Van Gogh's "Sunflowers"
Of the 20 original windmills here, 18 of the 19 left standing are private homes. Can you imagine?
People come and go, spending anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months to 2 years to their lifetime serving as volunteers and I have found that one of the most amazing things in serving with Mercy Ships are the friendships I have made with people from all over the world. A friend from Holland, Martha, invited me to visit and plans were quickly made then a friend from Manitoba, Fran, joined us and we spent time with another friend, Jolande, as well. What a fun filled week we had! We started in Amsterdam and I was delighted to visit Van Gogh's museum. We traveled on one of the many canals and saw the home of Anne Frank. We stayed in Haarlem and walked the streets to see "hidden" gardens behind large wooden doors that when you opened you entered a paradise not visible from the streets We stayed near Maram in Martha's home and traveled the back roads to see the beautiful countryside where the barns are attached to the houses and sheep and cattle graze in the pastures. We visited the home of Menno Simons and learned about his life and beliefs. We had tea and coffee every day at roadside establishments and sat in the sun and talked endlessly about everything. We visited museums and saw formal gardens and how early life was lived. We visited Rotterdam to stay with Jolande and saw the windmills at Kinderdijk and traveled by water bus, hopping on and off at various places of interest. Everywhere there is water, in the many canals and behind the dikes that keep the land from flooding. Everywhere there are flowers. Holland is beautiful!
No comments:
Post a Comment