April 19, 2014
Today
we spent all day at the cabins. The others had organized an open house for any
friends or family that wanted to come out and visit with Oma to come by in the
afternoon. So in the morning we had breakfast and then organized snacks and
refreshments for our afternoon guests. The thing is, no one had any idea who
was coming for sure or what time they would be showing up and so everyone
(especially Oma) was afraid that no one would come at all.
About
mid-morning Ben, Uncle Rick and I went into Doorn to find the Laundromat. Turns
out there really is no Laundromat in Doorn, there is just a dry cleaners. So
that was a little annoying. However since we were already in town we had been
given a list of last minute snacks to pick up, so we went to the grocery store.
Mostly Uncle Rick just wanted to stock up on cheese since everyone has been
eating copious amounts of it.
In the first grocery store we went to Uncle Rick
deemed the cheese too expensive, so we went to another grocery store down the
street. This place had a wider range of prices for the Dutch Gouda so Uncle
Rick picked up a couple wedges of the cheap cheese; when he asked the deli
clerk why one cheese was so much cheaper than another brand, the clerk told him
that the one he chose was not good quality as it was mass produced in a factory
and not aged very much and that it was poor-people cheese! Of course he’s like,
it tastes fine to me (obvious at home most of the Gouda imports are
“poor-people” cheese).
So
we cheese and tulips in hand, we headed back to the cabin to see if we had any
guests yet. We didn’t have any yet but soon after our first guest arrived and
from that point forward there were people coming and going all afternoon. We
ended up having an awesome turnout and an awesome day. The weather was
beautiful, sunny and warm, so people could sit inside or outside. Of course
everyone was speaking Dutch so
I didn’t really know what was going on a lot of
the time, but there were many people there who also spoke English, so we were
able to visit and get to know some of Ben’s Dutch cousins who were our age.
Everyone was very friendly and happy to see family from Canada. Many people
also brought little gifts for Oma, which was very thoughtful. We had to laugh
though, because most of the gifts included a package of stroopwafles, which are
so delicious and I have been looking forward to eating copious amounts of them
ever since we booked our trip.
Our
last guests headed out around 7pm and we tidied up and relaxed for a bit and
reflected on the day. Ben, Peggy and Joan decided to go for a walk while Rick
when to call home; I came back to our cabin for a little quiet time and to make
sure I don’t get behind on this blog! I should also probably wash some clothes
since I’m not sure when we might find a Laundromat, the lady at the reception
desk said the one here would be fixed on Tuesday, but I would rather have
everything cleaned before then so I don’t have to continue to hand wash for the
next couple days…
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