A Break from the Search

We returned to the Netherlands in early December to spend Christmas with the family.  This is the reason after all why we are looking for our perfect place in western Europe - to be within a few hours travel of Michiel´s family.  We had a great Indonesian feast (isn´t that what EVERYONE does for Christmas??!!) and enjoyed the snow and sun of a good old-fashioned Dutch winter.

After the holiday, we spent several weeks in the States with family in Huntsville, Alabama and then in Terlingua, Texas near Big Bend National Park.  In both places, they were experiencing record cold temperatures and even snow (in Alabama) but that didn´t dampen our enthusiasm.

It was wonderful to be able to spend lots of quality time with Jon (my brother), Aor and Jake and my mom, who made the trip from Florida to be with us.  Not returning to Antarctica this season meant that I haven´t played drums in a while so I especially enjoyed playing Rock Band with them - plus my 6 year old nephew is a killer singer, drummer, and guitarist, my brother rocks the guitar and vocals and Michiel made his first semi-public appearance as lead singer.   Going to the Space and Rocket Center (Huntsville is home to NASA´s Marshall Space Flight Center), showing Jake his first stalagtites at the impressive Cathedral Caverns and getting to be a part of their lives for a couple of weeks were really wonderful.

 

   

In Texas, we did lots of hiking with our friends from Alaska, Todd, Barb and Liam and got to experience desert life in low-key, hippy style in Terlingua.  The highlights (aside from the company, of course) were the wild animals, which included roadrunners (they don´t really say "meep meep"), coyotes, mule deer, wild boar (javalinas) and a MOUNTAIN LION from far too close by. Having a mountain lion run between us while we were watching deer at the Chisos Basin campground was one of our top ten moments in nature ever!

   

Ah...family support

With spirits and energy levels flagging, a visit from my beloved Aunt and Uncle from California could not have come at a better time.  We met them in Madrid on their way to France and on our way to Barcelona.  Together, we re-explored Madrid (but this time without the peace of the summer holiday time) and enjoyed showing them around the city we had come to know and appreciate.  Autumn had arrived and with it, cold and windy weather, but also lovely fall scenes in Retiro Park.



We also had a chance to visit another recommended city, Toledo.  We spent a day as real tourists and made our way up and down the hills of the city, stopping at every place that boasted an El Greco painting inside (including his completely disappointing burial site - visible through a roughly-made hole through the wooden floor of an old church).  It was an attractive but exceedingly touristy place.
    

Thanks so much, Harry and Ellie, for taking such good care of us and allowing us to be your guides in Spain.  We also want to send a special thank you to our wonderful Spanish friends, José, Teresa and Sebastian for their wonderful hospitality in Madrid.  It´s always better to stay with friends!

Biking through the tulips

When the weather is good, there is no better place to be in April than the Netherlands. When I saw the weatherman doing his weather forecast from the tulip fields, I knew what we needed to do. We took a bus with hundreds of giddy tourists to the Keukenhof, the most famous flower garden in the world. From here, we rented bicycles and biked around the periphery of the gardens which is a terrific way to see the fields full of tulips, daffodils (earlier in the spring) and hyacinths. These pics were incredibly hard to choose as Michiel got at least 70 beautiful shots. (I took a couple of nice ones, as well!)

Chillin´with the homeys in New York

We had an unenviable itinerary...Christchurch, New Zealand to Auckland to Los Angeles to New York with a couple of hours layover in each location. Much to my delight, I was mysteriously upgraded to Business Class. WOOOOO HOOOOO!! I´d always wondered what life was like upstairs in a 747.

Despite my request to upgrade him as well, poor Michiel had to suffer with an exit row in economy while I drank champagne, ate gourmet food and drank port, watched a movie with good headphones and slept nearly horizontally in Qantas pajamas. It made me wish I was rich enough to always travel that way, but more importantly, I realized that there is a missed opportunity for airlines to offer better seats for more money without all the extra frills. I would have been willing to pay extra for just the seat, nevermind the hand creams, shaving kit, white tablecloths and 3 flight attendants dedicated to my small section that come with a Business Class ticket that costs thousands of dollars more than economy class. Managers of airlines, feel free to steal the idea - upgraded seats without the upgraded service for less money than business class.

