Older back roads with trees lined up on both sides
We arrived in the Netherlands on Tuesday but have been too busy to write. Not because I couldn’t squeeze it in, but because we are taking this as a rest. We get to sleep in, drink coffee and Nederland spreken (speak Dutch.)
We flew from Ireland to Eindhoven Netherlands via Ryanair which is a low cost carrier. It is so low cost that you have to have your boarding ticket with you before you arrive at the airport, or they charge you €35 each to print it up. It only costs €16 euro to fly, but by the time you add 1-20Kg bag (€35) and various sundry items it still adds up. There are no seats assigned, so when you get on, you just find a couple of seats as it is similar to a bus.
Bert and George Esser
We were picked up by a distant relative, Bert Esser whom I met around 10 years ago. There were 2 brothers in the 1800s and from one brother came my father’s side and from the other brother came Bert’s side. It is amazing how similar Bert is to my father in looks and mannerisms. From there we went to see my Uncle George Esser’s grave site in Bergen op Zoom. This was a moving experience and I will write about it separately.
Next, we travelled to the Achterhoek where Janet’s parents are from. We are staying on the farm where her mother was born which is now owned by her mother’s brother and his wife; Henk and Gerda Tolkamp. The farm is between Aalten and Dinxperlo on 149 Dinxperlosestraatweg. The farm is right on the German/Netherlands border as you can see on this satellite photo. I think it is really different how jagged the border is.
The Farm is "B." Notice how jagged the Netherlan/German border is.
Former pig pen, now a bedroom where Janet and I are staying.
The farm is a varken boerderij (pig farm) and the house was originally built in 1924. In those days the one side of the house was the living quarters for the people, and the other side was where they kept the animals. Janet and I are sleeping in a former pig pen. They built separate barns for the animals around 1980 so there is no evidence that we are sleeping in a former varken hok (pig hutch). They now have more than 3500 pigs on the farm.
Janet Esser and her uncle Henk Tolkamp
My Nederlands is niet zo goed (Dutch is not so good) but I am surprising myself how well I am getting along with conversing in Dutch. Janet is rusty but fairly fluent and if you gave her a month here, she would be very fluent. I love to watch her converse in Dutch. If you know her, you know how personable she is and how family orientated she is. She just loves being here with her family. When she was 18 years old, she spent 3 months in Holland in this area and lived with her Grandmother. She also was here, with her father and her sister Selene in 2009, so this is all fairly familiar to her.
Horse and buggy on a horse only road
Her relatives are all very nice and hospitable. The feed us well and let us feel right at home. We went for a walked out the back of the farm, through the bush and crossed the German border which consists of just another farm.
Horse and buggy ride through the bush
We also went out for a horse and buggy ride. Her uncle has a Friesian horse and took us for a long ride through the back of many farms. Janet was in control of the reigns for a while and then I had a turn dictating commands to the old hay burner. It was very leuk (low’k i.e. nice) seeing all the countryside by a walking/trotting horse.
We leave Saturday morning to meet up with 3 young German guys, (Matthias Schuster, Mark Wehrmann and Julius Se) who stayed at our house for various lengths of stay. (Melissa Hettinga may also join us).They are all somehow connected with our son Joshua’s German exchange program a number of years ago. We plan on going to Xanten and meet up at the Roman Museum.
So that is all for now.