train"
City: Delft

This morning we finally made it to school. I told Lucien that we suffered badly from jetlag. Jason was very happy to finally see Eliot, as were the other kids in the class. The theme at school was in full swing. They were studying medical equipment: casts, doctors, and ambulances.

It was dark in the morning still. On the way home, I got pictures of the dredger barge working on De Kolk. It was a pretty sunrise.

This is our tree out the back. All summer long, we heard the doves cooing, especially in the early morning. This winter, we have seen 4 or 5 doves in the tree and their nests. The bark has slowly become moss covered. I like the intricasy of the branches and the life in the tree.

Deborah had invited us all over for dinner on Sunday night. This was Jim's last opportunity to see the de Vries family before returning to the US. The boys had a great time wrestling, spinning, and sliding on the ground. Sweet Astrid just tried to stay out of the way. We had a lovely dinner and enjoyed the visit very much. We headed home so the kids could get to bed for school.

Trip to Breda

It was Jim's last "free" day in Holland, so we decided to take a train trip. We wanted to go to den Bosch but it was 1.5 hours away train, so we decided to check out Breda in Noord Brabant instead. It was supposed to have a beautiful church and nice old town. We arrived around lunchtime and headed toward the church. We walked through beautiful Valkenberg park. It was a nice but chilly day. We found the church which seemed to be closed until 1, so we opted for a cafe lunch first.

In Breda, we also enjoyed the lovely Merkx gardens (Willem Merkxtuin) with it's interesting trees and sculptures. As you can see it had nice views of the church tower.

Grote Kerk in Breda is quite beautiful. Lonely Planet says it's the most beautiful Gothic church in the Netherlands. It was built between the 15th and 17th centuries. The outside is very pretty, but it's the inside that stands out from other churches we've seen in Holland. After an impressive renovation, the inside is sparkling white with wonderfully painted ceilings. The organ originally built in 1534 is quite colorful with it's earth-tone stripes.

After the church we enjoyed a walk around the old town and into the Begijnhof. It's a beautiful courtyard and houses. The beguine chapel is sweet and in such a lovely setting. Miles enjoyed walking the different shaped paths through the old herb garden.

Jim and I were ready to head back to Delft, so we headed to the park. We had a little time before the train, so the kids played at the playground.

Miles was the first to adventure into this huge slide structure. He didn't even hestitate heading up and then down. Eliot soon followed. Jim had me switch to the climbing support position for reasons I soon learned: the upper staircase/ladder smelled like urine. Yuck! Of course, the boys didn't want to stop their runs.

Doing Gourmet

Saturday was somewhat normal (though not quite). We had pancakes and ran a few errands during the day. The boys built a marble run with Grandpa's fancy pieces added at Christmas. Quite a colorful wood collection!

Tonight, Gina and Ap were coming over for a special dinner: "Gourmet." It's the Dutch version of meat fondue. Basically, you have an electric grill that you use to cook meat and veggies on top. There's a pan below that you can use for sausages and cheese. You can order the gourmet meat from the butcher (or get it at the grocery store) and they provide it in small pieces (bigger than fondue; like a small portion).

We had beef, chicken, sausages, and salmon. It was yummy. Like fondue, you dip your meat in sauces. We grilled onions, garlic, and potatoes as well as melted cheese for bread. Gina made a beautiful salad. For dessert, I had gotten a few treats from the diamond ring bakery.

Gina and Ap had gotten a babysitter. I fed the kids a little early and they played and then watched Winnie the Pooh. They did pretty well playing by themselves.

We had a lovely dinner. How sad to be leaving here so soon!

Jetlag STINKS

I had grand ideas of Eliot going to school on Wednesday. I figured the kids would adjust quickly like they did in May. The week was a disaster. The experts say it takes about a day for each hour of time zone difference to return to normal. It took us 7 days for our 9 hour difference (we were on California time when we returned).

There is nothing more frustrating than wiggly boys (who just are not tired, because it feels like the middle of the day) and laying in bed knowing you have to get to sleep but can't. It is amazing how fast the hours go by when you are just hoping you'll sleep, laying there. Next thing you know it is 2 am, then 3, 4, then 5 am. Jim was working, so he mostly laid in bed and took a sleep aid. After hours laying there, I got up with the boys so they could play. Even if I took melatonin, the boys were still way off, so someone had to be up with them. I would lay on the couch until we were so tired that we'd fall asleep.

* Tuesday night, we went to bed at 6 am; I woke up at 9:30, boys at 11:30 Wed
* Wednesday night, asleep at 5 am; forced me up at 9:30, boys at 10:00 Thurs
* Thursday night, asleep at 4 am; forced everone up at 8:30 Fri
* Friday night, asleep at 2 am; forced everyone up at 8:00 Sat

Needless to say, as time moved toward 6/5/4 am each morning, I gave up on school. No one can function on 2 hours of sleep. Monday it would happen no matter what!

