More Brusseleers come to Wassenaar!

John, Oydin and their kids Liam, Audrey and Eliza came to visit this weekend from Brussels! Audrey came to play soccer against ASH, and so we took advantage to catch up! Our families met in DC way back when Liam and Jaffa were 4, and they went to the Apple Tree school together. The kids are all grown up now!! Liam's friend Robert joined as well, and Robert's dad Adrian who lives in The Hague.

It just happened to be the day of the monthly market in Wassenaar, and maybe some other celebration as we saw this beautiful woman in the street as well! It was a fun day, and wonderful to be only 2 hours away from each other.

 

Oscar at the Carré

One of the best things about being in Europe is being able to go places and do things that we have not been able to do before. One of the subjects that Jaffa is focusing on for her IB diploma is theatre, which is a great choice, and ASH organizes some wonderful trips. Last week, Jaffa went to the Carré Theatre in Amsterdam to see a modern dance performance called Oscar. (Stay tuned for the report-out on her London trip in a few weeks!)

She wasn't sure she would like modern dance, but she loved it! There were also acrobats, trapeze artists, and gymnasts. Jaffa's friend Stella has some of those skills too!

They left just after school and got back at midnight, but it was worth it! she said. She said it was super cool and a great opportunity to bond with her classmates. No photos allowed of the performance, but here are some she shared of the theatre

Stroop wafels, DD

 Dunkin' Donuts. Not even kiddin'

The Market Hall in Rotterdam

We took a quick trip to Rotterdam, and most of what we saw was the Markthal!

https://www.markthal.nl/

Such a fabulously painted hall with so many stalls each with a different kind of food to choose from.. it was wonderful 😛

And we saw a couple of other old buildings too, and some of the crazy architecture that Rotterdam is known for, but we'll go back and do it justice another time. After we eat at Markthal again!

 

Madurodam

Madurodam is a theme park that features miniature replicas of many castles and buildings in Holland. Memere loved it! Apparently they change them every so often, so she can go every times she comes to visit!

the building we saw in Delft - see the crests above the door

Schiphol airport!

Lots of ideas of places we need to be sure to go visit!!

Yahtzee!

During Memere's visit, there were a number of Yahtzee matches :) 

 

Mauritshuis, and the Girl with the Pearl Earring

Mauritshuis is a museum in The Hague with a beautiful collection of 17th century Dutch and Flemish paintings. It's a fantastic building and a very nice two-hour visit with so many wonderful things to see. 

 

The museum had information about the trade (sugar and slave) with Brazil, something not commonly talked about. There were also plaques under some paintings that were recovered after having been stolen by the Nazis, the museum is trying to reunite the works with the families of the original owners. 

The detail on the oil paintings is just stunning!

And then.. the last known Rembrandt self portrait, and...

the girl!

 

Delft

So, I'm not going to lie. I wanted to go to Delft for the pottery. And as it turns out, unsurprisingly, it's a super cute town too. Someone should go to university there so I can spent more time there too.

Jaffa picked the lunch place.. yum!

We bumped into lots of fabulous buildings.. and need to go back to explore more.

Then there was the map of Delft in pottery!!

And some fun things along the way..

Delft... boobs?

And we found the pottery shops! 💙

And the Town Hall

This is the driver of the horse carriage that does tours of the town.
Do NOT mention this beard idea to Zeric as I fear he might be on his way to it.