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Wednesday, August 2

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I was up early, and when making coffee in Hans and Anneke’s kitchen, I noticed an unusual bird. At least it was unusual to me.

It turns out that it is very familiar to Belgium – and some people consider them to be pesky.

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We were on the road about 9:13 am to travel to the Netherlands and meet my Facebook friend Godeliva.

Hans pointed out this building that was part of Breendonk Concentration Camp during WW2.

From the Internet: Fort Breendonk is a former military installation at Breendonk, near Mechelen, in Belgium which served as a Nazi prison camp during the German occupation of Belgium during World War II

This road is a north to south route for truckers from all over Europe.

Before long we began seeing signs to Breda – the hometown of my friend Godeliva.

Hans had contacted her and worked out this day for our visit.

Entering the Netherlands. We learned that Netherlands is a Kingdom and Holland is a province of the Netherlands.

Hans must have been staying in touch with her, because she was in their parking lot waiting for us.

We could hardly believe that we were actually seeing and hugging each other. We became friends sometime in 2007 when we were both blogging on Xanga.

She said she was so excited that she hardly slept the night before.

After we were finished with our hugging, she took time to meet the others. In this photo she is meeting Hans.

Meeting Cerwin.

Me, Godeliva, Hans, Anneke and Rebekka.

Entering their home which is in a series of apartment buildings.

We were welcomed into their delightful home by her Hans. (I will call him Hans J for clarification from Hans R during this entry.

I cannot begin to tell you how enjoyable it was to visit with these two.

We were also welcomed by their two feline house members. Fritz (orange) and Bo (gray/black).

Hans J handed me a small packet of snacks and said you will quickly become their friend if give some of these to them.

Visiting and getting better acquainted.

Before long, Godeliva offered us coffee, tea and a few goodies.

Worstbroodji – a roll with sausage inside was a choice of mine.

It was delightful to enjoy their hospitality.

There were also delicious chocolates from their town of Breda.

I was looking forward to seeing Hans J’s arboretum and garden. I had often seen this in Goldeliva’s postings.

After crossing their brand-new bridge, I looked back toward the house and took this photo. If you noticed that Godeliva is wearing a black cast on one arm, it was because she went through the old bridge the other month and broke her arm.

When we got to the back of their small garden, Hans J opened a gate to this community playground.

When back in their garden, I snapped a few more shots of flowers.

There is a small frog pond that also houses goldfish. Hans J said the cats love to capture and kill frogs and bring their conquest into the house. It sounds like there are a lot of frogs.

Back in the house, Godeliva had chosen a “gift” from their house for each of us. Rebekka exclaimed with delight at her gift of books. She loves books.

Anneke and I each received a beautiful book of quilts and stories of quilts.

I treasure her signature inside the front cover.

Hans R and Cerwin each received a DVD of Vincent Van Gough – which you will understand better after I enter “Part B” of this day. The book is the one she gifted to me.

We knew Hans J and Godeliva were taking us out for lunch, but never imagined a restaurant in a forest – and this is not far from their house.

This is not just a restaurant; it is an experience.

Boswachter is the name of the restaurant. It means keeper of the forest. Liesbosch is the name of the forest.

Han J and Godeliva had reservations for outside, but it was kind of a cool day so checked out inside availability. The open table felt tight for them, so we went outside next to the building and under a canopy.

It was quite comfortable here.

I was incredibly fascinated with our surroundings. Some of these tables filled up as we ate and visited.

Cerwin, Hans J, Hans R, Anneke, Rebekka and Godeliva.

We started with an interesting variety of appetizers.

Cerwin’s meal. We cannot read Dutch, so had to rely on our Dutch friends to interpret for us. This was Cerwin’s meal. A dish that was made with egg, bacon, mushrooms and tomatoes.

The two Dutch families could easily understand each other. Rebekka said they have different accents. Kind of like Boston English and Southern English in the USA.

This was my creamy vegetable soup. It was delicious.

There was a delightful quilt shop in Leur that Godeliva wanted to show us.

There were many beautiful things to purchase if you want to make a quilt.

This map shows you where we traveled from Hans and Anneke’s house in Belgium to Breda, Netherlands.

My next post will complete our visit with Hans J and Godeliva: A visit to the area/church where Van Gough began painting and dessert with their daughter and children.