Jolanda, Han and the kids left at 2:30 am to catch their flight to Turkey for 2 weeks holiday, so the house-minding starts. Frances' cousin's house in Zoetermeer is beautiful. Lovely garden with lawn and tulips and the house has 4/5 bedrooms with large common areas. Frances is really enjoying the dutch food, but trying not to eat too much. Han, Jolanda and their children have been very welcoming. Our cat
minding and fish feeding duties are not too arduous. Our only concern is that their 17 year old cat who seems to have cat dementia doesn't carc it while our care.
Interestingly the male cat is a real sook, and will sit on anyone not moving, but the female lives mostly outside, is really skittish, and impossible to pat or touch. Sound familair Tamar?
Although I planned a day off from traveling, we still manage to go cycling in the morning and find a huge market, not unlike Orange Grove or many other Saturday markets in Sydney. The food is surprisingly cheap (well cheaper than Sydney), so we stocked up on vegies and some delicious breads.
Cycling back, laden with shopping, we find the local windmill is open and operating (Molen De Hoop) so we pay a visit and climb to the top for a view over Zoetermeer. The mill is still functioning, but not at a commercial level, and mostly a living museum. They sell lots of ‘designer’ flour mixes and other foods for the locals & visitors.
We're slowly getting the hang of riding on the other side of the road.
The weather's unseasonably warm, high 20s, so all of the warm clothes which occupy half of our huge suitcases, remain neatly folded and unused!
After a lunch of local produce, Frances persuades me the ride with her to Noord Aa, a nearby (4-5 kms) lake with a sandy beach for a swim. The water’s cold and a bit brackish, but the place is crowded with local people enjoying the sunshine over the Easter weekend. Frances even saw some topless sun bathers, but unfortunately I was looking the other way - wasn't really appropriate to cycle back for a better look though.
This was the day off.
PS: Thanks for the comments, I'll try to make it a bit more interesting. There are also some pics added to the first couple of days, including a dung beetle for Dani.
