I really enjoyed making my North America travel list, so I thought I’d follow it up with my all-time travel list. Some of these places have been on my list for a while now, and some are relatively new. Researching a few extra places to fill out the list got me super excited to travel and I’m ready for another adventure. Luckily, the siblings and I are headed over to Europe again this summer, but more on that later. I’ll fill you in on our plans when we have actually made plans. But for now, here’s my all-time travel list. Not listed by importance, just my memory.
Its been a while since I’ve posted and I still have a few more days of my recent trip to Europe to document. The last week or so of our trip was spent in the small town of Boxtel in the Netherlands. The majority of our time was spent with family, playing card games, drinking tea, and chatting. We only see our grandparents once a year so we try to spend as much time as we can with them in the short time that we visit, soaking up their presence.
Uncle DenisThe freshly planted flowers in Oma’s garden
Sunday night was spent around the table enjoying the traditional Sunday meal ofbiefstuk met aardappel and snijbonen. We finished off with Oma’s special pudding and a quick game of duizenden and a few dropjes for the winner.
Sunday Dinner
On Monday, Suus, Marguerite, and I went to Den Bosch for a girls day. We did a bit of shopping and just walking around the center of town. We stopped into a small cafe for a quick coffee and snack.
After a bit more shopping and bit more walking, we met up with Luc and Bart in front of the St. John’s Cathedral. The Cathedral is famous for the hundreds of small gargoyles that face towards the sky at the top of the Cathedral. For the first time in 500 years, they opened the top of the Cathedral to the public so that people could view the small gargoyles. The guides that took us up were so knowledgable and told us so many stories about each of the small gargoyles. Right as we were walking back down from the top of the Cathedral, it started to rain so we decided to grab an early dinner.
We found a small tapas restaurant and as soon as we walked into the door, we saw a huge flash and a heard deafening boom of thunder. Seconds later there was torrential downpour and we were very happy that we were inside. We had a few snacks while waiting for Daan and his girlfriend, Julia to arrive and laughed at Marguerite’s mispronunciation of “lol” the Dutch word for “fun” which she pronounced “lul” which is the Dutch word for penis. After we had finished our meal, we all piled back into the car and headed back to Boxtel.
On our last day in Holland, we did all of the things we hadn’t managed to do in the last few days. We had a quiet morning having breakfast and playing dominos with Bart. Then we rode our bikes to the grocery store and picked up flowers and some worstebroodjes (our favorite Dutch snack) and rode to Oma’s house. We painted our yearly paintings for her wall, played a game of duizended, and ate lunch. As it was getting later, we said our goodbyes which is always very sad. Luckily it was a beautiful day so we could leave Oma in her favorite spot, enjoying the sun in her back garden. When we went back to Suus and Luc’s house we packed up all of our stuff and then made tacos for dinner. Suus and Luc took us to Amsterdam where we were staying so that we wouldn’t have to wake up as early for our flight the next morning. We stayed with one of our Dad’s old friends, Caroline and Jelmer. They found a copy of our parent’s wedding video (Carolin was the “Best Man” and also translated the ceremony for all of the Ducthies at the wedding). It was funny to see how much our parents have changed, but also how they still have so many of the same facial expressions and tendencies. After watching a good portion of the video, we decided to call it a night and head to bed.
The next morning we woke up early, and Jelmer took us to the airport. We went through security quickly and then found our gate and talked and read until we boarded our flight. Next stop, USA.
I’m going to condense some of the days spent in Holland because a majority of our time was spent relaxing with the family.
Day Nineteen:
Our week long trip in Ireland had come to an end. We woke up relatively early to make it to the airport on time. Once all checked in and through security we stopped for breakfast and coffee. Then we boarded the plane and made our way to Eindhoven. Our Uncle Luc met us there and he drove Mom and Amy to the central station so they could go into Amsterdam to see a coffeeshop. Marguerite and I went back to Boxtel with Luc and just relaxed with our cousin Bart and his duck until Suus (Aunt) and Daan (cousin) got home. After dinner Suus, Luc, Bart, Anina, and I went to see Oma (our grandmother). We played cards and had tea. Oma was so happy and excited to see us again. Then we went back to the Molenpad and met Freek (Daan and Bart’s cousin… not on our side of the family) and Daan were playing darts and drinking since Daan finished his final exams that day. We all just sat around playing games and chatting and just enjoying each other’s company. Mom and Amy showed up at around 11:00 and they said they had a fun time in Amsterdam. We stayed out until about midnight until we were all tired then we went to bed.
Day Twenty:
Marguerite and Amy slept in, so Mom and I went to Oma’s early that morning. We stopped to get her flowers on the way and I laughed at mom using American biking signals on our bike ride. After a cup of coffee and a lekker warm stroopwafel we headed back to the Molenpad (Aunt and Uncle’s house) to make sure Marguerite and Amy were up and awake. At around 1:00 we went back to Oma and Opa’s house for a big family reunion. Anne-Lies (great-aunt) came early to spend some time with us before the great-aunts from my Oma’s side got there. Then Oma’s sisters came. Tante Ann, Marij, and Guus and his wife, Thea were all there. It was nice in the garden with the whole family and to see all the tantes again. Oma was so happy as well. After that we went back to the Molenpad and Daan had another party with all his friends. Denis came and brought paling (smoked eel) which is my Mom’s favorite so we ate that and had a few drinks sitting next to the Dommel. Marguerite, Bart and I played a game of dominoes as all of Daan’s friends had a bonfire in the back yard. After a few rounds, Marguerite joined Daan and his friends and Bart and I went to sleep.
After a bit more shopping and bit more walking, we met up with Luc and Bart in front of the St. John’s Cathedral. The Cathedral is famous for the hundreds of small gargoyles that face towards the sky at the top of the Cathedral. For the first time in 500 years, they opened the top of the Cathedral to the public so that people could view the small gargoyles. The guides that took us up were so knowledgable and told us so many stories about each of the small gargoyles. Right as we were walking back down from the top of the Cathedral, it started to rain so we decided to grab an early dinner.
CHASING BIG DREAMS 