The Hague

 Need to get this blog going again. Lots going on and no time to write...

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Summer vacation is over. We’re back in Nairobi and back to the routines. Jet lag wasn’t too bad this time and we’re all adjusted to East Africa time. I would have liked to begin writing this up as we traveled but there just wasn’t time. You'll understand as you get a better idea of what all happened. So I’ll catch up, chapter by chapter of what was a long journey.

and we're off on the long journey...

We began by flying to the Netherlands as we have often done in the past. We have friends there that we met during our days in Burundi. Traveling through Amsterdam was beneficial when the girls were little in that it broke up the trip, getting out of the plane after one long-haul flight. Two long-haul back-to-back flights is a lot for kids who can’t watch movies yet and/or don’t want to sleep. It's a lot for parents too.

We arrived at Schiphol Airport, a place we know very well, a bit bleary-eyed after the night flight. But it’s a similar time zone so no jet lag. Our friend Anne picked us up and we drove to The Hague. The last time we were there was pre-pandemic so there was much to discuss. We’re big fans of Holland so it was good just to be back and hang out.

Over the years, with this life I’ve led, I’ve met hundreds and hundreds of people, some of whom are friends who end up in my inner circle. Though there is often a will to stay in touch and/or eventually meet up again at some point, in spite of the best intentions, it almost never happens. Living in many countries and traveling to dozens more, it’s just not tenable, even with the benefit of the internet, to stay connected to so many people. For whatever reason, our friends in The Hague (whom we met in Bujumbura) have remained close. Admittedly, the staying power of the friendships benefits from the fact that we frequently fly through the Netherlands on our way to the US. Nonetheless, it does take some commitment to dedicate precious vacation days when it's a zero sum situation: days in Holland mean fewer days with family.

Much of our time was spent either at their house or out at a nearby park playing football (soccer). Given that they are Dutch, they have a bevy of bicycles which enabled all of us, as we have done in the past, to smoothly move about the city. Though Europe had been suffering through a heat wave, we were blessed with perfect weather throughout the time we were there.

One excursion we made was to the somewhat well-known city of Delft. I’m a bit surprised, after dozens of trips to the Netherlands, that I had never been there before. Delft is a bike ride of about 9 km. (a little over 5 /12 miles) from the Hague – a scenic ride, most of the time along various canals and always on wide bike paths.

The city has a rich history and is loaded with historic buildings. It played a highly influential role in the Dutch Golden Age (late 1500s to the late 1600s), when Dutch trade, science, art and colonization were among the most prominent in Europe. During this time, it was home for the famous Dutch East India Company. It’s also a well-known university town and renowned for the Delft ceramic pottery (styled on the imported Chinese porcelain of the 17^th century).

Our hosts had organized a boat trip through the canals of the city. I realize that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I genuinely enjoy this sort of thing. I’ve done boat tours in various cities including San Antonio (TX), St. Paul (MN), Venice, London and Paris. Maybe others that I’m not remembering right now. In most cases, it’s the guide that can make it worthwhile. On this day we had a surprisingly entertaining university student with a dry sense of humor. The canals are narrow at times, often with limited clearance beneath centuries old bridges. She was quite talented at navigating these obstacles, all the while holding a microphone in her left hand and steering with the right, likely out late the night before.

After walking around, having lunch in a large square teeming with people enjoying the sunny afternoon, we made our way back to the bicycles for the ride back to The Hague. I remain a huge fan of the Netherlands.

The next day we caught a train back to Amsterdam to catch out flight. A great first leg of our trip under our belts.