Sunday, November 2nd
We headed out to a charming village called Hillegom to have lunch at the home of some friends'. Nearby was a really cute deer and goat zoo.
Sunday, November 9th
I had been intrigued by a Scandinavian cafe called Smorrebrod that I had spotted in the nearby de Pijp neighborhood. I had noticed they had weekend brunch so the brunch-a-holic that I am, I had told Dan about it. He made a reservation there for us to celebrate the anniversary of the day we met (November 8, 1997). We arrived and the brunch was incredible!! There were three kinds of herring (mustard, tomato-relish, and dill). There was fresh salmon, deviled eggs with shrimp, swedish meatballs with a horseradish-lingonberry sauce, an scrambled egg bake, waffles, and a special soup. There were plenty of toys for the girls to play with and it was very relaxing. For Liliane, they made pink lemonade and Swedish pancakes. It was a great way to celebrate with the girls!
Tuesday, November 11th
The Netherlands has a special children’s holiday called St. Maarten’s Day. In a way, it is like Halloween in that children go to neighborhood homes and receive treats. The difference is that the children do not dress up, but they carry homemade lanterns and must sing songs to “earn” the treat from the neighbors.
The girls and I went to Vondelpark and joined a procession that walked through the park. The procession was led by a police band that played fun music. It was great! In the park, there were some people on the side of the path that were giving out candy. There are some special songs to sing, but I didn't know them. It's possible Liliane knows them from daycare, but I couldn't have begun to guess. Instead, Liliane sang “Row, row, row the boat” to earn some candy. Unfortunately, I didn’t understand what the definition of a “lantern” was until I got to the procession. Because of this, the girls were without lanterns. There were many beautiful and creative lanterns. Because of the darkness, I couldn’t really get great pictures of them.
After the procession ended, the band stuck around to play a few songs. Then we stopped at a few homes where I had seen the owners opening up doors for kids. It was a great night!
The Netherlands has a special children’s holiday called St. Maarten’s Day. In a way, it is like Halloween in that children go to neighborhood homes and receive treats. The difference is that the children do not dress up, but they carry homemade lanterns and must sing songs to “earn” the treat from the neighbors.
The girls and I went to Vondelpark and joined a procession that walked through the park. The procession was led by a police band that played fun music. It was great! In the park, there were some people on the side of the path that were giving out candy. There are some special songs to sing, but I didn't know them. It's possible Liliane knows them from daycare, but I couldn't have begun to guess. Instead, Liliane sang “Row, row, row the boat” to earn some candy. Unfortunately, I didn’t understand what the definition of a “lantern” was until I got to the procession. Because of this, the girls were without lanterns. There were many beautiful and creative lanterns. Because of the darkness, I couldn’t really get great pictures of them.
After the procession ended, the band stuck around to play a few songs. Then we stopped at a few homes where I had seen the owners opening up doors for kids. It was a great night!
Here were some lanterns:
A short video from the end of the procession:
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