Traveling Solo: Holland Here I Come!

Scenes from Holland

Pictures galore! (To make up for my long absence! Things have been ridiculously busy these last two weeks and I feel like I haven’t had a moment to myself – let alone to blog….) Here goes Holland!

The Camphuynder Line

Then and Now: Tante Noes used to take care of me when I was a kid :)

From start to finish, I was with my amazing family. Yes, I have family in Holland! I moved all around the country visiting as many people as I could and I feel so lucky to have done so. The only other time I was in Holland was in the summer of 1999 when we visited the country after a whirlwind tour of Western Europe. Even after watching home videos of that visit, I honestly don’t remember all that much. This last visit though is very vivid in my mind and I can’t wait to go back. I was finally getting to know this far-away family as an adult and it was wonderful discovering so many people I love being around.

The Lorenz and Zinauer Line (Parents above, their kids [and their kids] below)

Baby Zara

I ended up in a lot of random cities to visit family (Hoevelaken, Heusen, Zevenaar, Alblasserdam, Papendrecht, Windsum, etc…) but I managed to get in some touristing as well. Zutphen, for instance, is a very old, charming town with a lot of historic architecture:

They do an amazing farmer’s market each week that has an incredibly cheap selection of fruits and cheese. Yum! Scheveningen is a really popular beach on the west coast that strikes me as the Santa Monica Pier of Holland. A lot of restaurants line the beach and there’s even fun and games at the end of the pier – a casino though instead of roller coasters. It wasn’t the best beach weather (cold and drizzly) but it was fun watching a toddler throw sand and cuddle up to a sculpture or two at a really cool boardwalk exhibit.

Scheveningen

Kinderdijk

I made it, of course, to the famous windmills in Kinderdijk (kin-der-dayk). In the end, they are just windmills, but they are highly photogenic and I ended up with hundreds of pictures of them. I went to see them at sunset (close to 10pm!) and again in the daytime sun. So much fun! My niece lives pretty much next door to the windmills and I got to see the non-touristy part where it’s only locals wandering around :)

Baby Haiko!

Boomer made me miss Rocky...

And then there’s Amsterdam – famous for its museums and canals (and highly liberal attitudes towards prostitution and marijuana). I only had a half day to spend in the city and I enjoyed it very much. I didn’t visit any of the coffee shops or tea shops because I had no real interest and because I was with some older family; I also heard that only Dutch citizens are legally allowed to partake in “the green” these days. On the way to Chinatown, I passed through several alleys in the Red Light District. Even though I’d seen women in windows as a kid, it was quite unsettling to see it as an adult. There is a woman to fulfill every fantasy from the busty and curvaceous to the hairy and not and there are also women of every color who look like they are in junior high. You see women flirting and enticing customers into their rooms and complacent looking men leaving. It’s interesting to say the least…

Amsterdam!

I wandered some of the highlights of Amsterdam like high-end Kalverstraat and Nieuwmarkt, but my favorite thing to see was the Van Gogh Museum. I think it’s the best art museum I’ve visited on my travels! It was exciting to see in person artwork I’ve studied since I was a kid. The museum is in a nice area of the city too! From an architecture standpoint, most of Holland looks the same so no one city was particularly striking for me. I don’t really come here for the touristing though, more to spend time with family :)

The Wiesbrock Line

From top left: Berenklauw, Erwtensoep, Stroopwafel, and Indonesian Food

In terms of food, I had lots! I had a checklist of foods to try as always and a lot of it was good. Snacking is a big part of the culture with things like kaassouffle (fried cheese), kroket/bitterbal (fried ragout), and stroopwafel (caramel-filled waffle). They have these vending machines where one or two Euro will get you a nice warm snack. People also really like raw herring that I didn’t bother with because I’ve had it before and it’s gross! There are lots of Indonesian and Chinese food influences on cuisine and it’s made the Chinese food really delicious. One teppan-style Chinese buffet in particular in Ede was phenomenal. Mostly I had a lot of home cooking – an amazing stoofvlees (stewed beef), erwtensoup (pea soup), asperges flamandes (seasonal asparagus cooked served with a buttery sauce, eggs, and ham), and chicken satay with nasi goreng (fried rice). The one thing I remember most from visiting in 1999 was the kibbeling (fried fish) and it was just as amazing as I remembered it being! They fry it without heavy batter and its perfectly crispy and pretty much the best fried fish ever!

From top left: Kibbeling, Stoofvlees, Asperges Flamandes, and Satay/Nasi Goreng

I had an amazing week and a half in Holland :) Unfortunately, I had to say a lot of goodbyes and not knowing when I’d see most of the family again made me really sad. I am hoping though that many of them will come back to the US to visit so that I can be as good to them as they were to me! I got dropped off early at Schiphol International Airport (thanks Myra and Henri!) and then I was on my way home!