How Could I Forget Haarlem?

Dear 'Fans',

Last Sunday Ken & Marijke took me to a delightful church in her home town of Haarlem which is near Amsterdam. We met members of the congregation and heard a beautiful yet small organ being played which was sweet. Ken is always thrilled to talk to folks whose mother-tongue is English but this particular time one of the ladies (Diana) was from his grandparents' village of Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England. Small world, eh? One new friend, Mary let us use her cell phone to make sure that Marijke's cousin Ankje was still expecting us later that afternoon.




As usual, you can look at more pictures at the following link (there are lots of pictures of canals, ships, old homes, fancy front doors and the proverbial windmill.)

http://photobucket.com/Haarlem_photos



But here are some shots of the train station for the grands. We wanted to see how it had changed over these many years and were amazed that the parking and bus areas were being totally reconstructed. The double-decker bike racks are always a source of amazement for us. It'd be bit like 'Where's Waldo' trying to find where you'd parked your wheels after getting off the train, I expect. And of course you'd rather it wouldn't be raining, too - but for the dutch, that's just liquid sunshine.







We did get lost on our walking tour of the town later so you can say the next picture is the first time on record that Ken actually asked for directions (well, on foot anyway!)



By the way, we DID end up taking Ankje and Timmo out to eat at the beach Sunday evening but, alas, no pictures! And Pepijn didn't want to join us. He missed out. We ate well with the best atmosphere and company.

More on some other Molijn family members tomorrow 'cause one of Marijke's cousins is turning 50!! I won't get to go to her party but I did get to see her & part of her family recently - the day I visited Noah's Ark actually!!

Resting just long enough to feast on the latest memories, T