Rosie and The Operator had a great evening with The Family, it was a privilege getting to know them all! Prior to this visit we had only ever briefly met No1 when he visited New Zealand with his father The Scheduler. Until now all our conversations to date has just been chitty chatty on Facebook.
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No1 was at work today, Aurora and her beautiful daughter TeenGirl were coming with us on a tour of Venlo planned by The Scheduler, Venlo being the town full of Family history and the birth place of my Grandparents two Dutch families.
The day started with No1 borrowing The Schedulers car to get to work. No1s car was going to be driven by Aurora on our tour. No1 couldnt get the The Schedulers car to start at 5.30am so had to take his own car to work. The Schedulers car was sitting outside No1s house, The Operator went to pick The Scheduler so he could check his car outside No1s. The Scheduler started his car first go…then drove back to his house. The Operator then drove everyone round to The Schedulers to pick him up again…..the result, the foreigner, being The Operator, was driving The Locals around on their tour….that was Ok, we had air conditioning and the day was going to be a nice warm one!
The day doesn’t start without coffee in Holland….a stop at the regal Whilomena Hotel was first on the agenda and then we headed out on our history tour before walking to the old town. It was great walking around a small area and seeing where the family was born, where they lived, and, then moved to plus where they met. The geographical area of their lives was remarkably small. Thank you to The Scheduler for the history tour.
Venlo is such a dainty beautiful city, flowers hang in baskets from the old fashioned street lamps. The streets are clean and the roads narrow, everything looks fresh and clean. The shops are boutiquey and have inviting and interesting displays just teasing you to look, we wandered along in the sunshine doing a little window shopping and drinking in the sites. The square in front of the townhouse was loaded with people all doing the same and reveling in the start of summer.
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The Scheduler stopped to have a chat with his old school buddy The Waffelmeister of Venlo, his family had been bakers for generations and he was a bit of a local identity, The Scheduler dropped he was showing family around from New Zealand and next minute we were munching on free waffles. I am no waffle expert but they were totally different to what I had expected….they were kind of a soft biscuit and dry, yet they melted in your mouth….they were very nice.
We stopped for a look at The Carnival Costume house….the greatest party in Venlo happens in February every year. It is a three day costumed, continual party held outside in the city squares celebrating the excess of drinking and eating before the restrictions of Lent and 40 days of fasting before Easter. The costumes were awesome and amazing…something for everyone.
A couple of doors down is the Romer house, it is the oldest house in Venlo, built in 1521 for the Romer Family, this is one of only a couple of places in the old town not destroyed in the war.
The Dominican church has the most funnily awesome bronze fence leading up a back alley, containing the Venlo role of Honor. Caricature heads of the notaries of Venlo past and present are ‘impaled’ on the fence rods….and look….The Wafflemeister is there! His head so looks like him!
The Scheduler was looking at his watch, it was just before 2pm and we had to be at a church for a visit before a baptism started. The Scheduler had arranged a visit for Rosie to visit the church where her Oma and Opa were married over 50 years ago, normally the church is locked due to vandalism but The Scheduler had organised a visit.
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The young cleric who came to open the doors for us was a trainee Phillipino priest who had lived in Auckland for two years. Small world! It was nice being in the church and it looked so pretty because it was all ready for Sunday and the First Communion Mass. We scuttled out as a baptism came in.
Rosie lit a candle for Opa on behalf of the family.
Next on the agenda was a trip to visit my Opas bachelor brothers who still live in the family home that they were born in over 75 years ago.
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The house itself was built in 1903 and still dosnt have alot of mod cons…it is like a living museum and the coolest place on the edge of Venlo yet still close to town.
The brothers used to be market gardeners and grow acres of vegetables, now in their late 70s and 80s they sell eggs from the back door and grow a few speciality beans for the Turks. Did I say they dont speak a word of English….Did I also say they have a German housekeeper who dosnt speak any Dutch or English yet talks and talks and talks to you like you are a long lost friend that can understand every word she is saying, then gives you a cast iron hug every 5 mins…..she is lovely, and looks after The Brothers well.
Rosie and The Operator spent alot of time nodding and smiling while the conversations flowed around us. TeenGirl was a godsend, her English was impeccable and she translated the conversation as needed.
Rosie suspiciously thinks that The Operator was having a nap with his eyes open…..
That evening The Elegant Aunt and The Scheduler hosted the family for dinner….it was Divine! Not only the perfect hostess but a brilliant cook…..No1 is supposed to be just as good a cook as his mother is…..we will be patient, he might be bringing out the big guns tomorrow…..
Sight seeing wise we are all going out on a three country tour tomorrow….Holland, Belgium and Germany….it sounds very busy and exciting.
dear rosie thank you for the lovely blog on Venlo I am Jac & Tiny's cousin ook in Venlo geboren but now live in Tasmania, Tiny's father & my mother were brother & sister.
going to have a bigger better look on your postings thank you Gerrie