Sophie Visits from Down Under...

In August 2008, Ashlynn became friends with Zoe while we were staying in Switzerland. Amazingly, our families became friends and visited each other several times between our house in Holland and theirs in Brussels. We last saw them in late 2009 just before they moved back to Canberra, Australia. I was thrilled when Zoe’s older sister Sophie said she’d be passing through Holland while on a three-month tour of Europe during her gap year before university.

Sophie spent a few nights with us. We went to see the girls in the panto and I showed her around The Hague, Leiden and Utrecht. We visited a special fashion exhibit at Centraal Museum in Utrecht. As these photos show, it was a rather unusual exhibition; many would have made great costumes, but I don’t think that was the intent.

As strange as this bunny outfit is, it seemed rather normal compared to the one behind it featuring a full-size swan.

We also visited the Speelklok Museum, which specializes in self-playing musical instruments. This is one of its most famous calliopes: the Arab. It was built in Italy around 1875 and was eventually rebuilt in the Netherlands in 1948. Had a great time showing Sophie around and wish her the best of luck at university.