July 2018

The time in the Netherlands was exhilerating for me. I was following a dream to bring my kids to the Netherlands to show them the places that have touched my heart. These are places that make my heart squeeze with ache when I think of them. These are places I have lived, walked, biked, worked, studied and loved in.

My life long relationship with the Netherlands started when I was barely a 20 year old coming to study here in a program for my year abroad back in 1989. I lived in Groningen, Tilburg and Leiden. 

In the intervening 28 years I have found myself trying to find ways to come back again and again. I studied here for two years total and ended up living and working here back in 2000-2001 then came back to the States to be with my terminally ill mother. 

I have visited for short periods here and there and have many lovely friends and connections that are Dutch or I met them in the Netherlands.

So coming back to the NL this time had a lot of importance for me and I tried to make is so I didn’t put too much pressure on my children to fall in love with this beautiful, unique country. But, it was hard, really, really hard not to.

We stayed for a week with a friend and his family across the river Ij in Amsterdam.  I had met this friend my first few days here back in 1989. Berend met us at the station and swept us up into his arms (he is a big guy!) and welcomed us into his family. 

The Kings Day celebrations were happening while we were there. This includes celebrations of street fairs, music, food and drink but, it also has what could possibly be the worlds largest swap market/yard sale.

All Dutch people bring out their wares that they are wishing to get rid of while perusing the offerings of their neighbors. It might be that some are just swapping goods each year. In any case, there are rows and rows of things carefully laid out on blankets on the cobblestone streets. If you wished you could furnish a whole house on this day!

It was our first real plunge into visual arts as we walked the halls of the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh museum. On this trip, we have been careful to avoid overloading our kids with too many museums so they don’t blend into a dreaded, unwanted march through ‘old things’.

Taking our time with these places and using the provided children’s scavenger hunt book by the museum made our excursions rather interesting and delightful. 

We also found our way to the Anne Frank House which is a must for any trip to Amsterdam and a powerful example and reminder of the costs of war and conflict. When we hear bells anywhere now Canyon says he thinks of Anne when she heard the nearby bells of Westerkerk (Church) from her hiding place.

I’m wondering what the boys will take away from these travels. We are exploring so many treasured places but, they are also cherished by me. Sometimes the impact is big and others times it’s mild. 

My hope is that years from now they will remember some of these walks, talks and forays into history and pull out a nugget they want to unpack a bit more. I have found that I have so much I want to write about and will continue to unpack this trip myself – through writing here and such. 

Our time in the Netherland was punctuated with interactions with friends and their families and those experiences warm my heart. We spent time in Amsterdam and then went on to Leiden where my true romance with the Netherlands solidified. 

This is a magical medieval city that still has the charm of cobblestones, a city citidel that you can walk the perimeter without permission of a ticket or a gate. I had spent so many times walking these walls and in the evening light got to see my boys playing out their fantasy knight characters. 

Leiden has a weekly market at which you could buy your supplies for the week. Meat, fish, cheese, nuts, fruit, vegetables and bunches and bunches of bright flowers for cost of a couple of coffees. Some of the merchants I had bought from 25 years ago were still there. The market is draped along side the canals in the center of the city. The journey around the neighborhood is delightful. 

One of my old haunts for coffee was still serving a lekker kopje (tasty cup of coffee) and it is on the sight where public executions took place hundreds of years ago and now houses the Universities Law school. Go figure.

The coffee and beer was still tasty as well as the applegebak met slagroom – Apple pie with whipped cream which seems to be a common accompaniment to any afternoon coffee. 

Beautiful buildings nestled up to each other date 400 years ago and offer a lot of charm as you walk though small alleyways hugging the walls to avoid being ringed at by passing bicyclers. We even rented bikes one day and made it to the North Sea.

It was about 22 miles round trip and a bit more than my sons had signed up for but, overall – brilliant! One of the best places to bike around since it is often so easy to pedal on the flat roads. 

Leiden has a beautiful culture of wall poems which grace the sides of random buildings all over the city. The poems are written in the tongue in which the author wrote them so then provide a culture lesson on attempting to translate their meaning.

I have wanted to start this tradition in my new adopted home town of Portland as I find it so impressive and charming to bump into these literary gifts as one walks around town. 

Being here also gave me a chance to dust off my Dutch skills. While Dutch people speak English very well, my attempts were met with enthusiasm and encouragement.

I had forgotten how much I could actually remember. Also, the looks on Canyon and Oakley’s faces were inspiring as they felt I now had a secret identity that would allow me to communicate in this language. 

One of my most cherished places in the Netherlands is the Kroller Muller Museum which is an art museum and one of the first places I ever went in the country back in 1989.

Since then I have dragged my family and friends to this art museum that has a several acre outdoor sculptor garden in the middle of the largest natural area in the country. 

You can’t really just drive up there. You can bus in or as we did pedal one of the free white bicycles provided at the beginning or middle of the great park.

You can travel for a couple of miles and wander off road and feel like you are in blessed isolation unlike one might imagine exists in the Netherlands. 

We also connected with friends of mine and oh joy, we ran into them by accident a day early (boating in the canals and Mette proving canal side coffee service) which allow us more time to connect and share our histories of the last nearly two decades. 

It felt like coming home to see my friends and spend quality time with them, meet their kids and, hopefully create more opportunities for more visits to come.