KEUKENHOF, NETHERLANDS

    This week was highlighted by our trip to the Netherlands to visit Keukenhof, Amsterdam area, and Kinderdijk. Monday through Wednesday I tried to get most of my calls to missionaries made and things wrapped up so that we could go. We teamed up with Elder and Sister Sharpe (from St. George) to make this trip. They are the Europe Area welfare coordinators and we match up pretty good in personality with them.
   

Kinderdijk Windmill

 We left about 0800 Thursday morning and drove up the Rhein past Bonn, Cologne (Koln), Essen-Oberhausen, and to Arnhem, Netherlands. It took us about 4 hours to get to Kinderdijk, Netherlands where we visited the old windmills along the canals there. They are very old structures, but still operational. The gear works and craftsmanship that went into making them is quite interesting. It turned out to be a fairly sunny day, a bit breezy, but very nice. Missionaries who went up earlier in the month had poor weather, so we were blessed.
     After leaving Kinderdijk, we drove over to Leiden just above Den Haage and Rotterdam and checked into the Holiday Inn. We got a good deal on-line that offered us 2 nights, free breakfast, one free supper buffet, and tickets to Keukenhof flower gardens. The Inn was great--much better than we expected. The supper buffet was amazing! That evening we walked around the neighborhood and made friends with a cat or two, saw a swan nesting on eggs, and then retired for the evening.
     We had breakfast at 0630 (a.m.) and hit the road for Keukenhof by 0730. We arrived before any of the bus tours or large crowds descended upon the

Tip-toe Through the Tulips

garden. For about 45 minutes, we almost had the garden to ourselves and were able to take many pictures without a million people in the way. The only way I could describe the gardens to those who have not been is: a visual over-stimulation of color and beauty. The creativity and variety of colors, along with the beauty of landscape was Garden of Eden-like.
     We saw garden shows, artists-in-residence painting all kinds of scenes, tulips and other flowers of every variety, birds, beautifully landscaped lawns, a working windmill, and a profusion of colors. It was simply amazing. 
     We spent about four hours in Keukenhof Gardens by which time we were all but color blind! We then drove north for about 30 minutes to Haarlem, just west of Amsterdam. We found a parking garage in the city, using our GPS, and walked several blocks to the Corrie Ten Boomhuis Museum. They only had 4 English tours each day, and we missed the first tour. So, we made sure that we got there early for the second one, and we got in. Most know the story of the Ten Booms who helped hide Jews from the Nazis during WW2. The tour guide took us through the 3-4 levels of the house, which was tiny and compact. The false wall and method of hiding the six Jews they kept there was ingenious. Unfortunately, someone turned them into the Nazis, and they were taken away. The father died soon after from pneumonia, the older sister died in a concentration camp, and Corrie was the only survivor. Their story of forgiveness and faith in God is one of the great stories of the war and in life.
     

Grape Seed Fields near Wiesbaden

Those were the main things we wanted to see on this very short trip. We returned home on Saturday and found all well. We passed beautiful fields of brilliant yellow grapeseed which is used to make Canola Oil and other products. Looking out across the countryside, it appears like a checkerboard of green, brown, and brilliant yellow fields, punctuated by forests.
     Tomorrow Elaine and I teach a primary class about the 4th article of faith (Glaubensartikel), and I get to conduct church meetings as well as bear my testimony auf Deutsch.  Alles gute!!!