Travels in Holland, Jewish holidays and Birthdays

Over the past few weeks I have visited a few different places locally in Holland. First off went with two friends to the Muiderslot Castle in Muiden, about 15 kilometers southeast of Amsterdam. It's one of the better known castles in the Netherlands and has been featured in many television shows set in the Middle Ages. The insides of the castle, its rooms and kitchens, have been restored to look like they did in the 17th century and several of the rooms now house a good collection of arms and armour. This castle was smaller than I expected, but did give you a good feel for what a castle looked like in the 17th century.

Then I went on a walking tour of Wassenaar with the American Women’s Club. Wassenaar is an area in The Hague, where many expats live. One of the Prince’s and his family even live there. As many expats live there, shops cater to expat needs with products from the states and England. It was a fun afternoon with the girls walking around and learning about a new area in The Hague.

Then the following week went on a walking tour of Delft. I had been there before but this time we got a lesson on the famous blue and white pottery, which Delft is famous for all over the world. Then we also walked to see some famous sites in Delft. Bet you didn’t know Delft has its own leaning tower. The Oude Church was built on foundations that weren't strong enough to support the building, and the church began to lean. As they continued to build the church they tried to compensate its lean on each layer of the tower, but it remains leaning to this day.

The past couple weeks were also filled with all the Jewish holidays. As usual it is difficult to be away from family during this time, but there was lots going on here so we really did enjoy ourselves. We got to spend lots of time with our friends from the synagogue here and even had a big Super Shabbos Sukkah party in honor of both Scott and my birthdays. We had borrowed a Sukkah (Which is a temporary hut constructed for use during the week-long Jewish festival of Sukkot. It is topped with branches and often well decorated with autumnal, harvest or Judaic themes. It commemorates the time God provided for the Israelites in the wilderness after they were freed from slavery in Egypt.) from friends and had over friends from the synagogue for lunch and cake. It was a great way to celebrate our birthdays. During this time as I mentioned above Scott and I celebrated birthdays. Scott knew that I was missing my annual birthday ice-cream cake, so he took it upon himself to make me one himself. Using Ben and Jerry’s ice-cream, cookies and a cake mix, he perfected a perfect yummy cake. See attached pictures. What a great husband!!!