Holland

We arrived at Schipol airport, Holland on the 12th of September and we met by Alex's aunt and uncle  Joke and Ari. They drove us to their house in a small, pretty village called Schipluiden. We were quickly settled in the spare bedroom upstairs, fed and watered. It was a really bizarre feeling sitting in a normal house with a kitchen and a loungeroom- it had been so long!

For the next week they very kindly drove us around Holland, showing us the sites. We drank beer in Delft, walked the canals in Den Hague, got fish and chips in De Hoek, ate pickled raw herring at a market, and toured Rotterdam.

We spent a lazy afternoon with long time friends of Alex's dad's family, Bas Hendrik and Dineika. There were platters of cold meats, cheeses, and an endless supply of wine. We again shared some of our photos and Dineika bravely tried to teach me how to ride a bike. I used to know when I was younger, and would proudly like to state that I am living proof that you can indeed forget to ride a bike, despite what the rumours say. I was completely uncoordinated, but when in Holland....

We were also lucky enough to spend some time with Alex's 101 year old Oma. She was such an incredible, strong, witty, independent woman. Her body was frail but her mind was sharp. She didn't speak a word of English and we spoke none of Dutch, but Alex got some really special time time with her showing her some of our photos of Africa.

On the 19th of September, Al's family drove us into Amsterdam, where he had booked a hotel for our last 3 nights in Holland. Amsterdam was exactly what i expected. A schizophrenic capital with too many different sides to its personality to count. It was so beautiful with all the canals snaking through the town. We did the obligatory canal boat tour which was nice and relaxing and enabled us to see a large part of the town. We wandered the streets for hours on end, ate more ribs than anyone should ever eat in one sitting, got buckets filled with testubes of Jagermeister, took sneaky shots of the ladies in the windows of the red light district... and much much more.

We had the full 'Amsterdam Experience'. But I will leave it at that and let you use your imagination. I choose to spare my family the gory details!

I really enjoyed my first European country ever visited, and to be able to spend time with Al's family, and in particular his Oma, was really special. On the 22nd of September we made our way down to the docks of De Hoek again and boarded the giant ferry that would take us all the way to England. It was a huge boat with everything you could possible want to entertain yourselves for a few hours, even a mini casino. From memory the crossing took about 5 hours and half way through we went into the mini 20 seater cinema and watched Super 8. It was a completely different expereince to our last ferry crossing in Sudan!

Next up... Ol' London Town.