Dank U, Sinterklaasje!

There are a lot of perqs to being married to a Dutch man. One of them is traveling to the Netherlands to visit family and friends. One of them is eating a lot of black licorice. And one of them is ushering in the holiday season by celebrating St. Nicholas' Day in early December. Yesterday we had a houseful of family and close friends enjoying tasty food and surprises from Sinterklaas.

In Holland, Sinterklaas is a children's holiday. Parents write poems and prepare specially-wrapped surprises (pronounced the Dutch way, sur-PREE-suhs) for the good little children, who have spent weeks anticipating St. Nicholas's arrival. One of J's favorite childhood surprises was a large facsimile of an American half-dollar coin made out of cardboard, given to him on the last Sinterklaas before his family moved to the United States. He still has it, more than 30 years later.

I'm Ba-ack!

So the first thing that distracted me from the interwebs was our two-week trip to the Netherlands, 'way back in June. We (J, his mother, and I) were invited to celebrate an aunt's milestone birthday so we seized the opportunity to spend time with family members and friends, some of whom we hadn't seen since our last trip to NL. Which was... last century.

Here's J with just a few of his beautiful cousins. See the family resemblance?

And here's J's mom (second from right) with her sisters:

















We also visited with J's "second mom," a close family friend who aided and abetted their move to the USA in 1979. Thanks, Jolien!

















We walked around a number of fortified cities, including Gorinchem, Middelburgh, Heusden, and Zaltbommel. We crossed big rivers on little ferries.

















We ate. A lot. Including my first herring (gross!).







































It was cold and rainy almost the whole time, but it cleared up enough one day for a leisurely bike ride through the countryside.


















We spent the last three days in Haarlem, where we attended an organ concert at the cathedral and discovered the Teyler Museum. Most wonderful.







































And did I mention? There were a lot of lovely shoes.