Visiting NedTrain...

Over the years we’d talked to Michael, from The Hague Hash, about taking a tour of where he works: NedTrain, one of the large maintenance yards for trains in the Netherlands. During an open house in October, he gave us a personal tour, which was actually a lot more interesting than I’d expected.

We started in this beautiful old train, which housed a conference room for the chairman of the national trains.

Michael, originally from Ireland, moved to the Netherlands to work as a carpenter for a shipbuilder. He then transitioned to working at NedTrain, where he specializes in upholstery. Here are replacement seat parts for the sprinter, which is the trains that we ride from our local station.

Jimmy was amazed by how streamlined the undercarriages of the trains were.

Leiden Liberation Parade...

October 3 was a beautiful day with ideal weather for watching the Leiden Liberation Parade, celebrating the liberation from the Spanish in 1574. This year Jenny came along with me. We watched from my usual spot near the end of the route. The theme was On Tour. Very impressed that this lady might have walked on top of this globe along the entire route.

Guess it’s always important to take toothpaste along when touring.

Loved this six-man cycling band.

Only in Holland!

This wooden couple were quite unusual...

...so were these Venus fly traps.

Strangest of all were these odd, but cool entries.

Of course, seeing the Flintstones and their prehistoric car made me smile. That night, Jimmy and I cycled into Leiden with Kent and Carlin to check out the music; Ashlynn and Veronica felt very grown up going into town on their own. We were especially impressed with the large platform floated on the main canal as a giant dance floor.

A Sunday in The Hague...

Jimmy and I spent an afternoon in The Hague in late September. We saw these cool sand sculptures in the city center. This depicted the landing of Prince Willem on the beach in Scheveningen 200 years ago, which led to independence for the Netherlands.

Here’s The Hague’s skyline.

Then we headed to the beach. When we stopped for a beer, we came across some folks doing some team building games on the sand. Seeing adults playing football while inside giant inflatable balls was pretty hilarious.

Eventually we made it down to the pier where we found the remnants of the Kite Festival, which was very small this year. Other than having an interesting conversation with some of the kite makers and seeing this cute owl, it was pretty disappointing.

The Grounds of Palace Het Loo...

It was a lovely day, so we took a nice walk around the grounds.

In addition to a variety of carriages, the garage held a few unusual items like this pair of anti-gas wagons from 1940 for Princesses Beatrix and Irene...

...and this snazzy speedster from 1969 for Princes Willem-Alexander (now King), Friso and Constantijn.

The beautiful horses usually kept at the Royal Stables in The Hague were on site for some special events of the Royal Family.

Across from the Apeldoorn train station, we found this great bike.

Palace Het Loo...

I was happy when an AWC member put together a trip to Palace Het Loo (The Woods Palace) in Apeldoorn to see a Grace Kelly special exhibit. It was a fascinating look at a beautiful woman and included many of her gowns from her days in Hollywood and as a princess in Monaco (unfortunately, photography was prohibited).

Afterwards, we wandered through the palace itself. Built in 1686, it was a residence of the House of Orange until the death of Queen Wilhelmina in 1962.

It became a museum in 1984 showcasing the original furniture and artwork.

Queen Wilhelmina’s playroom was especially charming.

Celebrating The Hague Hash’s1800th...

After Ashlynn’s race, Jimmy and I caught a train to Bodegraven for a special hash event. The weather was perfect and the scenery lovely as we ran through the middle of the market in the center of town before heading to the fields full of sheep...

....and cows (and cow patties).

The fields were separated by canals, which we crossed via a series of unusual bridges such as this one shaped like a ladder.

Eventually, we looped back into town, ran along the main canal and ended in a parking lot for down-downs.

Then we walked down the street to the Brouwerij de Molen, which is a brewery inside a windmill.

We had a lecture about the old-fashioned brewing process and tasted several beers. Then we crossed the road to see the modern facilities where the hand-crafted beers are now brewed. Lastly, we went back to the windmill for dinner, which was in a lovely setting, but the food was disappointing.

First Cross Country Race...

The BSN was invited to compete against the American School (ASH) and several schools from Belgium and Germany in a friendly 5K cross country meet in the Wassenaar dunes. We rented a Greenwheels car to get Ashlynn there in time for the early morning race.

She’d never done a cross country race before and was a little nervous that she’d miss a turn.

There was no need to worry as she finished strong in 2nd place!

As you can see, Ashlynn was the only high school student representing the BSN. Unfortunately, this was the last race she participated in during 2014. Between a lack of commitment and an injury, she stopped racing. She has a natural gift for running and I’m still hopeful that she’ll make a comeback in the spring.