We enjoyed the beautiful early morning light as we drove to Arnhem from Emmeloord.
It turned into a beautiful, blue sky day!
We have seen so many of these tree-lined lanes in Holland:
Very pretty. I’m fairly sure this farm had thatched roofs:
Then we arrived in Arnhem.
We returned the car, and who should be waiting for us at the car rental place? Karl, a friend that I used to work with at ComputerTime in Auckland in 1987-89. 🙂 He took us back to their house in Velp for lunch.
What a beautiful area they live in! I was busy taking photos as we drove to their house!
Then there was no mistaking which house was theirs with a rather familiar flag out front! 🙂
It was just wonderful to catch up with Karl and Kirsten after so many years! We used to be two pairs of DINKs (Double Income No Kids) and now we are OINKs (One Income, Nuff Kids). 😉
We were reintroduced to Imogen (who we hadn’t seen since she was about 7) her boyfriend Michael, and of course Smeagol on Imogen’s lap:
And we met Phoenix for the first time!
I was amused that someone other than Karl had precedence in the seating arena: Ozzy. Although why a Kiwi family would call their dog Ozzy, I’m not sure. Need to ask them about that. 😉
Kirsten pulled out a booklet I’d made for Karl when he left ComputerTime:
Ha! Good for a laugh! 🙂 An amazing lunch had been prepared for us, we basically had a party: full of fun and laughter and good food! 🙂
Such great memories were shared, and we made some new ones too! 🙂
And at least Imogen was kind enough to make me not look so short! 🙂
Then all too soon it was time to say goodbye:
Sure hope we can see them again soon!
Karl dropped us off at the train station in Arnhem. Quite an amazing looking building, both inside and out:
Then we were on the train, leaving Holland. It was my last chance to snap shots of windmills!
We went right through Belgium, this shot was in Brussels:
Then, as the sun set, we entered France and arrived at our destination: Calais.
Love the photos and your accounts of the journey. Fun stuff. By the way Ozzy came with the name Ozzy, but we’ve always said that he is named after Ozzy Osborne because of his long, wavy hair and laid back attitude.
Thanks for the clarification around Ozzy’s name, makes sense! 🙂