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Rosie and The Operator have packed up the car, all the extras are fitting nice and snug in the boot and off we go to spend some time with family in Stein – Limburg, which is the South of Holland near the German and Belgium border.
The motorways are clear and run smoothly, the day is overcast and chilly, perfect driving weather for our three and a half hour journey. The countryside leaving Reims is still all large cultified fields, either in wine vines or sugar beet, which is then processed and made into sugar for the fermentation of the wine. An hour on, we cross the virtual border and are driving in Belgium, it is quite incredible how the landscape and scenery changes after crossing a non existent line into another country.
Straight away the land becomes hilly, full of long lush grass in the valleys, small farms appear that house herds of 25 cows. They are big beasts, well feed and happy looking, lounging under trees or next to a hedge, no break feeding here, they have the whole paddock to themselves. It is nice to see trees in fields for shelter, it is the storybook cow paddock, it looks so much nicer than our stripped back farms with stressed looking, drawn animals that are nothing now days but factory milkers. The style of the houses have changed between one country and another as has the type of building of material used. Everything looks a little scruffier and unkempt, even the roadside verges and yards of houses which we pass.
It was getting close to 1200 and Rosie and The Operator had an early pastry breakfast but were feeling a little peckish….we picked a random town and turned off the highway to fill up with petrol and try to find something to eat. We were just going to stop at a pub across from the petrol station and Rosie said, no, we will find the village and see what it is like.
We didnt really get to a village, rather a large car park, surrounded by cafes and restaurants, this looked good to us, we went in and sat down to a huge schnitzel, mushrooms and chip lunch. Upon sitting down and looking around at the surrounding shops with closer scrutiny we noticed they were all religious style shops with statues and pictures of the Virgin Mary in the windows….there also seemed to be a parade of people walking past, the young and the old plus people in wheelchairs and a couple on crutches. Rosie and The Operator thought this was a little fishy….abit of further investigation needs to be done here.
We asked the waitress where all the people were going….her English was very limited and she said there was an old persons home in the big building we could see near were all the people were headed….not satisfied, Rosie went into one of the relgious icon shops and asked a lovely lady who was stacking candles what this place was. Her English was perfect, slow, soft and mesmerising as she relayed the story of Our Lady of Banneux….Rosie almost had a wee religious moment.
In 1933 The Virgin Mary dressed in white appeared to a little 12 year old girl 8 different times, the little girl was given messages and tasks to complete.
One of those tasks was to plunge her hands in the little stream and via the Virgin Mary declared it was to become a holy site and a place of healing for the sick and infirm should they come and take of the water. Over the years this has been a site of many healing miracles…testament to that is the pile of crutches left behind in the chapel……the Vatican has also investigated the claims of healing and lists this well as authentic and a site of pilgrimage.
Rosie entered the quiet, serene wee chapel and there was a picture of Pope John Paul the second kneeling in the exact place Rosie was standing, Rosie would have been kneeling too….but she had not drunk of the waters yet and been cured, her knees still hurt too much….
Down the path Rosie and The Operator went toward the sacred well. The sight of the devout praying and the quietness of the grotto under the watchful eye of a life size statue of The Virgin Mary gave me goosebumps. It was very moving, Rosie put her hands in the sacred well, the water was cold and clear and just felt plain ole miracle inducing, Rosie filled up her bottle of take away Holy water from the many taps near the well….and limped off.
Maybe I should have taken a leaf out of some of the other pilgrims book and taken home a twenty litre of water….my 1 litre tasted fresh and quenching but didnt really cut the mustard in the healing stakes…..
Feeling invigorated and pure Rosie and The Operator trucked on,we were only 45 mins away from our destination.
The Scheduler and The Elegant Aunt, Rosies Great Aunt and Uncle, were expecting us at 1500 and Rosie being a chip off the ole family block didnt like being late as much as The Scheduler didnt like people being late…..
The goose bumps came back, not from a Holy moment but one of nervousness and anticipation. The last time Rosie had been to this address was over twenty years ago…and it was 8 years since she had last seen The Scheduler when he was last on holiday in New Zealand. The Operator pulled up at 1450, toot, toot.
Of course the New Zealand flag was flying to welcome us! Its a tradition and The Scheduler is a stickler. It was soooooo good to see The Scheduler and The Elegant Aunt, both look fabulous and are so well, the coffee was brewing and out came the delicious Limburgs Vlaai.
It was abit surreal that we were actually sitting in Holland, it was like we had only visited last week…it was such a good feeling. The Elegant Aunt was the perfect hostess, her English is faultless all pronounced in quiet, measured, cultured tones. She helps The Scheduler whose English is not quite as good…but still 50 times better than Rosies Dutch.
The phone call went out to Rosies cousin who lives around the corner, we were staying at No1s and Auroras place for three days.
Did I mention that it dosent rain in Holland….the weather was beautiful, clear and 20c….the rest of the weekend is supposed to be even better.
