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Our Week in the Netherlands

A brief description of our trip to Holland
taken 18 April - 26 April 1997.

Written by Ann M. DeYoung,
with editing by Dennis DeYoung and Reinder Hoekstra

SATURDAY: Dennis and Tori arrived two hours late and without Dennis' parents, Ann & Ron (a snowstorm had delayed them an extra day). They were met by Hannie & Reinder, their daughter Antsje, and Henk & Fenna who didn't have to wait long because they knew the plane would be late after getting an update from their TV (a nice feature they have there.) The suitcases went into Reinder's car while Dennis and Tori went into Henk & Fenna's car. Back at the Hoekstra residence in Epe (pronounced 'Ape-eh') we had some food and nice talk and went to bed early.

SUNDAY: In the morning Henk & Fenna took Dennis & Tori on a tour of the old east coast of the Zuiderzee (Inland Sea). They visited the small city of Elburg where the first dose of small houses and small cobblestone and brick streets was received with awe. A beautiful canal surrounds the city walls (the first of many pictures!) From there they drove by some tulip fields and a modern wind-park (new windmills) by a long dyke (sheep were busy keeping the grass short here to make for thick roots and little erosion). [See Pic 1.] Next stop was the small fishing village of Urk. This used to be an island in the middle of the Zuiderzee but is now a small hill on the shore of the IJsselmeer (IJssel Lake). This was a nice introduction to the Polder system, land reclaimed from the sea (the "new land"). Tulips were everywhere on the drive to Lelystad (Lay-lee-stad) to meet up with Hannie & Reinder who had been to Schiphol to pick up Ron & Ann who were now arriving.

From the airport Reinder drove over the dyke that separates the Markermeer from the land. There was a wildlife sanctuary along the dyke on the land side. In Lelystad, the capitol of the province of Flevoland, we ate apple cake and then toured the Batavia II and the shipyard where it was built. [See Pic 2 & 3.] Using traditional methods, about one ship is completed every 10 years. The Batavia II is a replica of a merchant ship that sailed around the Cape of Good Hope and was destroyed in a storm while carrying spices from the Dutch Indies back to the Netherlands. We had dinner at Henk and Fenna's home in Swifterbant and saw the beginnings of Henk's train layout and their garden. We also watched a video about the Elfstedentocht, the "Eleven Cities Tour", which is a 200 kilometer ice skating race on the canals through eleven of the Frisian cities. It is only possible to have this race during the occasional winter when there is a severe freeze. All returned to Epe to sleep.

MONDAY: Traveled into the province of North Holland, across the dyke that separates the IJsselmeer from the Markermeer, to Enkhuizen where we would tour the Zuiderzee Open Air Museum. [See Pic 4-6.] This was a village recreated with several buildings from each town around the coast of the old Zuiderzee, all of which had been built in the 1500's - 1700's. There were several demonstrations on-going to show what life might have been like. The laundry building, the ladies cooking and eating, the man delivering peat which was used for fuel. First visit to a Dutch bakery for Dennis and Tori while walking around Enkhuizen! We all ate some incredible pastries! Then we took one of Reinder's famous "detours" over several of the dykes where we saw windmills and tulip fields- all near Hoorn. We saw a beautiful old farm village called Kwadijk. From there we went to Volendam which turned out to be a disappointment- very "touristy" but we did some shopping.

TUESDAY: We toured Kasteel Doorwerth (Castle Doorwerth). [See Pic 7.] We (Dennis, Ann, & Reinder) got into the Coats of Arms of the various families and their descendants. The castle was used by the Germans and was severely damaged by the Allies prior to "Operation Market-Garden" during the Battle of Arnhem in 1944. The stairs built within the walls were re-discovered after the war (Ann counted 21 narrow stairs in one set.) We ate in Zutphen at 2:30pm in a lunchroom where great effort went into translating the menu. We then went to visit Alberta (All-berta) who is Bearn's daughter, and Cor, in their rented farmhouse from 1881 in Ruurlo. There was another castle near by, and it felt as though we were in one of the outbuildings with the rough-hewn timbers as beams and the wood used on some parts of the walls inside. The former door had been replaced with a beautiful, huge window that had a plant sill in front of it. Outside you could see trees and fields, but heard a modern train rush through the countryside nearby. The huge antique furniture added to the charm. We had "breads" there. Alberta was the nervous hostess, but seemed to enjoy the contact with people even distantly related.

