Indonesia - the most friendly place in the world

There are lots of things I am enjoying about the Netherlands and some that are surprising.
I'm amazed at the playgrounds they have for children scattered around almost every housing block - there is a smallish one on a square of grass at the end of most streets and then a big fenced in one at the end of the block. They are well equipped with wooden and unusual structures. But no public toilets which I find hard to understand!
The roads are rather narrow and often don't have a center line to differentiate between the right and left side but on most roads (other than highways) they have red concrete to indicate the bike lane which takes up a good portion of the road. I like that the road is well planned out for biking as a main mode of transport.

One of the roads with red on both sides for the bike lanes

I am so impressed with the beauty of the houses here! We've spent the past few days visiting small villages which are only a few kilometers apart and every single house is immaculately groomed from the thickly thatched roofs to the weedless garden (the plants evenly spaced and no rambling growth). Almost every house has garden borders of European beech and espalier elms perfectly groomed. And the shape of every house that is an individual one (which are all houses in the villages) is that pleasing-to-the-eye broad thatched roof which flows low down the walls of the brick or white washed house exterior.

This is a little old farm house we passed with the espalier elms, beech
hedges and thatched roof.

Yesterday we visited the small village that Josh's Grandparents lived in. It's called Nistelrode and it was about 1/2 an hour from Den Bosch. Again, it is a very sweet cobble-stoned village with individual houses lining the narrow, leafy roads. We also visited the grave where Opa Jan is buried. We were hoping to see some other Leenhouwers there but alas there was only one other who was Jan's brother. Leenhouwers is an unusual name even in this village!

The house that Josh's grandparent's built and lived in from
the 70's to early 2000's. Josh's Auntie Monique taught him
how to ride a bike on that street. He has many fond memories of this house.

We spent the afternoon walking through a beautiful forest growing oak, silver birch, rowan and pine. The area was used for grazing and for collecting turf to line the stables which housed wintering animals. 

Just down the road we found a recently dug archaeological site dating back to prehistoric times. It was used as a burial ground and then again by the Romans to bury important people. Archaeologists  discovered circular mounds with clay pots filled with human remains in the center and wooden posts surrounding each circle, There was also a person - obviously someone important- buried there whole with much ceremony and decoration found in the center of the field. After that the field was used to mark the border lines of local territory.

What an amazing discovery to find in a field your family has been using to graze cattle on for hundreds of years!

And not far down the road we came across our first castle. It was over 1000 year old. We didn't go inside but walking around it was good enough for now. Especially because in the moat we spotted three turtles sunning themselves on a log! 

This one's for you Jeff! A guitarist statue
just down the street in Nistelrode!

Lily-of-the-valley growing wild in
the forest. It smelled divine!

A turtle in the castle moat

Noa and Fern in a clearing 

Today it was warm and sunny and we decided to go on another walk, although this one was a lot longer and with much variation in the scenery. Daniel and Glencora took us to Boxtel where we walked from one village to the next through thick Douglas fir pines to towering oaks and beech trees to marshy frog-filled ponds, swamps and moors. It was very beautiful - and with no hills to slog up and down it made very pleasant walking.

We stopped for lunch to eat our sandwiches and to be eaten by the giant mossies which lived by the pond and later in the day to nurse our sore feet as the walk seemed longer and longer. Luckily we had our regular chocolate stops to keep us going and the exquisite scenery to spur us on. Oh and a playground which seemed to turn up almost in the middle of the forest it seemed! Most playgrounds away from suburbia are accompanied by a cafe or restaurant housed in an old farm house. The dutch even have a special word for the type of cafe that is.

We made it to our destination - the train station - where we took a five minute train ride to our car. 

The only thing I haven't enjoyed about Holland so far is the lack of public toilets! (By this time in the day most of us were busting.) It really isn't a thing to have them here! Daniel said that the toilets are all inside the many cafes so it's a good way to keep the local eateries going I suppose! Make it a must to go inside and buy a cup of coffee!