Zeeland

We arrived in the center of Zeeland to our 'home base' of Middleburg (and aptly named town, in the middle of everything) on Friday. Our hotel was right across the canal from the train station. The canal features two different types of draw bridges (one lifting, one spinning) visible from our hotel. Elena was impressed. That evening we headed off in search of a tasty dinner and decided on a lovely Mediterranean restaurant were we had a great dinner. Elena truly fell in love with the place for their white asparagus soup, fristi, olives, roomijs, AND the adoring wait staff, 'our lady.' We all ate way too much, but it turns out it was good fuel for our next day! On Saturday, we 'quickly' headed off to rent our trusty steeds for the weekend, and secured four rental bikes and one seat 'for lena.' On the road, our goal was the mythical 'sister' resort of our hotel on the beach. A lovely bike ride through the country, one flat tire, one beach town with a bike repair shop, an interesting ride behind the grassy dike, and one additional attempt at directions to the resort (with reserved beach cabana), we gave up and just headed to the beach. It was a perfectly sunny day, warm with hardly any breeze. We staked our spot on the beach and took off for our first dips in The North Sea. The Dutch love their beaches (so do the Germans, we learned) and we understand why. They are long, clean expanses of sand. Behind them rise the grassy dikes, tall like a field of dunes (which we mistook them for). At the base of the dunes are rows of little beach sheds. Simple structures where you can stash your beach chairs, umbrellas, and other gear. Or perhaps duck out of the wind, though we never saw it blow. Elena loved the sand and entertained herself making 'sand soup' for several hours while we took turns napping and walking along the water. The water was cold, but the day was warm. We had long eaten our lunch, and so decided to bike a few kilometers back down the beach to Veers, where there was a Greek restaurant. We had a nice dinner where we impressed the wait staff with our American ability to order water, sparkling water, bitter lemon water, and fermented water. We had not properly stocked water, and buying water is a challenge in the Netherlands (were people seem to exist happily in a state of sunburned dehydration). On our ride home, we shared the road with some local teenagers heading home from the day's horse competition of galloping their horses at full speed to pick a small ring about the size of a two euro coin off a string. Elena was fascinated by the kids on bikes leading and riding horses. We had fun watching them.

The next morning, we headed off to the North to see the Delta Project Stroom - it is a large dam-like gate that allows the current to pass through, but huge doors can be dropped when storms approach to protect Zeeland from floods, like the devastating ones of the 1950's that killed thousands. We were extremely impressed with the size and bikes half way across to the man made island in the middle. Then decided to abort our mission of finding the museum on the subject and return to Zeeland in search of lunch. We biked along the dike and then in the cooler trees behind it to Oosterboek for lunch. Where sandwiches and roomijs waited for us. Then we headed down for a late afternoon at the beach. Elena loves the beach so much. True to her Santa Cruz roots, she seems at peace and so happy digging in the sand. (I supposed most kids are.) It did make me miss our days in Santa Cruz, where a trip to the beach was done with almost no thought and effort. We can't wait for our week in Greece to indulge our little girl with a week at the beach. We sped back to Middleburg for dinner, tired from two long days of biking, we stuck to the bike lane beside the 'highway' for speed. We had a mediocre dinner in a cafe in the Middleburg Square, with a lovely view, but uninspiring cuisine. Dad wanted to submit the day as a 'death march bike ride.' His petition was denied based on the fact that the day included lunch, roomijs, AND a nap on the beach, plus snacks. Therefore, it does not equate with marching five kids up to the top of the a mountain with only bags of Southwest Airlines peanuts, several apples to share, and a ration dessert of 'one tootsie roll each' (remember that one Seth, Dean, and Derek?). Nice try, Dad.

On Monday morning we got up to another great breakfast (they were great fuel for our journey!) and packed up. We returned the bikes, did a bit of shopping, and headed home on the train. Elena, after three days with no naps to speak of and two of those in the hot sun was finally at the end of her rope. But she managed to pen a quick note to Becky on the train (to be sent by messenger) and get home to Utrecht. She made it through several glasses of milk and a small bowl of slagroomijs before falling asleep in her plate. Keeping these grandparents entertained is hard work!