Familie Ties
My mother was born in Batavia (Java) to Dutch parents. Although she never lived here we do have some family ties in the Netherlands. Staying in Amsterdam we had to at least try and catch up with some family. We didn't have a great deal of spare time, but the time we did have we spent with one of my uncles and my cousin and her family. I had met them before when they came to Australia but that was over 15 years ago and memories do fade slightly on appearances. Anouk (my cousin) was my first point of contact through facebook and as she didn't use it often it took a while to get a response. I was excited to get a response and more so that we were able to work out a time to catch up. She also contacted my uncle Frans who was also going to meet up with us.
Anouk had planned a day at Kasteel de Haar, a beautifully renovated castle dating back to the 13th century. She has also given us some travel plans to get from Amsterdam to Bruekelen. Ann and I had already done a test walk to the Metro station, and being unfmailiar with the transport system here we decided to leave early. We caught the train from the Waterloo station to Amsterdam Centraal station where we needed to change trains to get us to Bruekelen. We thought we would take a look around before meeting up with Frans. As the station approached we noticed a lack of buildings close by. The station is actually out of town and the only thing close by is a hotel, a windmill and a McDonalds. With that choice we decided on Maccas for a coffee and a call to Frans to let him know we arrived early. I guess in hindsight I should have called when we left Amsterdam as he was about a 45 minute drive from the station.
When Frans arrived he immediately recognised me, and aside from us both being a little greyer than our last meeting, not much had changed. We talked about our families and what has happened over the past 20 years since we last met. It was like it was only yesterday! We made our way to Castle deHaar where we would meet up with Anouk and her family.
It fell into disrepair in the late 18th and 19th Century' s and was renovated under the guidance of architect Pierre Cuypers for Baron Etienne van Zuylen van Nijevelt van de Haar. As we walked around the castle you got a real feel for the castle in its prime. It has been a tradition for the original family to spend one month a year residing in the castle and over the years has hosted many celebrities such as Roger Moore, Coco Chanel and Brigitte Bardot to name a few. The grounds are on 135 acres of land and are a popular picnic place in the summer.
All too soon our time came to an end and we had to say our farewells. Frans dropped us back at the train station and we were soon on our way to Amsterdam on a very crowded train. Back in the city we had our dinner and then back to the Hotel to pack for tomorrows departure before retiring for the night.
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