Hi all--

Once again it has been awhile since I've written in my blog.  We are really busy with the end of school coming soon and then flying to the US on June 6.  However, I wanted to tell you a bit about our trip to Europe over spring break.

We flew into Frankfurt, Germany, rented a car and drove up north and west along the Rhine River.  We saw several castles and some cathedrals.  Then we visited places in Belgium, Netherlands and Denmark.  It was fun being able to see green grass and beautiful flowers, etc.

One of the highlights for me was finding the small town in Netherlands where my great-grandparents (my Dad's grandparents) were born and then emigrated to the United States.  This all kind of happened by accident.  My mother had given me the name of the town (Beerta) before we went on the trip.  However, I didn't really think we would ever find it. 

Then one day we were driving through northern Netherlands on our way up to Denmark when I turned on our GPS to enter a city we were going to.  The town Beerta showed up and we realized that it was just 3 kilometers back from where we had just come from.  We decided that we just needed to go back there and find the town.  So, we did and found an old church and cemetery there.  We didn't find any gravestones with the family name on it, but just knowing that they had lived in this town, thrilled me and brought tears to my eyes.

Hope you enjoy the pics.

Amsterdam flower shop

Brugges, Belgium

Ghent, Belgium

Corrie Ten Boom House and Museum in Haarlem

Kinderdijk Windmills built in 1740

Flower Bulb Farms in Netherlands

Keukenhof Gardens in Netherlands

Corrie Ten Boom hiding place

Haarlem, Netherlands

Keukenhof Gardens

Beerta, Netherlands

Beerta, Netherlands

Aunt Ramona