My second week in Holland

As you might have already guessed from the previous posts, I have not been sitting still while being in Holland. So many things to see and do, and people to catch up with. 

For those who have travelled a lot, or who have visited their home country again after immigrating elsewhere, you get a lot of offers from friends/family that you can stay with them etc etc. But you might appreciate how tiring it can be to visit everyone and sleep in 30 different beds in 1 month.
For this reason, we settled ourselves in Edam for the first 2 weeks. Its nice and central to where we used to live, and lets be honest, Holland is not that big, so driving to a different provence doesn't take that long.
While procrastinating from my thesis (a few months ago), I googled: cheap accommodation in Europe.
And one of the websites that came up was Airbnb.com. I am in love with this website! Go, have a look.
Pretty much in every country you can think of, people have put on their own house, a room in their house, their sleep out in their garden, etc etc, on this website, and you can rent it. For the same price of a hotel room, and often a lot cheaper as well, you could rent a whole house! I sent this link to my mum, because obviously i was way too busy trying to finish up my thesis, and she found a super-duper-gorgeous house in Edam. We had a lovely 2 weeks in that house.

Our little house and little car

Perfect place to enjoy the sun

We enjoyed several dinners in those chairs watching boats and rowers go passed

very steep stairs to go upstairs :-)

Friday 31 August, a day in the Efteling

The Efteling (or wiki page) is one of the oldest theme parks in the world. My friend Karen picked me up in the morning and we drove the 130 km south. The weather forecast wasn't that flash, which was actually a blessing in disguise, as it was very quiet! Believe it or not, but some days, you will have to cue up for 40 minutes to go in an attraction.... The longest wait we had was not even 10 minutes. As a consequence, we had been in every attraction by 3pm. Had a great day, and enjoyed a jummy ice cream :-)

the entrance. The efteling opened up in 1952, and now exists 60 years.

wooden roller coaster. So much fun!

Holle-Bolle Gijs. He says: papier hier (Paper Here). Yes, just a fancy rubbish bin who only wants paper...

The house of Hansel and Gretel 

Jummy ice cream

Saturday 1 September

A day of visiting. Mum was picked up in the morning by a friend, and later in the afternoon I picked her up. They are farmers in Jisp, and have a lot of land. However, to get to their 'paddocks', Piet takes his boat. It is such a lovely area in Holland. In winter time, when the cows are in the sheds near their house, when it is cold enough, you can ice skate for miles there. Such a great place. 

Anyway, I had not seen them for more than 9 years. Had a good afternoon catching up, and taking pictures. They also hire out little rowing boats. 

After we left, we visited the Beemster, where we lived for 14 years, including our old house. We finished the evening by my mum's cousin, and had a lovely dutch meal. 

The rowing boats you can hire

Piet leaving to milk his cows 

The shed that's attached to their house. The cows no longer stay here in winter, but i can remember when they did. The smell is still the same ;-)

my old house. Volgerweg 93, Zuid-Oost Beemster

Picture taken from 'our' bridge. In winter time, people will ice skate here. 

This is the Beemster Fort. This was build in the WW1, to defend Amsterdam.  Beemster - Amsterdam is roughly 20 km. A few years ago, they started to renovate this to become a restaurant and day spa http://www.fortresortbeemster.nl/

Delicious!

A surprise visitor

When my mum and I were enjoying our day in Amsterdam, Ruben had sent us a text that he would have some time off, and we asked him if he wanted to join us in Holland. Auckland or Amsterdam, from Singapore it doesn't really matter.

Saturday 25 August, Schiphol and Mysteryland

Dirkje had stayed the night again, and we had to leave the cute little house in Edam for the weekend. The three of us were at Schiphol at 7.15 am, and after a short wait Ruben was among us. After Schiphol, we made our way towards Egmond, one of the town at the coast in Noord-Holland. 

When it was clear when I would be in Holland, I looked up the dates of some music festivals, the kind I used to visit only to frequently almost a decade ago. And yes, Mysteryland was going to be held on the 25th of August. I contacted a friend who works for one of the organizers and he was super awesome, and managed to get me + one on the guest list. 

My uncle has a caravan on the beach, which stays there from late April till early September, and this was going to be our home for the weekend. 

Ruben and I drove about 30 minutes to the area where Mysteryland was, it was variable weather, with quite a bit of rain for forecasted. It was August 2003 and I was at my last Mysteryland. Was great to be there with Ruben, and 60,000 other people!! Crazy! Nice music and awesome laser show, very happy I got the chance to go. 

Looking back from Q-Dance :-)

Q-Dance stage during the day

Lasershow in the "Big Tent"

The Q-Dance stage in the darkness

26 and 27 August, Egmond, Alkmaar and Purmerend

It is actually really cool to have a caravan on the beach. Back in the day, we had one as well. Its just a little holiday home, with toilet, kitchen, shower outside (or inside...), a little seating area and of course beds. Some caravans have their own power, through solar energy. But, my uncle's caravan is nice and basic, the lighting in the evening comes from oil lamps and candles, and the shower is outside, and only has cold water. 

After working so hard at uni for the last year (or more...), this trip for me was not only about catching up with friends and family, but also being able to relax again. 

My throat was already tickling during the week, and when Ruben and I went to Mysteryland, my voice was hoarse. I knew that the occasional rain was not going to be any good, and yes, on Sunday I had the flu. Just my body telling me to take it easy I guess. As you have seen in previous post, I have had a very busy time in Holland....

The weather on Sunday granted me to just sit inside the whole day, as the rain continued through most of the day. However, the Kermis (the fair) had moved to Alkmaar, which is a city very close to Egmond, and the five of us (Ruben, my mum, uncle and cousin) went there after dinner. This one was significantly bigger than the one in Hoorn, and it took a while to see all the attractions. 

It was a lot of fun, and some of the attractions were a bit scary.... The little bit of a voice I had, soon disappeared from the screaming I did :-)

The dunes

The beach

My mum and uncle in the "Jumper Jumper" I am sure you can guess what kind of movement this attraction made

Ruben trying to hit a nail

View from inside the caravan

Looking towards the dunes

Lots of caravans

The path through the dunes

Monday night dinner with two friends from high school in Purmerend

You get to choose you tea when you get the hot water

28 August, Sailing on the Markermeer

Good family friends spent their holiday on their 9 metre long boat, sailing through Holland. In their final week they made a stop in Edam, and Ruben, my mum and I were able to catch up with them. It turned out to be a lovely day sailing on the Markermeer, made a stop in Marken, and sailed into the harbour of Volendam. It was gorgeous!

Sjaak and my mum

Lovely boat

We passed an old sailing boat. Isn't it awesome!

Me, Ineke and Sjaak

Traditional clothing in Marken

A bedstee. This is where people used to sleep. As you can close them with two doors, they were often built in the living room, hence a separate bedroom wasn't needed. Also, in the 16th and 17th century, lying was associated with death, and people slept half sitting up. 

Looking out over the Markermeer

Ruben at the helm

Volendam

Brother and sister

A sluis. I can't find an english word for it, but this is where they change the water level. So you come in with your boat, they close the 'gate', and depending if you are going to an area where the level is higher or lower of where you came from, the water drops or rises in between the gates.