Holland

Posted by: travelra on: August 14, 2009

In: Uncategorized
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When our plane flew over the top of Holland you could see out the window that there were lots of water canals, EVERYWHERE! I asked my mum why there were so many water canals; she told me that Holland is actually under sea level. I was quite amazed. On the way into the airport it was a very bumpy ride. The turbulence was terrible. When we landed we took our hand luggage out of the over head trays and walked into the terminals.

We had to go to baggage claim before we met my mum’s family at the entrance of Schipol. In Holland we were staying with my mum’s side of the family for 2 weeks. There was Tanta Ria, Ome Arie, Seibon and Seibon’s girlfriend Kit waiting eagerly to meet us at the entrance. As we walked up to them they were so excited to see us; especially Mum because they had only seen her when she was 4 and 10 years old.

All together we walked down stairs to the car park and got in the cars. Jayde, Nathan and I were in Seibon’s car with Seibon and Kit, while Mum and Dad went with Tanta Ria and Ome Arie. I fell asleep in the car on the way from Schipol to Schellinkhout. Schellkinkhout is where Ome Arie and Tanta Ria live but Seibon lives about 20 minutes away.

Their house was lovely; there were lots of little statues, vases and just small trinkets that made their home look gorgeous. Jayde, Nathan and I were sleeping in the attic and mum and dad were sleeping upstairs in Judith’s old room. Tanta Ria and Ome Arie have 3 girls who have grown up and had their own kids. Their names were Ester (38), Judith (34) and Sarah (28). Sara still lived in the house with her parents. When the three of us walked up the stairs to the attic we were all thinking, great were going to sleep in a dirty old attic for 2 weeks. But we were completely wrong; there were two rooms, one with 2 singles and the other with 1 single. We were definitely all happy.

We hadn’t seen anything yet though. When we saw what Tanta Ria was making for dinner our jaws simply dropped. She told us that she makes big breakfasts, lunches and dinners all the time; we hoped she wasn’t just cooking it because we were at her house. There was chicken and vegetable soup for the 1^st course, then salads and fresh cut bread for the 2^nd course and last but not least a delicious meat tray with sausage. It was absolutely divine. I’d never eaten like that in just a relative’s house before.

After dinner it was time for bed. All of the adults stayed up a bit longer because they wanted to know so much about my Mum and Dad. We had to get good rest for the 2 weeks we were going to have in Holland. There were plenty of things we were told that we should see and do while we were in the Netherlands. Lots of the family were going to be with us along the way so we can’t get lost through our trip through out Holland.

In Holland we saw the cheese markets, Alakmar, the black markets, Amsterdam city, Voldendam, Hoorn and heaps of little towns going to these great places. Alakmar was where the cheese markets were held and the black markets had lots of clothing, make-up, shoes and restaurants. Amsterdam City is well known for being the red light district; Mum, Dad, Ester and Patrick went to Amsterdam at night but Mum and Dad took us kids during the day.

At the end of our Holland trip we had a small gathering of relatives Mum had never met, a couple she had met. There were a fair few people, some of them I had already met. I had met Ester and her family, Judith and her family, Seibon and his son Tom, Tanta Ria and Ome Arie. Sadly Sarah was in India on a tour for the Eclipse so she could not make it to the gathering, but at least we got to see her before she left. Everyone started to leave slowly but luckily we took a photo of everyone together previously. It was time to pack up because tomorrow was the day that dad went to Amsterdam and got the hire car so we could travel bits of Europe.