We were connecting today with Susanne, Brynn and Dael on August 5th, They drove over from Susanne's home just outside of Amsterdam. It was absolutely wonderful to see them!
The dynamic trio took us to see the historical windmill site where dozen of old windmills still operated, even if they were no longer used to drain the saturated lands (all below sea level). It was a lovely walk on a paved trail, and didn't seem to bother my knee that was still sore from the Norway trolley. They asked what we wanted to do, and Liz and I both opted to be shown the countryside, and so that is what they did.
After winding on the very narrow roads which lack any dividing line for opposite direction traffic--where cars drive in the bike lane and the roadway unless there is someone in the bike lane biking--and ended up parking near an the above church in a small village, where we walked a block or so and found a lovely cafe for lunch. I had a mix of traditional Dutch food and Liz had a very thin crusted cheese topped pizza (that's what it looked like but was called something else). Brynn had a hamburger, Dael the same thing I had (a plate of mushroom soup, bread, crispy roll, and tomato and antipasto/cheese covered piece of bread), Susanne had something else but I have forgotten exactly what.
I saw more of the country and learned more about Holland, I think, than our other ship passengers who didn't have such fun tour guides! The land has no hills, and only begins to have some as it nears the border with into Belgium. It is very flat, with the below sea level lands cris-crossed with dikes to carry the water away. Dairies abound--mostly Friesen black and white cows. We say many swans, a bird that was the size and look of our Great Blue Heron, horses, and sheep.
Our guides had to get us back around 3:30, and they did that with perfection, and with lots of tears we parted, hoping they will come (with Lee, too) to Mendocino for Thanksgiving 2026. It was a wonderful visit.
Then, on-board ship we learned there were some delays (which were not totally explained) and our departure was pushed back until 6. As we left Holland, we sailed out of the complicated waterway(s), passing at least 5 huge petroleum facilities--refineries and storage tanks.
Tonight we finally get to start putting our clocks BACK an hour, as we had advanced until we were 9 hours ahead of Laura. Tomorrow is a sea day and we will use it to get the entire ship passengers and crew through Irish immigration
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