Doesburg

On Wednesday of this week I joined several women from the AWC on a tour of Doesburg (20 miles from Anhem, a bit more than a two-hour bus ride from Den Haag). Doesburg has been designated as an historic town, and is the home of the Martinikerk with a 94-meter-tall tower. The church is massive.

We lunched at De Waag, supposedly the oldest public place in the Netherlands. Doesburg is famous for mustard making so I brought home a jar of their finest for Alex, my mustard connaisseur. It was a lovely day, sunny but cold, and a nice way to spend the day.

Goodbye Pat!

Last week we had our last farewell to Pat Fennell, an excellent brunch hosted by Kathy Anderson. It wasn't as raucous as the dinner at Impero Romano...but a lovely morning and a fun group.

Here are a few pics from the brunch.

A Visit from Friends

On the 18th of October we welcomed our friends, Trevor and Jo, and their children, Niamh and Owen for a very nice visit. Trevor, by the way, was the best man at our wedding. It is ALWAYS a blast to spend time with the Arthur-Bevans clan, and this visit was no different.

We had an excellent visit, the highlights of which included a visits to Madurodam and Amsterdam and more than one visit to a local pannenkeukenhuis. We travelled by bus, tram and train (and a canal boat tour) which the kids really enjoyed. You'll see in some of the photos a small bear...this is Star Bear which belongs to Niamh, and Jo likes to photograph Star in all of his adventures :)

We played several games of Star Wars Trivial Pursuit - Alex teamed with Jo and I with Trevor. Alex and Jo won the first evening, and Trev and I came in strong the next night for the win.

Alex had 'won' a pair of tickets for a UEFA Champions League football game in Eindhoven at the silent auction at the Pink Ribbon Gala, so Jo and I sent our men to the game on the Wednesday evening while we made a delicious meal of slow roasted lamb and played a game of Finish Lines - also quite a bit of fun.

Niamh (6) and Owen (3) are two of the most well-behaved and charming children I know. Even when we went to Amsterdam to explore the Van Gogh museum they never whined or complained - they are simply delightful. I will say that Owen's pronunciation of my name "Lez-a-lee" and his desire to hold my hand and skip everywhere we went gave me warm fuzzies. I taught the kids to say "how you doin'" in the style of Joey Tribiani...Really it is a laugh to hear two children with British accents mimicking this famous line from Friends. Very, very funny.

It was such fun to have our dear friends visit (although the visit was simply too short) and we look forward to their return perhaps next year.

Tot Ziens to Pat Fennell

Last week a small group of AWC Board Members had a dinner party at Imperio Romano in Den Haag to say farewell to our current First VP, Pat Fennell, who is moving back to the States to Virginia Beach at the end of October.

I have really been blessed with the good friends I have made here in the Netherlands - and this group is quite a bit of fun. We had quite the party, really - and felt compelled to buy drinks for several other patrons who tolerated our singing and dancing....Pat says that if more Members knew how much fun Board Members can be, we'd have a lot more volunteers for the posts!

I think the film says it all.

I wish Pat and her husband, Greg, (and her two doggies, Jack and Caylee) all the best, and I hope our paths cross again.