A weekend in Leiderdorp
During my first weekend in Utrecht, My Aunty Hannie and Uncle Froggy (Hans) got a hold of me. It was so great to hear from them, they are the family that i probably know the most, as they came for a trip to New Zealand to visit with their children when i was younger. Hannie is my mothers eldest sister and i think shes great. Uncle Froggy is cool too. Hes so funny, one of those talkative types who is just so full of energy and information.
They came to visit my room and have a cup of tea, and asked me if i wanted to come and stay the night at their house in Leiderdorp. So i said yes, why not? Its not like i had anything planned for my weekend in Utrecht. Its not far from Utrecht to Leiderdorp..perhaps 20mins by car. In fact its not far to anywhere in Holland! The trip there was very nice, i liked looking at all the pretty trees with ice on them, and also the car seats were those ones that heat up. So i had a very comfortable ride.
Their house in Leiderdorp is very beautiful and perhaps the most modern i have seen of all my family. They have done alot of travelling in their life, so their house is filled with all sorts of objects from their travels. They also have the biggest garden i have seen so far. I had a very interesting evening there. Uncle froggy talked to me about alot of things. About the Leiderdorp area...about their travels... about what he likes to do in his spare time (muck around with computers)...about his work before he retired(something to do with oil)..about his heart condition, about his vegetable garden which got taken away from him because the council wanted to develop...about his iceskating...and he inspired me about places that i should travel to. He showed me many books on Norway and on Spain and on many artists which got me really inspired. I also looked at many photos..of their visit to New Zealand when i was younger, and also some of his vegetable garden that is no longer. So really i had a funfilled evening. Dinner was great too. Hannie and I went for a bicycle ride into town and ordered some Chinese which was really delicious. Hans and Hannie are really into their biking, they have the swishest bikes that i have seen so far.
The next morning uncle Froggy took me on a tour around Leiderdorp. He showed me the ice skating rink (now just a pond cos its not cold enough), he also showed me where his vegetable garden was and i saw all the developments that were going on. Really its very sad, and i do feel sympathy. From the photos i saw that there was a little community of vegetable gardens, belonging to people who got a lot of happiness and joy out of them. But what i witnessed was a whole lot of dirt and bulldozers , a windmill being demolished and a model 'town house'. So what theyre doing is developing a new housing area...like they do everywhere in New Zealand. Pathetic. We also went for a long walk down this bicycle path which was really pleasant. It was just what i needed, a nice walk in the cool fresh air. We walked until we came to the first windmill and then walked back. And he pointed out all the interesting things in the distance..for example the ventilation shoots for the underground tunnel to Paris. I actually walked over that tunnel. (photo - me at the turning point)
We had lunch and then Hannie and I took the train back to Utrecht. She taught me how to get a ticket from the machine which was a good idea. It was a slow trip back, but i really enjoy trains. I love looking out the window at all the scenery. When we got back to Utrecht, Hannie took me out for a drink at a cafe and i got to experience the famous 'appelbal' (apple ball). It was delicious. An entire cooked apple covered in a sweet sugary batter. I could not finish it though.
I returned to my flat, and Hannie returned to Leiderdorp by train.
A marvellous weekend
They came to visit my room and have a cup of tea, and asked me if i wanted to come and stay the night at their house in Leiderdorp. So i said yes, why not? Its not like i had anything planned for my weekend in Utrecht. Its not far from Utrecht to Leiderdorp..perhaps 20mins by car. In fact its not far to anywhere in Holland! The trip there was very nice, i liked looking at all the pretty trees with ice on them, and also the car seats were those ones that heat up. So i had a very comfortable ride.
Their house in Leiderdorp is very beautiful and perhaps the most modern i have seen of all my family. They have done alot of travelling in their life, so their house is filled with all sorts of objects from their travels. They also have the biggest garden i have seen so far. I had a very interesting evening there. Uncle froggy talked to me about alot of things. About the Leiderdorp area...about their travels... about what he likes to do in his spare time (muck around with computers)...about his work before he retired(something to do with oil)..about his heart condition, about his vegetable garden which got taken away from him because the council wanted to develop...about his iceskating...and he inspired me about places that i should travel to. He showed me many books on Norway and on Spain and on many artists which got me really inspired. I also looked at many photos..of their visit to New Zealand when i was younger, and also some of his vegetable garden that is no longer. So really i had a funfilled evening. Dinner was great too. Hannie and I went for a bicycle ride into town and ordered some Chinese which was really delicious. Hans and Hannie are really into their biking, they have the swishest bikes that i have seen so far.
The next morning uncle Froggy took me on a tour around Leiderdorp. He showed me the ice skating rink (now just a pond cos its not cold enough), he also showed me where his vegetable garden was and i saw all the developments that were going on. Really its very sad, and i do feel sympathy. From the photos i saw that there was a little community of vegetable gardens, belonging to people who got a lot of happiness and joy out of them. But what i witnessed was a whole lot of dirt and bulldozers , a windmill being demolished and a model 'town house'. So what theyre doing is developing a new housing area...like they do everywhere in New Zealand. Pathetic. We also went for a long walk down this bicycle path which was really pleasant. It was just what i needed, a nice walk in the cool fresh air. We walked until we came to the first windmill and then walked back. And he pointed out all the interesting things in the distance..for example the ventilation shoots for the underground tunnel to Paris. I actually walked over that tunnel. (photo - me at the turning point)
We had lunch and then Hannie and I took the train back to Utrecht. She taught me how to get a ticket from the machine which was a good idea. It was a slow trip back, but i really enjoy trains. I love looking out the window at all the scenery. When we got back to Utrecht, Hannie took me out for a drink at a cafe and i got to experience the famous 'appelbal' (apple ball). It was delicious. An entire cooked apple covered in a sweet sugary batter. I could not finish it though.
I returned to my flat, and Hannie returned to Leiderdorp by train.
A marvellous weekend
posted by simone marie at 12:10 PM
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