We lost a whole week to the jetlag fog. Jim did better because he had to go to work and talk with clients and such. Plus each day that passed, he was able to subtract a day to his "x days left at Ensim" mantra. I made the mistake of not leaving the house on Wednesday and Thursday, even though we had plans. Friday we forced ourselves up "early" and out to the store. This weekend would be better!

We had a complete meltdown with Eliot on Wednesday night at 4 am (Miles was sleeping pretty better than anyone and was asleep). He kept woke me up a second time (I was finally asleep) by thrashing around. I just lost it and sent him downstairs. I was exhausted and at my end. Well, he was hysterical, even with Jim trying to comfort him. He wanted mommy, only mommy. After 20 minutes of hysteria, I went down to bring him up to snuggle. Jim was sure that it was 6 am, but only about 30 minutes had passed during the fit. Time is mysterious.

First Day Back

Jim woke up at 11 am to work. He woke up me and the boys at 2:15 in the afternoon. We had breakfast and touched base with Gina. I looked outside and the sun was already starting to set and decided had to get out today - for our bodies and for dinner groceries. We hustled getting dressed and made a quick run of our favorite stores - bakery, cheese, produce and Albert Heijn. In just over an hour, we had gotten food for a couple of days.

Tuesday night we fell asleep at 10 pm, but the kids woke up again after mignight. Jim slept some, but the boys and I were up until 6 am (very grumpily).

Travel Home

Sunday night, Uncle David took us to the airport to catch our 10 pm flight to Munich. We had a short layover there and flew on into Schiphol. We had scheduled a taxi ride back to Delft, so he was waiting for us at the curb.

We got back to our apartment at 11:45 pm on Monday - we missed all of Monday essentially flying. We were starving, so we had popcorn and toast. Gina had left us some essential groceries (milk, butter, bread). We all tried to go to bed around 2:30 am (Tuesday). At 4 am, we all got up for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches - it was dinnertime in the California. Jim kind of slept, but not really until 6 am. Finally at 7 am, the boys and I fell asleep.

Little did we know this was only the beginning of our jetlag problems!

The kids had such a good time playing with their cousins. Elizabeth watched it all and also did her own thing. Miles always wanted to follow the big kids. Eliot learned that he had an audience with Katherine and enjoyed that she copied everything he said and did. This attention and our constant travleling for 3.5 weeks led to some pretty bad behavior on his part at the end of the trip. After 4 weeks of seeing friends and family (and new faces to the boys) and different cities, we were ready to get home to a normal routine of school & Delft and also our "own bed."

Grandpa taught the boys how to make newspaper hats. They spent all morning making hats for the children and Snowy and Yeow. Tomorrow morning, Grandma and Grandpa head home for Wisconsin.

On our last night, we all went out to our favorite Thai restaurant for some delicious and spicy food. Uncle Jimmy "armed" Elizabeth with a turquoise marker. Thank goodness it was washable!

Friday night, we left the boys in San Jose and headed to the City for dinner with Dave and Annie. We got stuck in traffic on 101 heading into San Francisco and quickly remembered one of the reasons we left. We all had a great time at dinner with fancy cocktails and continental cuisine. We drove home via the Bay Bridge and the East Bay to drive by our old neighborhood and remember that 880 commute!

Grandma and grandpa oversaw some great artistic creations with paint and an easel. Luckily it was washable paint, so everything in the kitchen survived wonderfully.

Great Grandma Goehle and 4 of her 7 grandchildren. G3 had to return to Lorelee in San Deigo, so we said good-bye today.

When the backyard gives you lemons ...

You wash them ...

And make Lemonade!!

Monterrey Bay Aquarium

This morning the gang headed to the aquarium in Monterrey. We had a grand time seeing all the species of fish and sea life. Miles enjoyed the sun while it shown and had a little route he ran after the water splashed over the tide display. He'd take off running when the water splashed into a big loop toward the ocean and back to the display. He enjoyed it until he took a face plant on the concrete.

Eliot is either trying to eat this fish or growl at it!
Eliot and Katherine play in the kid splash zone
Miles crawls like a bear, right before heading home

Eliot's Travels

Monday, January 29, 2007

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Friday, January 26, 2007

Friday, January 19, 2007

Heading to Anadulcia

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Wind storm

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Things I will miss

Dutch Favorites

Monday, January 15, 2007

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Trip to Breda

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Doing Gourmet

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Jetlag STINKS

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

First Day Back

Monday, January 08, 2007

Travel Home

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Friday, January 05, 2007

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Monterrey Bay Aquarium

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