We felt right at home with Margreet and her family. It was a delight to meet her, and her husband, Theo, and their girls, Emily, 10, and Fiona, 8. Margreet does some freelance translating work, being very adept at languages... her English is better than many native speakers. Theo and the girls also speak excellent English, as do most of the Dutch.
Theo is an IT worker for MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship)... it's admirable work they do, flying supplies and medicines and aide workers into remote, poverty-stricken areas of the world. I first met Margreet on my chess website while they were stationed in Nairobi, doing this important work.
So, Emily and Fiona have seen some of the world already, They are delightful girls! Margreet and Theo kindly gave us their bed for the night, and they took the girls' beds, and the poor girls had to 'camp out.' Turns out, they love doing that! Thank you folks for the warm hospitality!
Fiona is always ready to go do something...
So we walked down to a pirate ship on the canal and had some pancakes for dinner...
Emily is a sweetheart, and protective of her little sister...
Easter was in the air, and in the shops, from this point on during our trip....
Herewith a short video about the Pancake Ship...
It was coolish but, by no means, frigid. The cheap prices and the lack of crowds make it an excellent time to visit Europe. Even Easter weekend wasn't too bad as far as crowds or lodging availability. And for this trip, the dollar was almost at parity with the euro, so that was welcome.
These two girls would melt a pirate's heart...
And these two... well, a pirate would have his hands full, I think...
The adult table...
Waiting for our pannenkoeken... the pancakes are huge and thin... with all manner of sweet and savory ingredient and topping options... all pancakes... all good... and good company!
We left the Pannenkoekschip at about the children's hour... a time for reflection...
What a nice, fun, loving, intelligent family! It was great to meet you folks!
Please tell the Easter Bunny thank you for the eggs we found under our pillow.
