Meanwhile in Holland...

Leaving Holland was difficult for a lot of reasons, including having to say good-bye to sweet 11-year-old Kati who had lived with us for over 10 years. She hates loud noises, so bringing her to London would have been a nightmare for all of us. I tried to find someone to adopt her through a website that Sally found through a colleague to match pets with new owners. It was a fascinating process, especially meeting a woman blinded as a teenager during World War II that held my arm instead of using her cane as she led Kati and I on a walk around Clingendael Park. She liked Kati, but really wanted a long-haired dog instead. We were running out of options and were worried we would have to drop her off at a animal shelter (luckily Holland only has no-kill shelters), when Terri saved the day. She told my story at the AWC Book Club and one of the new members, whom I’ve never met, said she thought she knew the perfect couple. Muge had to leave her dog behind in Turkey when she got divorced and moved to Holland. Now she is engaged to Ejal and ready to love another dog. They came to meet Kati and wanted her, but were getting ready to go on holiday. I was so relieved when Suzanne, another AWC Member, came to the rescue to bridge that gap and took Kati just before our movers came. It’s clear from the photos that Muge has sent that they are now a happy family.

 

Farewell to Holland...

My apologies that it has been over three months since my last post. A lot has happened both since those photos were taken in July 2022 and since I wrote that post in June 2023. Rather than attempting to crank out over a year’s worth of posts right now, I’m going to skip ahead for the first time since I started this blog in December 2005 with the hope to backfill those past entries on the many fun trips and events over the previous year plus the build-up to our departure from the Netherlands after living there for 17.5 years. In the meantime, I’ll start with the new chapter of our lives...

After an early dinner with Sally and John on July 4, we were thankful that we were able to squeeze in all our luggage into his car for a speedy trip down to the ferry. 

It was fitting that we were travelling on the Stena Britannica as we headed towards a new phase in our lives, which we had just found out two weeks earlier would be in London until the end of the year. 

It was a good thing that we had upgraded to a Captain’s Cabin as our luggage likely wouldn’t have fit in a regular room.

We appreciated that our room came with free drinks...

…but were surprised about the artwork featuring a sinking ship. 

Since our room was in the center of the back of the ship, we had a nice view of the Maeslant Storm Surge Barrier.

As our ship sailed past Hoek van Holland, we had a little ceremony to say farewell to our adopted country, which included bubbly...

…and our Dutch flag.

Shockingly we managed to hold it together even as we sailed past the final bit of land until we reached England, 
 

King’s Night...

Ashlynn and I got home just in time to join in for a Koningsnacht (King’s Night) celebration. 

Last year we had a private White House Commune dance party, but this year Jimmy hosted a virtual dance party...

…with Ashlynn also DJing...

…as well as dancing.

Jimmy changed his equipment set up this time and used the projector to display the Zoom call onto our front window which could be seen by passersby. 

David had fun using technology to surround himself with a bunch of lovely ladies. 

As usual, little Nora danced until the bitter end.

In honor of King’s Day, a Dutch brewery made a trio of special beers: one for King Willem Alexander, one for the three princesses and one for Queen Maxima with a pretty racy label featuring a nude and tattooed queen. 

Jimmy was pleased that he pulled off another fun dance party.
 

Harry Potter Comes to Utrecht...

We knew that this summer wouldn’t be like our usual since Veronica would be starting work shortly after finishing her second school year (more on that later) and would only have three nights to stay with us in June. Ashlynn surprised her by skipping school and meeting her at the ferry. They then dropped Veronica’s stuff off and we all headed to Utrecht to go to the Harry Potter Exhibit. Yes, we were suckers and paid for the official photo.

Ashlynn volunteered to try the Sorting Hat, which placed her in Gryffindor, the same house as Harry, Ron and Hermione, although she thinks she might be better suited to Hufflepuff.

Compared to the Harry Potter Studios that we visited in 2012, this exhibit was quite small, but we still enjoyed seeing some of the props and costumes once again.

As you can see, Veronica took it very seriously when she had the chance to pull a mandrake out of a pot.

Not actually sure which movie used this creepy giant clown, but it was fitting with all the clown hype these days.

Our tall girls looked small in Hagrid’s chair.

Afterwards, we’d originally thought we’d wander around Utrecht, but instead we caught a train to The Hague to watch Wonder Woman in IMAX 3D. I’m not a big fan of super hero movies, but was intrigued after all the great reviews—we all loved it. Rest assured, we didn’t dine at Burger King but found the crowns.

Liberation Day...

Every May 4, the Dutch observe two minutes of silence for all those who have died, in war and in peace operations, during and since the outbreak of World War II. Whereas May 4 is a day of sadness and commemoration, May 5 is the Day of Liberation with celebrations marking the end of Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. When Carlin, Kent and I were walking to Wassenaar Beach for one of our 13-mile (21K) training walks, we heard a loud racket and then found ourselves passed by a large convoy of World War II military vehicles.

I couldn’t help but smile when we were passed by numerous vehicles flying American, Canadian and UK flags.

From what we could figure out when we saw all the vehicles displayed together in Wassenaar, they are all individually owned and kept in pristine condition for use in various Liberation Day parades.

King’s Day...

Due to rain in the morning, we decided to skip going to the hash. Instead, our King’s Day was very lazy. Eventually Jimmy, Kati and I ventured into our village.

Kati was surprisingly cooperative about wearing her King’s Day costume.

By the time we arrived, things were pretty much closing up. The best thing we saw was this cool wagon which the owner was kind enough for Kati to try out.

Back into the Canal...

When Veronica finished her first week of IB mock exams (internal exams to determine grades reported on transcripts for college applications) in mid-June, she was ready to cool off in her first jump into the canal for the season.

The good news is that she did really well on her exams and her target grades are excellent. The bad news is this was the only time she went into the canal all summer due to her insanely busy schedule. The neighborhood kids enjoyed using our inner tubes, but we never managed to use them.

Dutch Immersion Camp?

We couldn’t travel over summer half term in early June because Veronica had to study for her IB mock exams. If I had suggested to Ashlynn that she use the break to attend a Dutch language camp, she would have laughed. Ironic that she ended up learning Dutch at a three-night modeling camp.

Despite being turned away from Fresh Model Management, she applied to attend Fresh’s Model Camp 2014 and was accepted. The camp took place at a group accommodation site outside of Utrecht. After encountering detours and making many wrong turns in a Greenwheels car from the closest train station, I finally managed to get her to the camp almost 30 minutes late. We dropped her stuff in her room with three sets of bunk beds, and she went to meet the other 39 girls.

She met a few of the girls online before the camp and was happy to meet them in person. Everyone was quite accepting of her despite her poor Dutch language skills. Some of the girls played translator, but she found that she understood more and more over the three days.

More Dutch Lawnmowers...

In September, the sheep were back in our neighborhood to mow the grass around the canals.

Veronica caught a better version than me, so it was her photo that we used for the cover of Going Dutch in October.

One night in November, Jimmy yelled that I needed to grab my camera and go outside. It’s not everyday that you see sheep walking down your street; luckily I managed to see them just before they turned the corner.

The King’s First Prinsjesdag...

I couldn’t resist going to see the Royal Procession as the new King rode in the Golden Carriage for his first official Prinsjesdag. Just outside Garoeda Indonesian Restaurant (where the AWC Prinsjesdag Luncheon is held each year), this adorable dog was pulling his own king and carriage.

Surprisingly, there was no obvious differences from previous years. Afterwards I learned that next year will be extra special because it will be the 200th anniversary of Prinsjesdag.

If you look closely, you can just see Queen Maxima.