Museums and More

I read once where The Netherlands has more more museums per population than any other country in the world. I like that since I am a big history lover and I believe it also. There are museums everywhere.

In the town that Petra lives we visited the Toy Museum one afternoon and it was great. I was amazed with the amount and quality of the displays in this local town museum. There was even a traveling display of toys, including wonderful kites, from China. It is nice to think that these things exist and are busy even in the smaller towns.
Museums over here tend to be located in the cities unless it is a town of some historic significance and then it is directly related to that event that made the town important in our history.

What was especially fun was that at the end of the tour there was a shop that sold old fashioned toys, some that I was familiar with but some things I have never seen before. I bought a few items and later at Petra's parents house they showed me how to use them. LOL


Then on another afternoon the three of us went into the city of Groningen and went to the cinema to see "The Golden Compass." It was a very good movie. I can't remember the last time I went to the theatre. I noticed a difference from our theatres right away. First, it was a very nice theatre with big comfortable seats but also there was a bar that you could purchase wine or beer or all of the other stuff typical for the movies. No bars at the movies here. LOL That was a fun afternoon. More to follow.

Christmas 2007

The nice thing about spending Christmas in The Netherlands is that they have two official days of celebration. I am surprised we have not adopted this over here. Any chance to get an extra holiday and create a reason to spend more money sounds so American. LOL
But it is nice in that you can spend one of the Christmas days together and use the other one to visit family.

We had a great relaxing Christmas together, shared the time, exchanged gifts and enjoyed it just as I had hoped. I even helped Petra make Christmas dinner. LOL
It may sound funny but I love to go to the grocery store with Petra. I see all kinds of new things and I have a hard time keeping from adding them to the cart. I even found the ingredients to make mexican tacos which is something we eat a lot over here as a quick and simple meal so later in the trip I made tacos one night for Petra and I. LOL Not very fancy but hey, for me..........

The second Christmas day we were invited to go to Petra's parents for the evening and dinner. What a great time that was and a wonderful meal. It was a huge table full of foods to cook right there at the table. There was an indoor grill set up and a fondue pot to prepare your choices. I have to say that was just a great time. I hope also next time to visit Petra's parents and explore the area a little more. It looked very interesting. It was great to get together with the whole family again. I have very little family left and no one near so being able to feel a part of a family was very special to me. I truly appreciate and thank Petra's parents for making me feel welcomed.

Enough for this time. Lot's more to share later.

a few pics to Jacks update

Walking the dogs on that beautiful morning.





Sunset the day we visited my sister.

A Great Trip.

Time to start giving you my impressions of a great trip. Up until the trip home, it couldn't have been any better. I'm sure Iceland is a wonderful place to visit, when there is some daylight, but my experience on Icelandair was not the greatest. The plane was cramped, the food was absolutely horrible and being in the airport in Iceland was dark and lonely feeling. I guess just a few days before I arrived they had the shortest daylight of the year, 37 minutes. LOL I would be climbing the walls after just a couple of days of that.
Seriously though, it seems like a very interesting place and in daylight I am sure it would be a great place to explore. Just not sure I want to eat their food. LOL

The first couple of days with Petra was like a winter wonderland. There was a very heavy coating of frost on all of the trees and it looked absolutely beautiful. We don't get that kind of frost over here like I saw there. It was a great way to start the visit. Definitely felt like the Christmas season.

Our first event was going to a birthday party for Petra's sister and brother in law. Petra's parents picked up us and I got to see a lot of the country on our way to their house. What a good time I had. All I can say to any americans is that the Dutch sure know how to celebrate birthdays! Birthdays are typically an all day event with family gathering and eating and drinking for hours. A great way for everyone to get together and talk and play with the kids. After eating and drinking way too much Petra and I went out for a walk and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the area.

I think I will stop for now. We did lots of things and also just enjoyed doing nothing although I think Petra is right. I really wanted to see and experience everything I could. It is a beautiful country full of wonderful people.

Time for an update....

It is well over a week ago already that Jack went back home, so it is finally time to tell a little about the last visit. The reason I hadn't done that yet was because there are a few changes in the galgo rescue group I volunteer for, so I had been rather busy with a few things.

But back to Jacks visit, it was wonderful to see him again, even better to have him here where he could meet my family again. I mean, they do have to get used to him being around.
Plan was to make this a relaxed week, no running from one place to another, but simply enjoy each others company.
I think we did, but we also went from one place to another. LOL, I got the feeling Jack feared to miss out on something if we spent more than half a day at home.
Anyway, we met my family at my sisters birthday, with x-mas and spend a good time together with my parents during our visit to Westerbork and dinner.

I'll leave it to Jack to give an impression on what we did.
After that I will add some pictures and comments I think.

What I do want to say is that we hope to meet the end of February again and right now it feels like that is way too long.

Back in the US

I had hoped to post something as soon as I got home but my trip back was full of problems and a trip that should have taken about 12-13 hours total, including travel to and from airports, ended up taking 35 hours. UGH. On top of that I developed a really nasty head cold the day before I left Petra's house so sitting in airports or on planes with piles of tissues blowing my nose was no fun at all. LOL

I will post much more as soon as I feel back to normal but I want to say that this was the best Christmas I can remember thanks to Petra and her family. I felt so much a part of the whole holiday season and so relaxed being a part of a wonderful group of people who took me in as a friend. You all will never know how special you made me feel.

It's 2008 now

A very Happy New Year to all