Great new Church, wonderful service

Our first Dutch Run!

Well, we finally hit the pavement here in Holland! And I’ll tell you what, it is nice pavement! Early on a Sunday morning it seems the bike lanes are not super busy and we were able to run in them with little interference. They are basically made of track material, soft and springy underfoot and great for Jerry’s knees. We ran to our town and back and a bit around the neighborhood, about 4 miles in total. It did us all good! And then we all showered, which was another achievement--the tank is probably about 10 gallons and we all had to shoot through it like a log flume ride! We headed to Den Haag about 2 to explore that area a bit before church. Although Amsterdam is the capitol of the Netherlands the seat of government is Den Haag. The buildings are an interesting mix of old and new and we will spend many days exploring. It is only about 20 minutes away by car and there is a train there as well. We found an awesome, tiny middle eastern diner on the way back to the church and slipped in out of the drizzle for dinner. The kids had Turkish Pizza, which is basically an enormous pita filled with chicken straight from the spit and lettuce, tomato, onion, etc, rolled up and wrapped in foil which you peel down as you eat is. Danny tried a cherry explosion soda from Suriname--the less adventurous girls stuck with Coke Zero!

Our new parish is Church of Our Saviour; The English speaking International Catholic Parish of The Hague. This is the closest church to us, this is a very secular country. We attended the Stations of the Cross, and they asked Danny to carry the cross as we processed from station to station. It was very active and reflective. Mass, which was scheduled for 5:30 began promptly at 5:15, so we were glad we were there early. An usher asked up to bring up the offertory and that was exciting. Molly Danny and I carried up the gifts/ It was exciting to be at mass here, as Danny stated in the car on the way home, “it was excitingly different but wonderfully familiar”! Well said Danny! We finished our evening with I LOVE LUCY, our new routine, and an early singing of Happy Birthday for Molly. Jerry smartly remembered to make her birthday signs before he left, so her Holland Birthday will still have our traditions. Now whether I can learn the oven in time to bake a cake, with no Google translator available remains to be seen! I’ll keep you posted…

breakfast, dutch style!

the birthday girl

Den Haag

Danny meets a Dutch Duck!

the American ramblers

The old buildings with the new behind, I love that!

The passage, the only covered arcade remaining from the 19th century in the Netherlands

For Aunt Susan and Uncle Artie

Walking through the Passage-we didn't buy anything!

a street scene