To Delft & Munster

Having done a relatively small trek on Tuesday, we set off for Delft to find homes & schools where Tony's Mum 'Neeltje' had lived after the van den Bos family had moved from the sea side town of Munster, where the family's history goes back at least 400 years. 

It was a smooth run to Oma's first home & we were fortunate enough to get parking in the street.  We found the house, then walked a short distance to her first school which has now been made into open plan apartments, with bright stripped awnings. Much building work is being done around the Delft train station which is almost on the doorstep of the school, but we were able to find a way to cross the railway lines & walked a short distance to the 2nd school Oma went to. It still has the signage made of tiles on the top of the building but sadly the top windows were boarded up. It is now used as commercial storage. There were sweet gardens mapped out but things were run down.   From there we walked further towards the main square, stopping short to find ourselves in a lovely tree shaded area surrounded with cafes & outdoor seating & tables ......we had a delightful lunch. Try a pink smoothie with mint in it - different ...

After our lunch we walked to the town square, which was the largest we have seen so far ... there was the Old church (1300's) then the New Church facing opposite it is from the (1600's).  Tony went off to find the other home where Oma moved to & I went off exploring arcades .... there wasn't a good feel to the square as I sensed a lot had happened there over the centuries. 

After this we travelled to Munster - this was not a very attractive place but what stood out was the renovation happening in a very old Reformed church that was almost on the beach as we were able to walk from there to the beach ...(Tony's Mum's family were part of the Reformed Church). 

Discovered a Bohemian style Cafe where we had a coffee, then decided to take out shoes off & walk along the beach. Oh what fun as the breeze was coming in, & hardly anyone on the beach but it was just so lovely. Also collected some shells, then time to head back to Leiden. 

Oma's first home in Delft.  

Along our walk.  

Oma's first school. 

Lovely spots along our walk.  

The New Church (as they call it even though it is so old).   

How deceptive - pink smoothie but with Mint .... lovely lunch under big shady trees.  

The Old Church ...facing onto the City Square. 

The New Church ...  facing the Old Church across the square. It is having major renovations at present. 

Shops surround the square including many selling the famous Delft Blue China !!

As we walked into this Old Reformed Church we were in awe at how they were renovating - leaving portions of the Old but bringing it up to the minute - it felt like cost was not an issue as every detail was being attended to.  

Again there were many grave stones (as we had seen in the Catheral in Haarlem), surrounding the square of the inside of the church & Tony recognised some names that had been known to Oma's family .. 

Outside the church & cobbled paving still surrounding.  

You can see the blandness of Munster as it had iriginally been farms & now light industrial ... 

Short stroll to the beach.  

 Bohemian Cafe ... 

Walking along the beach. The life saving buildings are made out of bright containers -  as are the changerooms that are then clad in wood .. 

Looking towards Rotterdam &  all the industry around the Port.

Another light hearted finish to the day as we had drinks on the decking - a boat of ladies came rowing by with their coach. They all laughed & tried to wave to us while trying to concentrate on keep count with their rowing.  

Oma's 2nd school - you can just make out the sign & see the boarded up windows.  Just discovered this popped on the end of the blog rather than before we left Delft !!!! 

My First Venture Driving ...

We had booked a car so we could continue to go to places where Tony's family came from. Today was the big test as I haven't driven in Europe (driving on the oppposite side of the road).  We had planned to go on a short trip to the beach at Katwijk-aan-Zee. This is where Tony's Dad would go & walk on the beach & then it became a hiding spot in when the Germans were looking for young men to take away to work in the factories.   He was relatively safe after a few months as Opa worked in a Silver factory in Voorschoten that the Germans approved of.  

It was just lovely at the beach despite it being quite woolly & cold.  Parking is all underground & designed to look like large sand dunes to blend in with the surrounding dunes. 

There were some lovely cafes along the beach ... small wooden open beach shelters, deck chairs & 3 sided shelters, along with rows of brightly coloured bins.  We went into one of the cafes, and voila! the decore was very inviting, with pot belly heaters on the decking!

After we had driven back we went into Leiden for lunch at a little Italian Bistro that was part of the City Hall.  This was again a delight as the City Hall bells chime on every quarter hour.  Tony then went off to the Archival Centre & I went wandering around the shops away from the centre square, discovering a couple more Flower & Plant shops. I realise how much flowers & plants play a huge part in decorating here. The apartments are so small that these bring life into them. The shops have such a variety of everything & it is all colour co-ordinated.   

Arriving at the township of Katwijk-aan-Zee.

Boldly the church stands out. 

