Today we planned to travel to Zoetermeer by train to catch up with Han and Jolanda and pick up the luggage we left there before heading of for the river cruise, Italy and France.
Ed volunteered to come with us to Breda which is his home town and on the way, and give us a guided tour of the city. Breda is quite a big city, again with a long history, and again different to other places in Holland that we’ve visited. Ed was a fantastic guide, as usual much better to have a guide with a passionate local knowledge. For example he was able to distinguish the old buildings from the new ones. He also pointed out some of the important places in the city’s colourful history, including the house where he grew up, which now a street full of bars and part of the city’s nightlife.
The rest of the train trip was uneventful, except for the number of train changes as there is no direct link between Etten-Leur and Zoetermeer. It was great to catch up with Han, Jolanda and the kids as we hadn’t seen them since before their trip to Turkey.
We had a very interesting dinner, roti from a Surinam restaurant. These were nothing like roti we’d before – a large roti (which seemed to be made from maize) containing potato, curry and string beans, wrapped like a bundle. Just when you think you’ve seen everything…
After dinner, Han generously offered to drive us and our luggage back to Etten-Leur which we really appreciated. We also left our GPS with him, now converted to Dutch, and it apparently now pronounces Dutch streets and place names properly – thanks, and good luck Han.
Ed volunteered to come with us to Breda which is his home town and on the way, and give us a guided tour of the city. Breda is quite a big city, again with a long history, and again different to other places in Holland that we’ve visited. Ed was a fantastic guide, as usual much better to have a guide with a passionate local knowledge. For example he was able to distinguish the old buildings from the new ones. He also pointed out some of the important places in the city’s colourful history, including the house where he grew up, which now a street full of bars and part of the city’s nightlife.
The rest of the train trip was uneventful, except for the number of train changes as there is no direct link between Etten-Leur and Zoetermeer. It was great to catch up with Han, Jolanda and the kids as we hadn’t seen them since before their trip to Turkey. 
We had a very interesting dinner, roti from a Surinam restaurant. These were nothing like roti we’d before – a large roti (which seemed to be made from maize) containing potato, curry and string beans, wrapped like a bundle. Just when you think you’ve seen everything…After dinner, Han generously offered to drive us and our luggage back to Etten-Leur which we really appreciated. We also left our GPS with him, now converted to Dutch, and it apparently now pronounces Dutch streets and place names properly – thanks, and good luck Han.
