Den Haag – Schaveninger
Thursday, September 01, 2005
We set out this morning to find our way to my Aunt’s house. I had spoken to Ties (my Aunt) yesterday and she not only wanted to have a coffee or lunch but for us to stay for the night as well. It took us a while to get ourselves organised after a rather late night walking the streets of Amsterdam so it wasn’t until 11am that we finally left the hotel and caught a tram to the station. The conductor on the tram was the rudest person that we have encountered on our travels yet. We boarded the tram with our tickets as per normal only to be yelled to from the little booth that he was at that we just take our packs off as we were annoying a lot of people and that he wanted to see our tickets. This was just a joke because we had already organised ourselves to be right out of the way and the tram was only a few stops away from the station and everyone on the tram had luggage as well, but to take our bags off meant that they had to be in the isle, go figure. Anyway there were a few tears from Sarah as he was just way over the top but it was only a 5min ride to the station where we quickly got something to eat and moved off to platform 13a to catch the 12.13 to Den Haag. It was a small train journey but in a very nice train and once there it was very easy to find out where we needed to go as the Dutch are the most helpful and generous people yet – by far. Suddenly standing in front of Ties’ door I rang the bell with butterflies in my tummy, but sure enough we were greeted with open arms and how nice it was to finally meet the person I had seen in so many photos. I can only explain it just like as if I had walked into one of Oma’s and Opa’s photos, instantly recognising the house and it’s lovely court yard. Ties is such the generous hostess and had already organised for a gathering later in the day after she got home from work at 9, but in the meantime giving us a key so that we could come and go as we please. After Ties had left for work we headed out to see what Scheveningen had to offer, finding a beach that could easily be Brighton in Christchurch – In fact Holland in general is very similar to NZ, with a massive pier and heaps of restaurants and food shacks. It was lovely to walk down the beach and easy to imagine that we were home again, with even the voices in the back ground often being English.
Getting close to 9 we arrived back at the house and had just sat down when there was a knock at the window and we found a older lady peering in with a grin on her face. The weirdest thing about being here is that every one is so friendly and happy to meet us but I haven’t the foggiest who they are or how they are related to me… I opened the door and after a hug and kiss we started to talk, finding out that it was one of Oma’s sisters, Tonte Ville. We sat down with coffee and Ties arrived home and set the outside area up for a few guests. It was a lovely night; I meet three of Oma’s four sisters and one cousin, finally getting off to bed around 12.30.
posted by Maarty @ 12:00 pm,