WEDNESDAY: Went to Fryslan [Dutch: Friesland]. A "terp" is a raised land on which to build a house (or sometimes a small village) in this area because the land traditionally had flooded twice a day with the tides. Ron and Dennis took pictures of old Kampen (we had driven through new parts of this city on a "detour" the night before) along the IJssel River. Walked around Sleat [Sloten], a very small city that Henk & Fenna enjoy sailing to in the summer. It's a pretty town, set up for summer tourists. [See Pic 8.] A shop owner, named de Jong, had no time for business as Tori wanted to buy a trivet, but he shut us out! Took pictures of Frisian horses in a distant field, laundry and curtains hanging/blowing from windows, and a lovely church. On to Sneek (Snake) [the Frisian name is "Snits", but it has not been officially changed yet] where we "shopped" for tourist gifts and had lunch. The men went to a small train museum while the women went to a grocery store. Got more sugar bread (only in Fryslan!) for breakfast, and things for supper. On the way to Akkrum, Ann took pictures of farmhouses [See Pic 9.] on a deliberate detour through farming countryside in Goajingea [Goenga] and Gau (pronounced as "gao"; the English "g", then a short Dutch "a", just like in the English word "awe", and ending in a light "o") [Gauw]. At Reitse and Jikke's home we had orange (yum!) and tea/coffee. [See Pic 10.] Fijkje, Henk's older sister, made a special effort to come to meet us, riding her bike to get there. At Gytsjerk [Giekerk] we visited Coen and Geartsje and had more orange cake and tarts with tea/coffee. We checked out the garden there. Coen is recovering from a stroke (3 weeks ago). Also went to the churchyard in Oentsjerk [Oenkerk], and drove past the butcher shop, bakery, and the house where Grandpa Ben DeYoung was born in 1905 as Berend de Jong. [See Pic 11 & 12.] Henk & Fenna went home to pick up a car, and then came back to Epe for dinner. Henk went home to work on Thursday, while Fenna stayed for the trip to Amsterdam and went home Friday morning to go back to work.

THURSDAY: Went to Antsje's home: Ambachtlaan 21, 2838 DB Hoogland. She shared her artwork that hangs in her home. Then she drove to Amsterdam with all of us. We took the subway/tram/trolley into Amsterdam. [See Pic 13.] We visited the Anne Frank house (a moving experience) and had lunch at the "David and Golliath" lunchroom. Took a canal boat ride. Saw the canal of seven bridges, and canal houses. Shopping in the old post office, "Magna Plaza". We walked a lot! Dennis and Tori tried to photograph Kasteel Muiderslot from a distance. (We were to late for a tour.) Had dinner around 10pm at the "Happy Garden" (Chinese) in Antsje's hometown. Delicious and beautifully presented, complete with garnishes carved to look like roses/animals. Dishes were placed on candle powered warmers down the center of the table for eight. No fortune cookies though- only in the USA!

