Nederland / The Netherlands
(Tu 24-Dec-2002 / Mo 14-Jan-2003)
Nederland / The Netherlands(Tu 24-Dec-2002 / Mo 14-Jan-2003) |
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Departure from Vancouver International Airport. The plane was scheduled to leave at 18.40. KLM Boeing 767 flight KL 682 with seat 30G. There were only 36 passengers aboard (1 in business class). Ton connected well with the flight attendants and we all started nice conversations about Christmas, food, cell phones and Ton's girlfriend Sjoukje. Just before landing the cabin crew offered Ton and bottle of champagne to share with Sjoukje.
The arrival time at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport was scheduled for 13.20 (local time). Amsterdam is 9 hours ahead of time compared to Vancouver.
13.00 (Local) Arrival at Schiphol airport where Sjoukje picked me up. The plane landed 30 minutes earlier than scheduled. We drove to Oldenzaal where Ton changed into a Santa Claus suite. Sjoukje and Ton also exchanged their (Christmas) presents. We then drove to his brother Henk's place for dinner. Ton's parents were overwhelmed with the surprising appearance of Ton with Sjoukje. They were not aware of his trip plan.
Sjoukje and Ton went from Oldenzaal naar Oenkerk (via MacDonald's in Steenwijk). We quickly dropped off Crystal Reports 9 at Coos Visser.
Johnny and Yvonne visited us in Oenkerk. We visited the local pub. we had an evening walk.
To Groningen where we shopped and visited Francis and Herman before driving to Coos and Cisca in Leeuwarden. We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant "El Pacho".
After breakfast at 4 PM (!) we went to a lunchroom in Leeuwarden. Chinese for dinner.
Breakfast with Coos before a short trip a short trip from Leeuwarden to Amsterdam where we stayed at the Bastion Hotel in Noord-West. We watched TV with McDonalds and champagne.
After breakfast we took a bus ride to downtown Amsterdam (10 minutes). We
walked from Central Station to De Bijenkorf, the "Dam", Peek & Cloppenburg (Ton
bought 3 pants), The "Magna Plaza" Mall and Kalverstraat. There we had coffee
with "tosti".
We arrived back in Oenkerk around 4.30 PM. After 7 PM church we spent New Year's
Eve watching tv (the best of "Kopspijkers" and Lebbis & Jansen) and playing
scrabble.
Oenkerk (Netherlands): After midnight Sjoukje and Ton went to Dettie's family
where we also met with Froukje and Peter. Together we went to a party in the
sports facility. They had a DJ, live music and lots of beer there. We went back
home around 5.30 AM and woke up at 11.00 AM.
Sjoukje's brother Anne-Pier and family arrived at noon for dinner and "oliebollen."
18.30: We arrived in Oldenzaal at Ton's parents place. Ton's brother Henk and
his family were there too.
17.00-01.00 We visited Marie-Jose Vaanhold in Hengelo.
We visited Peter Grosse and Marianne Lammers in Breukelen. We went to a pizzeria in Breukelen for dinner.
15.00-17.00 Driving from Breukelen to Oldenzaal. Ton's parents had "boerenkool
met worst" for dinner.
11.00-04.30 Sjoukje and Ton went to club "New York" where Ton DJ'd for over an
hour.
After watching the European championships speed skating we drove to Oenkerk where we had dinner around 07.30 PM.
Around noon we left Oenkerk and drove to CWI in Leeuwarden. From there we
went to Harlingen for groceries. We also had a quick lunch at a sandwich shop.
At 14.15 we took the ferry "Oost-Vlieland" (Rederij Doeksen) to the island
called Vlieland. The sailing took about 1.5 hours. After we arrived in the
harbour we needed a 10 minute walk to our residency called "Seepynck" (Lutinelaan
33a). Sjoukje had arranged this until Friday. The small house is suitable for
max. 3 people and has 2 floors.
After a short walk in the village we did some more grocery shopping and went
back to make dinner and watch a video (Crimson Tide).
After a very late breakfast we left at 15.00 to visit the tourist information center. We also explored the village and visited the only pub open .. The Praethuys. After a good hot chocolate (with rum) and a play of cards (hearts) we had to go back to the house to make some phone calls. We then returned to The Praethuys where we had dinner.
We rented bycicles in the afternoon and make a very cold (-5 degees) bike ride over the island. The trip was 19 km. long. We returned to The Praethuys to warm ourselves up with hot chocolate (and rum) and play some cards. We made dinner at the house.
We returned the bikes at 12.30 and started a very cold beach walk (2 hours). Of course we ended at The Praathuys for a play of cards and some drinks (e.g. wodka cinzano) before we went to the house for dinner.
We had to wake up early to prepare for the ferry trip back to Harlingen and
to clean the house before 10 AM. We then walked to the ferry terminal (10 min.)
where we had to wait for almost 2 hours before the boat left at 11.45 AM.
Around 13.30 we arrived in the harbour of Harlingen. It was so cold that parts
of ice floated in the harbour. We quickly drove to Oenkerk to mail a few
postcards. We then dropped of our stuff at Sjoukje's parents place before going
to Dokkum to do some shopping (shoes, cigars, etc.). We returned to Sjoukje's
parents for dinner at 7 PM.
13.00 After breakfast Sjoukje and Ton went shopping in Leeuwarden.
17.30 Dinner at Sjoukje's parents.
20.10 We picked up Sjoukje's friend Dettie and drove to Country City bowling
center in Leeuwarden. There we met Peter and Froukje, Johnny and Yvonne and Kor
and Ernestine.
21.30-22.30 Bowling game, ladies against the gents. The ladies won, best bowler
was Ernestine.
After the bowling wefinished our drinks and went to a pub in the center of
Leeuwarden.
08.00 Waking up and breakfast
11.45 We left Oenkerk and drove to Oldenzaal (2 cars and2-way radios switched
on).
14.15-15.15 We paid a surprise visit at Marcel and Evelien Holsbeek in
Oldenzaal.
17.00 Excellent dinner at "Herberg" in Oldenzaal with Ton's parents and his
brother Henk's family.
21.30 Drinks at Ton's parents home before calling it a night.
08.30 Waking up.
09.30 Breakfast.
10.15-11.00 Packing suit case. Ton gave the Buddha Bar III 2 CD to Sjoukje.
11.00 Driving from Oldenzaal to Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport.
14.00 Checked in and had a drink with Sjoukje.
15.00 Cashed in Eur 13.00 at the duty free counter.
15.40 Boarding of the plane (Boeing 767-300 ER named "Bosporusbrug") started. The plane was full. It can hold 220 passengers. KLM Boeing 767 flight KL 681 with seat 38F.
15.55 Scheduled departure time.
16.10 Taxiing started. Movies during the flight were 1) The Tuxedo with
Jackie Chan and Jennifer Love Hewitt and 2) Scooby-Doo with Sarah Michelle
Gellar (Buffy), Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) and Freddie Prinze Jr.
Dinner: "Kriel" potatoes, mixed vegetables and chicken in mustard sauce. Salad
with baby shrimps. And a fresh baked bun. During the flight (above Iceland) the
purser asked all aboard if there was a medical doctor on board.
An hour before landing we had a light meal: rice, chicken in bbq sauce and a
warm bun.
17.05 PM (Local): The plane landed about 5 minutes after estimated time of
arrival. Richard and Magda were there to pick me up. Magda was leaving to Norway
at 20.40 so we stayed at the airport to check her in and had a few drinks. Chris
and Malwinka were joining us.
07.00 Back to work.
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