Amsterdam Tour

We went to Amsterdam today by the Fast Ferry, what an amazing experience!! It was so nice to be on the water and see everything from the canals. We got into Centraal Station and ventured around to see what we could find. We were going to go into Anne Frank's House but the line up was so long but we took pictures and saw Anne Frank's statue. We also saw the New and Old Churches and the Royal Palace. We continued walking until we walked right into the Red Light District. What pretty ladies.... no it was a sad sight to see. All the girls are just waiting for someone to walk to their door, they don't pull people off the streets like most stories people hear. They just sit, smoke, and wait. We continued up and down the stretch and just listened to the noises from Amsterdam, the people, the cars, the trams, the music and just every day noise buzzing around us. We then came back to Bloemendaal, started watching Zwartboek (Blackbook) about World War II and then went for supper with Rob. After supper Rob drove us to the Sea, what an amazing sight to see. We saw all the freightliner ships out at sea and the beach was not busy at all. Of course it was so cold as we were in shorts and the sun was starting to set, so we decided we would go back during the day. We came back to Rob's place and continued to watch Zwartboek. What an amazing day!! Tomorrow maybe Rotterdam but who knows :)
Love
P&T in Bloemendaal, Netherlands

A Farm Visit

We were very lucky to be able to go and visit one of Oma's friends' from her youth that has a dairy farm.  Their farm is very different compared to the farms you may find in Canada. With little to no land in Holland most of the animals are kept inside all year round, there is enough space for them inside mind you which is good. Their dairy farm is also operated by a robot, a robot to milk the cows and to feed the cows with. It was pretty interesting to see. Tam got to play with baby calves so she was in her glory, having them suck her fingers and bunt into her hand, she sure was happy :) We got to see the cows get milked and also watch them be fed by the robot. What an amazing day!
Love
P&T in Twello, Nederlands

Cheese Makers

Yesterday we went to a cheese farm 10 minutes away from Twello. We got dressed in our white lab coats and white rubber boots and rolled our sleeves up to get busy making cheese. It was such an amazing process and I know if I typed everything it would be 2 pages long so I will wait for when I get home to tell the story. I am not able to upload photos right now but when I have the chance I will try and get to it. But we started making cheese at 8am and finished up around noon. We even got to put the plastic coating on the cheese that was close to being sold in the store. After kaas (cheese) making we went home to have lunch as Ruben was going to come to Twello to spend some time with us. We shot some hoops, ate supper with Oma and Opa and headed into Deventer to spend some time together seeing the city and enjoying a few drinks. Today we went a tour around Deventer that Marcel gave to us as a gift. What an amazing gift! I had my own personal tour guide, Mr. Patrick Bauer, who translated everything the guide was saying to us so I could understand. We saw some of the old buildings in Deventer, their meanings and even got to go in St. Nicholas' Church. It was beautiful to see the inside and the giant organ at the front of the church and see what they had to rebuild most of the buildings after the war. We came back to Twello and are just having a relaxing afternoon together:)
Love From,
P&T in Deventer & Twello, Holland

Trying to Keep Up :)

After our big surprise to Ruben, his family took us to Scheveningen a beach near the Sea on March 11. It was beautiful, Tam was collecting sea shells in her pocket, which is apparently a girls' thing to do :) and enjoyed the company as the sun was setting. It was a breath-taking view with the deepest red and oranges you could possibly imagine. We went to a fish barn where you ordered your food and when it was ready you called your number and waved your arms and they brought their food over to you. It was delicious fish :) We arrived back to Wijchen late so we stayed another night with Ruben. On March 12, Ruben had no school due to the train missing some copper from the cables. So we went outside and enjoyed the sunshine while playing a game of knikkeren (marbles). We don't know who really won, all as we know is we had a lot of fun and laughs. We said "See you soon" to Ruben and headed home to Twello to have supper with Oma, Opa and Marcel. It was a delicious meal made by Oma and Marcel. :) On March 13 we got to celebrate another birthday for Dennis, Patrick's Uncle, in Deventer. When we arrived in Deventer we took the bikes to go pick up Colin (Patrick's 8 year old cousin) from school. When we arrived back to Angelique, Dennis and Colin's place we played Wii Mario Kart!! What fun especially for Tam, she was in her glory :) We enjoyed a night full of visiting, a great meal and pie to celebrate Dennis' birthday! What an amazing couple of days :)Love
P&T in Wijchen & Deventer, Nederlands

A Big Surprise

 Well we ventured to Wijchen to surprise Patrick's best friend, Ruben and it was the best surprise ever! Ruben's mom, stepdad and of course our dear Ruben!! After the shock of Patrick and Tam showing up, Ruben took us to Nijmegen to show us around. We went downtown Nijmegen and ventured to the river to see all the freight being taken down the river. We had some pannenkoeken (Dutch pancakes that are flat unlike the Canadian Buttermilk Pancakes.) We caught the train into Wijchen to catch the movie at the Cinema. It was Tam's first time at the Dutch Cinema, they waited on us and it was the funniest movie ever, THIS MEANS WAR! Haha then the trouble began.... we walked around and fed some M&M's to the fish ;) but that's all we can disclose at this time. When we got back to the house we had frikandellen, kroketten and some drinks. We called it a night at 4:30am. It was a fun and memorable night! :)

The two brothers, Ruben and Patty

Downtown Nijmegen, where you can sit and relax

Labyrinth which is located near the River

Love,
P&T in Wijchen, Netherlands

Opa and Oma

After the 2 days of travelling we finally made it to Amsterdam where Oma and Opa were waiting for us with a red rose for Tam and arms wide open for great big hugs. The last couple of days have been really interesting especially for Tam. Tam met Patrick's family at Hans' Birthday and was so nervous to meet them! But after all it wasn't too bad, the family was very excited to meet her as well. We stayed at the party for a little bit then headed to Opa and Oma's to get some sleep, all that travelling makes a person tired!! Thursday we went to downtown Twello by bike! A totally new experience for Tam but she thoroughly enjoyed it! After downtown we ventured to Annette and Hans' to see if they were home and stopped in for a visit. We then took Cooper, their dog for a walk around Busloo (a lake) and got very muddy! Then Hans drove us around to see some of the farms in the area (Tam was smiling from ear to ear :) and left a nose print on the window! We then made the 10minute bike ride home to have supper with Oma and Opa. After supper Patrick was exhausted and was looking at the backs of his eyelids :) so we thought it was best to go to bed. Friday we ventured to the Mill to get a picture for Tam and the kids from Glendale School Age Program (she made a shirt so the kids could travel with her as well.) Then we set sail to downtown to the Market which was also a different experience for Tam. There were hundreds of choices of kaas (cheese), olijven (olives), brood (bread), vis (fish), metworst (hard sausage) and of course drop (licorice!) Tam is also practicing her dutch at the same time, so she needs to practice writing it too! For supper tonight we are making a Canadian Meal for Oma and Opa, on the menu we have: turkey, smashed potatoes, roasted veggies, gravy, and mosterd soep (mustard soup) for a starter. And of course Tam's cheesecake for dessert :) Well we're off to the supermarket so will check in again soon!
Love
P&T from Twello, Holland

A Test for Ons Mam

We are doing this test to see if Ons Mam is actually reading this blog because she mentioned that we should write our blog in large letters so everyone can read it.... so hopefully Mama Yvonne will read this and comment that she can read this. This is a test just for her :)
Love
P&T in Red Deer, AB