Sunday, August 4

There's not a lot to write about today. We all slept in and started real slow. The weather has turned perfect - low humidity, mid-70's, and bright, sunny skies. By the time we're ready for  breakfast, its lunchtime. We walk over to da Smickel for Dutch-style pancakes. We get there just after they open at 12:00 and sit at a table in the rear garden. Do we have savory or sweet pancakes? The answer - both. Sue has ham and pineapple, Dan has apple and cinnamon, and Linda and I share a Smickel: ham, bacon, mushrooms, and peppers. Since we shared, I order a sweet one like Dan had and an espresso for both of us. YUM. In the back of the garden was a large cage of parakeets. Over to the side were rabbits. There was also a playground of blow up things for kids. Inside the floor was covered with sand. This is a very popular family restaurant.

On the way home, we walk around the town a little to verify that all of the stores are closed on Sundays. Dan and Sue are leaving on a bus trip to Paris tomorrow and are looking for some translation from Dutch to English of some of their tour information. Dan leaves a message for Kees and Linda takes him down the street to meet Margaret van Loon and her husband Artie. They talk about Dachau and the van Loons tell them about 3 of Artie's brothers.  During the war, the oldest brother wanted to get out of Holland and escaped to England. He became a spy for the Allies. The next two younger brothers decided to try the same thing and they got caught by the German SS and sent to Dachau as political prisoners. They were not Jewish. They both survived but had a very difficult time relating to family and friends. One of them committed suicide in his 70's. The other lived into his 90's but only talked about the experience in his last few years. One of his jobs was to clean out the corpses and put them into the incinerator. Pretty bad stuff.

Later in the day, Kees calls and sends an email with a translation and suggestions.

Dinner is fixed after some hunting in the freezer. We sit outside and eat bitteballs, shrimp, cheese, cooked and raw carrots, and some leftover crackers. Not too bad for not planning ahead.

Dan and Sue pack and we chat a little before bed.