Visitors, Take Five (Wed - Sun)

A few weeks ago, my parents visited us. We crammed a lot of activities into just one week, so I've split their trip into two entries. Feel free to catch up on our adventures in the Visitors, Take Five (Sun - Tues) entry. 

Wednesday, I made my third trip to the touristy city of Delft. While I didn't mind going back, I couldn't imagine any reason to go through the Royal Delft pottery factory again. I sent Mom and Dad on ahead and waited in the cafe with a bottle of water and possibly the worst cupcake I've ever had. (I still finished the whole thing, though. A terrible baked good filled with sugar is still better than a gristly piece of meat or a soggy vegetable.) Even though I wasn't looking forward to learning anything else about pottery, I was interested in two buildings which I'd skipped due to lack of interest or lines on my first two visits: the Nieuwe Kerk and the Oude Kerk. After Mom and Dad finished at the pottery factory, we made the rounds through the two churches.

Since we'd recently visited the Nieuwe and Oude churches in Amsterdam, it was interesting to see how these churches compared. Since the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft sits in the center of a square and isn't surrounded by other buildings, it's easy to see how impressive the building is from the outside.

Nieuwe Kerk, Delft

The groundbreaking for the church happened in 1396 and the building was completed 100 years later. Since then, it has served not only as a place of worship, but as the burial grounds for members of the House of Oranje-Nassau. Because of this connection, the church has a display detailing the history of the royal family, which helped give some historical context to the building and the city.

Inside the Nieuwe Kerk

Next, we moved on to the Oude Kerk, whose foundation was laid in 1246. From the outside, you can see how this same foundation isn't exactly level.

Oude Kerk

Inside, I enjoyed how the church wasn't afraid to incorporate new elements into the historical setting. For example the stained glass below paid homage to the connection between God and science:

Science and the Church

I wasn't quite sure, though, what to make of the art exhibit that was going on inside the church. Modern depictions of dogs, demons, and other random characters and items were scattered around the church. These provided a rough contrast to the old memorials on the edges of the church.

Dog and Memorial/Tomb

Finished touring Delft, we stopped for a bite to eat and then headed on to Keukenhof to see the gardens. While I had already been to the flower display with my inlaws, this was one trip I definitely didn't mind making again. Even though I'd expressed my distaste for tulips a number of times before my first trip to the gardens, I thoroughly enjoyed both visits. I also realized that tulips are really quite pretty when they open, and besides, there were plenty of other types of flowers to enjoy, too. The place is just so relaxing. On this visit, Mom suggested we start on the outermost circle and make our way around the whole place first. I was surprised at the number of things I'd missed the first time, including a lookout point to see the tulip fields which would have been in full bloom on the last visit.

Fields After the Harvest

Odd Flower

Through careful planning and planting, Keukenhof does a great job of making sure there are flowers filling the gardens during their entire season.

After checking tulips off the things-to-see-in-Holland list, Mom and Dad decided they needed to experience the Dutch bicycle riding tradition. On Thursday morning, we rented bikes and headed over to Theehuis Rhijnauwen since it's a convenient distance for a bike ride. Over lunch, Mom and Dad must have forgotten that their legs were feeling tired, because afterward, they agreed to keep riding to the next town, Bunnik. I hadn't been all the way to Bunnik before, and I wouldn't say that it was the most exciting town ever, but it was a nice ride, and once we got there, we were able to walk around and stretch our legs before heading back.

Church in Bunnik

Later that evening, we all ate dinner at Salamat Makan, the Indonesian restaurant Mr. Traveler and I had tried when my brother and his wife visited a few months ago. I think everyone agreed that it was a good choice, which was a good thing because I had a bit of (mostly self-induced) difficulty making the reservation. First, I made the reservation online but forgot to change the number of people from 2 to 4. Then, I had to track down the number and call the restaurant. Unfortunately, I chose to do this before the restaurant opened, which meant I got an employee (probably the owner) at home with his family, and he was holding a screaming child right next to the receiver. Not so good on my ears, but worth it in the end.

Friday morning, we took a short bike ride to get a little more use out of the rentals before returning them. It wasn't quite time for lunch, but Dad was now stuck on trying out a Turkish pizza (which I'd recommended a few days earlier), so we decided to wait until lunch time before heading out of Utrecht. While we waited, I showed Mom and Dad around some of the local stores, including the HEMA, which I think of as a Dutch version of Target. About 5 minutes after the restaurant was supposed to open, we headed back over to get our pizzas; however, we were turned away because the food wasn't ready yet. At this point, I decided we should just try the pizzas that were being sold by a vendor at the market. They ended up being just as good, and the service was wonderful.

During our wait for lunch, we discussed what we were going to do for the day, going back and forth between a walk in the national forest and a trip to the beach. Since we hadn't already decided a plan when we left home, I had done no planning, which actually was a bit liberating. We eventually decided on the beach, figuring we would just ask for directions when we got to the Hague. As soon as we walked out the door of Den Haag Centraal, however, I saw the tram that was heading to the beach. What luck!

One of the things I was most excited about was the sand sculpture festival, which lasts from April 29 to June 27. There were only a very sculptures so far (and mostly just advertisements), but they were still impressive. I'm guessing more sculptures will pop up towards the end of the festival, since it does last for two months.

Sand Sculpture

I wasn't too disappointed in the lack of sculptures, however, because the beach was quite impressive on its own, stretching miles in both directions.

Scheveningen Beach

Saturday, Mom, Dad, and I went to the fabric market (or lapjesmarkt) on Breedstraat in Utrecht. I wasn't really too interested in buying fabric, especially since we have absolutely no storage space in our house (and I don't sew), but I still enjoyed the experience, seeing the variety of fabrics, prices, vendors, and customers. Afterward, we popped over to the flower market before heading home.

Flower Market, Utrecht

When we returned home from the markets, Mr. Traveler was awake (and probably thankful he got to sleep in). We picked him up and headed to lunch at La Place atop the V&D. I've already talked about how much I like to take visitors to this little spot, with its overhead view of Utrecht. Even though the view is not nearly as great as the one from the Dom Tower, the escalators make La Place much more accessible.

Since it was Mom and Dad's last day in town, we decided not to spend too much time hoping back and forth on trains, and stuck around Utrecht for the day. After lunch, we headed over to the botanical gardens at the university, where we enjoyed a walk in the beautiful weather. Even though I could have done without a stop at  every plant (okay, maybe I'm exaggerating), I still had a nice time. And, we even wrapped up the visit in time to make it back to the cheese shop to pick up supplies for dinner before they closed at 4. We spent our last evening together playing games, as we had done several evenings during the week.

Dad Taking Photos at the Gardens

In the morning, it was time to take Mom and Dad back to the airport. We accidentally boarded the train in the silent car. It took Dad a few minutes to figure out what we were trying to tell him about keeping quiet, but eventually he got the message, and we all rode in silence to the airport. At the airport, I helped Mom and Dad find the check in desk, and then we said our goodbyes before they went through security.

On the way home, I felt an unexpected emptiness. Even though I was glad to have some time back for just Mr. Traveler and myself, it was hard to think past the presence of company. It was probably the closest I've come to feeling homesick since we arrived. Having so many people who care about us come and visit was a reminder of what waits for us at home. And even though I am glad to have some time to myself and to get back into my own routine, I would have to say that I did enjoy each and every visit that we've had so far and that I'm looking forward to reunions with all of our friends and family back home this fall.