This is the underground parking that is all the way along the beach & just looks part of the sand dunes.  

Entering the beach, the little wooden shelters & folded deck chairs ready to be used ... 

The beach cafe/restaurant with a lot of ambience.  

Outdoors it looks quite Scandinavian - with the bleeched wooden chairs & pot belly heater   

as I was taking photos along came a fishing boat heading home.  

After parking the car & walking back along the canel to our Houseboat, we saw this dear little boat with 'Neetje Leiden' .... not  a coincidence that 'Neeltje' was Tony's mum's name ... 

Back in Leiden having lunch at the Italian Bistro in the Towns 'City Hall' before Tony headed off to the archival centre for any more information that he could find. 

While Tony was doing his thing I discovered this lovely plant & flower shop .... I totally lost myself for a while in here ...

Old cupboards full of coloured pots & vases.  

Through a passage way to another room ...in this area there were lots of cacti

Into the other room ... 

All co-ordinated ... 

Enough for today ... 

What about Haarlem..

Phew, back in the swing of things, as I was off-line for a night ...

We decided to catch a train into Haarlem as Tony's great uncle managed a cafe/restaurant called the Brinkmann which faces into the Town square, Grotesque Markt.   We knew it still existed but weren't sure what it would look like.  Well we were pleasantly surprised as it was beautiful. The inside has been restored many times over the years as it has existed since 1881.... it has seats outside with tables arranged as if you are all seated for a concert .... again interesting as it overlooks the largest Cathedral in Holland. We had coffee & Dutch cinnamon toast. We then had a prompting to go into the Cathederal & were overwhelmed with the fact this had been there for so long hundreds of years & you actually walked on the graves of the forefathers (of faith) that were covered with magnificent black granite/slate. Again this Cathedral would have been where Tony's extended family would have worshipped ...

After that adventure we wandered around some more & the atmosphere of Haarlem wasn't that much different from Leiden. Life seems to go at a fairly gentle pace. Bikes are so 'the order of the day' everywhere which means very few cars are in the centre of the squares & side streets.  We headed back to Leiden on the train. 

When we got back to Leiden we decided to have lunch at a little Italian Cafe that spilled out onto a permanently moored barge. Quite fun as it was still moving as other boats passed by.  

From the train window. 

There is always a church steeple/spire making its presence above the villages ... 

More lovely architecture along the Haarlem canels .. 

What a start to the walk .. these were real Peonies 

Walking towards the village square

The magnitude of the Cathederal overpowers the square .. 

'The Brinkmann' 

Inside the Brinkmann

Just grand ... 

This is just one end of the Cathederal  

The size of the pillars .... 

The ornate black gravestones especially for that era.  

Waiting for lunch to arrive on the barge !! 

Into Amsterdam

We had a leisurely start to Sunday morning, having decided to take the train into Amsterdam.   We were on a mission to find a couple of areas where Tony's grandmother & great grandmother lived along with cousins. We had to walk through the inner part of Amsterdam which was, as so many write ups describe, 'colourful'.  There was a huge amount of rubbish floating in the canals as well as banked up on sidewalks. It was very busy, with untold numbers of bikes & not just car park lots but bike lots often 3 stacks high, especially near the train station.  It was a warm 29 degrees, so many people were again stripped off to bathers or no t-shirts, just shorts; with many looking very red and burnt.  It had been almost wintery weather up until only a few days before so many were relishing this weather.  The canals were extremely busy ..

We were able to find most of the places, except one that had been reconstructed. Many apartments are several hundred years old in some areas.  We had lunch at a little Dutch Cafe that was quite upmarket with the food. Also a quieter spot to map out where to next. On our round about way back to the train station we stumbled upon an amazingly large Catholic Church which we think because of its position could have been where Tony's grandmother went.  

A sucussful day ...home to enjoy more of our produce we had from the markets, & to plan for Monday .. 

On our walk to one the apartments in Amsterdam.  

Our walk took us past the Opera & Ballet buiding & we saw that there is special mooring for those who come to the Theatre by boat ...

So many house boats that many were two side by side.  

Colourful awnings .. 

This little building has been there since 1635 & still serving beer & food.  

So many different face fronts with some more elaborate than others ... 

The very old Catholic Church that Tony's grandmother & great-grandmother would possibly have worshipped in as this was within a short distance from where the family lived & also being Catholic. 

Along the walk back to the train station.  

Continuing on the walk - trees atop this boat made out of wine bottles !! 

As we had dinner outside on our decking this family came by & chattered as they passed, saying how much the dogs loved the ride -what a lovely finish to the day ....