Arrived in Nijmegen

When Darren's company decided that they needed him in Europe for a month, Baby Grant and I decided that we needed to tag along! We couldn't leave while my sister Katie and her kids were visiting. That time was already too short and too precious. So we let Darren go on his own, but a week later, we have caught up with him!

We are in Nijmegen, in the Netherlands, where Darren's company is headquartered. Grant and I arrived on Thursday evening. There are no pictures of this. You don't actually want pictures of this. My most determined attempts at packing light were completely foiled by the absolute necessity of a stroller and a car seat. The baby, the suitcase and the carry-on, no problem. But add the stroller and the car seat, and the narrow stairs up the train, and we were providing people with an opportunity for, um,  service! People really were quite nice, and it wasn't too bad getting on the train. I thought something similar would happen when we got off, but at the stop before ours, almost everyone left our train car. Everyone except a wizened, little old man who looked like he weighed about as much as my suitcase. Yep. Fortunately, it was the last stop, and I had time to make several trips onto the train to get everything off. It wasn't just because I had missed Darren's company that I was so very, very glad to see him at the train station! His co-worker, Volmar, picked us up and took us to our hotel.

The goal for Friday was to get enough sleep, so all we did was walk to Darren's office and meet more of his coworkers. They were very nice, but busy, so we kept our visit short, and went back to the hotel to sleep more.

Jet lag wasn't nearly as bad as I had imagined it might be! I had packed a bag with toys and snacks in case we had to go out in the hall so that Darren could sleep, but Grant slept as well as he has been at home. Granted, that isn't saying much, but he went back to sleep quickly each time he woke up. I had hoped that I would sleep on the flight, since it was a night flight, but Grant needed a lot of help to stay asleep, in spite of having two seats all to himself!!! I doubt I was the only one on the plane green with jealousy! But Grant took the short night, and short day without skipping a beat. The first evening was the only really uncomfortable part for me too. So I may try a night flight again, should the opportunity present itself.

Darren had Saturday off, so we decided to check out the neighboring city of Arnhem and the Open Air Museum. It seems that there are several of these here, and we really enjoyed it. They have moved historic buildings, like farmhouses and windmills to a large plot of land. A section is even arranged like a small old-fashioned town. There were blacksmiths, wagon-makers, dairies, millers, and anything you could think of. There was also an amazing area for kids to play with a zip line and a fantastic climbing structure. We wished we had more time, but we all slept late, and it closed fairly early. We had a delightful dinner in Arnhem in a square with lots of restaurants, flowers, trees, and a man playing an accordion. I couldn't take a picture that captured the atmosphere.

And today we enjoyed going to church in Nijmegen. It's a fairly small branch, with mostly older people, but they were so welcoming. Darren met a very friendly couple, Nancy and Marcel, who offered to give us a ride. They helped us find a quiet, dark room where Grant took a nice long nap, and invited us to stay for the potluck. It is such a treat to sample traditional foods made by families instead of restaurant food, although that has been very good. We had a delicious leek soup, casseroles made with sausage, sauerkraut, potatoes, and cheese, and several little sausage roll things. We also talked to a lovely little Polish lady, who said my last name sounded like it might be Tyminski (with a little mark over the n). It would be nice to have a lead on my dad's family history in Poland.

Grant really likes Dutch pancakes. So do I! They are mostly savory, with leeks, mushrooms, ham, cheese, and all sorts of tasty things mixed into the batter. And the pancake shops are open for lunch and dinner, but not breakfast.