FRIDAY: Ron rented a LITTLE car (a glorified riding lawnmower) in Epe. Drove near Zaltbommel along the Waal River, which carries 2/3 of the boat traffic between Germany and the North Sea. Near 's Hertogenbosch was Kasteel Ammersoyen about 2 hours south of Epe. Greeted by the manager, dressed in navy blazer and gray flannels, who invited us to join him in a fresh pot of coffee and some apple cake. We "needed to wait" for a guide, a former KLM stewardess who spoke English! Quite the ploy as we observed several cakes being delivered while we were eating. Fun tour, complete with furniture and utensils of six centuries. There were staircases in the 2 meter thick walls leading up to the four towers, one on each corner. Here again were staircases in the walls, all of which had been closed off sometime in the history of the castle and then found and re-opened. The steps were uneven to slow down any intruders. Bought some souvenirs. As we were leaving, saw a couple arrive for their wedding (bride - Indonesian, dressed in black and red.) The castle stable now is the town hall, but only until 1998 when it again reverts to castle property. Went to de Hoge Veluwe, a national park with the Kroller-Muller Rijks Museum. Saw paintings by van Gogh (big collection), Renoir - "The Clown", Picasso, Monet - "The Studio Boat". Back at Epe, met Remmelt, Judith, and their darling little blonde daughter, Ilse, who put books back onto the shelf at 17 months! Learned of their plan to farm in France. (On the inside with this knowledge- most of the family did not know yet!) This night the heat in the caravan (Dennis and Tori's home away from home) gave out for the next two days!

SATURDAY: Henk and Fenna came for breakfast. [See Pic 14.] Hard to say good-bye! We ate then went to Lisse (Lissa) to wait for the 50th Anniversary Bulb Area Flower Parade. Many floats- hyacinths by the thousands, as well as lilies- and charter busses from all over Europe. Ate bakery treats by car. Tulip field right across from the car. Dennis took a windmill photo in Aalsmeer. While dinner was cooking, Ron, Dennis, and Reinder went to return the rented car and have a quick tour of Epe and another castle nearby, Kasteel de Cannenburgh in Vaassen, (Dennis still had film left!)

SUNDAY: Reinder pulled the spare tire from his Audi, and we condensed suitcase/carry-ons. All went into the car, (Hannie had to stay at home) as the five of us piled in and headed for the Schiphol airport at 7am. After telling Reinder good-bye, we power-shopped the duty-free shops before getting our flight. (A good way to get rid of that last couple hundred Guilder…) What a great trip - much thanks go to our Dutch family!

Notes by Reinder:

As I said, it was a very accurate report. I also was amazed that you had so many names well spelled. (Dennis' note: he's to nice, actually 1/3 needed correcting by him!) I enjoyed very much to read it and think about the nice time we had with you here in The Netherlands. I made a copy on paper for both Henk and Fenna and for us.

Some remarks on Dutch/Frisian writing:

In Dutch (not in Frisian), we have the letter "ij", or in capital "IJ" (similar to the English and Frisian "y" or "Y".) The two syllables "i" and "j" together form one letter.

As I mentioned before, we had some geographical renaming in Fryslan. In former centuries, when the Holland influence in the Netherlands was getting stronger, the geographical names were also spelled in the Holland-way Dutch. So also in Fryslan the original Frisian names were transformed to Dutch spelling. Since the last 25 or 50 years a strong movement in the "border"-provinces of Holland was to return to the original spelling. For a long time, the Dutch was the only official spelling, but after WWII the Frisian language was proclaimed by the central government as the second official language in the Netherlands. Several "counties" in Fryslan also changed the official spelling back into the Frisian; that law in the Oentsjerk/Gytsjerk area, where Coen and Geartsje are living, went into power on the 1st of January 1989. By example, the "county" where Reitze and Jikke are living the law changing the names took effect February 1st 1989 (however, Akkrum is spelled in Frisian and Dutch the same). Also the province of Friesland changed officially its name into the original Fryslan.

So I made some suggestions on this subject by entering the official names now, and in between […] the former Dutch names. A lot of people are not used to use the new "old" names (official now) in formal writing. However, they always used the original Frisian names in speech.

Dennis' notes in 2001:

A couple of years ago we lost both Fenna and Reinder to cancer. They were two of the most special people I have ever known. Both were quick with a smile or a helping hand and full of life. I'll never forget the way Fenna took care of translating for us (even translating the English spoken by a tour guide on a canal in Amsterdam!) and the work Reinder did on our family history, helping me find my roots.

We have since lost both Reitse and Coen after long, rich lives also.