In which we covered the northern part of our Netherlands trip, returned to Amsterdam for one last hurrah, headed over to Edinburgh, spent time on the Island of Lismore, headed back to Edinburgh and then jumped a plane.
Our time with Harriet and her family in Zeijen (tiny tiny town in the mid-north of Holland, pronounced kindof like Zion) was wonderful. They are such welcoming people! After "Venice", we visited the biggest zoo in Europe (seriously huge and pretty impressive...my mixed feelings about zoos aside), and Jaya saw his first baby moose - just born and taking it's first steps. Very cool.
Then it was back to Amsterdam for one night at Henk's (Kelsey's uncle). Henk's place is gorgeous...right on a dyke, and including two extra lots that he leases from the city as an extended garden. Fantastic. Henk's pretty great too.
And then it was time to go. Sad to say goodbye, knowing we're not likely to be back for five or six years...but I really felt like I got to know the people who populate that part of Kelsey's life, and I know Kelsey felt renewed. His Dutch is pretty incredible for someone who spent just six months learning it when he was 14. People constantly commented that he sounds like a native speaker. And I really notice now how must more fluent he is with Jaya, with just that little bit of practice. I think Kels misses the linguistic company though (Jaya's conversational skills are fantastic, of course, but perhaps a little less nuanced than Kels is looking for), so any of you Dutch speakers (Marijke?) are welcome for dinner any time!
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