We spent a week in New York visiting my family and mom was good enough to fly up from Florida for the occasion. We did lots of resting, catching up with American television and some sightseeing. We spent a day driving up the Hudson River and visited the Moorish home of Frederic Church of the Hudson River School of landscape painting and (the highlight of the day) took a tour of the world famous Culinary Institute of America (known as the other CIA). We even got to sample several decadent desserts that had just been pulled out of the oven by student bakers.

The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park


With Lisa, Mom and Michiel at Olana, Frederick Church´s home on the Hudson River




With Lisa and the Hudson River in the background

More Family Time

We've just left the Netherlands after three weeks of (mostly) family time and probably the nicest stretch of weather I've ever experienced in the country. It was fantastic to be able to go out for long bike rides in the country and really get to see the farmland and lovely homes in the area near Rijnsaterwoude (where Michiel grew up and his father still lives). For much of the time, the skies were blue, the sun was shining and the storks, herons, swans, ducks, goats, cows and sheep were frolicking - a glorious time to be in Holland!

For one week of our time there, the entire family rented a couple of bungalows in a holiday park. We played lots of games (including laser tag, a newspaper fashion show and casino night), ate incredible ethnic food (prepared each night by one of the siblings) and celebrated Bonpa's (my father-in-law) 80th birthday with a day out in the Biesbosch National Park. Our day in the park included a horse and cart ride and a boat tour of a water area that has long been managed by dikes.

Here is a collection of photo highlights:


Celebrating Marilyn May's 6th birthday



Bonpa and his sister, Marion


Ton and Oneida on Queen's Day (thus the orange shirts)


All contestants in the newspaper fashion show



Team one: Seneca, Wilbert, Gwendolyn, and Ton


Casino night: Seneca, Marilyn, Joey, Gwendolyn and Tonny


Marie-Birgitte and Anne-Charlotte


Cocktail hour: Marie-Birgitte, Wilbert, me and Chantal


Ethiopian food!



The brothers-in-law: Bart, Perry and Ton

Off to see some family

Leaving Tasmania was hard but made easier because we knew we were on our way to Thailand for two weeks with Jon, Aor and Jake. We hadn't spent much time with our nephew so it was exciting for us to have the time to get to know the little guy (4 years old). We also hadn't really seen Jon and Aor for quite a while and it was fun to see how they live in Bangkok and spend some time at the International School where Jon works.



Jon had asked us to give a presentation on Antarctica to his 5th grade (10 year olds) class. We spent some evenings in our campervan in Tasmania putting together films and photos from our time on ice. (There WAS a good reason for Michiel to be carrying around those extra hard drives!) The kids were well prepared for our talk and had lots of questions for us as well as a surprising amount of attention for our slide show and videos.



For most of the rest of the week, we stayed at a great hostel in the newer and trendier part of Bangkok and didn't worry ourselves with being tourists, seeing the city or battling the heat. We hung out with Jon and Jake at the aquarium, the children's museum, the park, the massive shopping malls, the bowling alley, and at home (where Aor taught us how to properly cut mango and papaya). It was wonderful!














Michiel returns to the womb at the Children's Discovery Museum



We did leave Bangkok for a few days to do some snorkeling on the island of Koh Wai, near Koh Chang. But the heat was so unbearable and the wind was non-existent, so we had to upgrade from our cozy and hospitable resort to a larger resort with all-day electricity and fans. There was a ring of coral around the island which meant that we didn't need to take a boat in order to snorkel (as is the case with many of the islands in that part of Thailand). We snorkeled and relaxed in the sun for a few days, then returned for more fun in Bangkok.