We had a great sleep in the morning of day 3 - well deserved if I do say so myself. After a nice breakfast, my Ome Wim and Tante Els came by to pick us up. We said a very grateful goodbye to Ome Ad and Tante Jose for putting us up in such a fine fashion.
We drove to Breda to meet with my Oma (grandmother) and her husband Chris. She is now 93 and was full of the same energy that I always remember her having. It was great to see her again. As an added bonus, my Ome Sjef showed up as well. We had some coffee and cream puffs and did some catching up before she suggested we all go bowling. My grandmother is an expert bowler and she has the trophies to prove it. Unfortunately we couldn't get a lane. So we went down to a restaurant situated in the nearby woods. Good business strategy, it seemed, as almost everyone that went into the woods for a walk stopped in at the restaurant afterwards, many bringing their dogs in with them.
We said goodbye to Oma, Chris and Ome Sjef after lunch and headed for Breda with Ome Wim and Tante Els. Our first stop was the Great Church, a massive 500 year old sandstone church in central Breda. It has an almost 300 foot tower and has been partially restored. Considerable damage was done as the church was passed back and forth between Protestants and Catholics over the years. It was, nonetheless, absolutely magnificent. The highlights: the massive organ, painted ceilings, the burial chapel of the Nassau line, the monstrance with a piece of the true cross, a bible from 1660, a mummified cat believed to have been bricked up in an alcove and the incredible grave markers covering almost the entire floor. Fun fact from my Ome Wim: the phrase "stinking rich" or "rijke stinkerds" originated with the practice of rich people buying burial plots under the church - as they started to decompose, I guess the resulting smell became quite noticeable.
The next stop after a church tour is naturally a Beer Museum. Or more specifically a Beer Commercial Museum. This was essentially a three story pub with every square inch covered in beer commercials. Again, really cool. We had a couple of pints there (even Fiona, who had a couple of raspberry beers) and listened to a live Dutch-Irish band. In fact, one of our old favorites from Canada, the Mahones, were due to play there March 1. If you're in Breda, you should go. They put on a good show. (In the picture the windows say: "Eat what is done, drink what is ready and speak what is true".)
We ended up at a nice restaurant in Breda again and I had a great bowl of pea soup. No, Mom, not better than yours. Not even close.
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