Thinking Allowed: Windmilling

We have been lucky to get to spend the last month in the endearing town of Leiden in the Netherlands with our new friends Fenne (dog) and Zanka (cat). As children who are deprived of pets, the girls were so excited to get to borrow pets for a few weeks. Fenne was a joyful bounding dog who was pleased by her numerous walking companions and always happy for affection. Zanka on the other hand preferred to observe the action from her spot on the top of the sofa and preferred to be pet before or during her meals. They were great companions and our house and neighbourhood of Leiderdorp were a perfect spot to feel like locals.

Our weeks were filled with long walks, vibrant greens, strolls through Leiden, day trips to other cute towns, bicycle riding, animal cuddling, local day camp, and many hours in the bouldering gym. Gymnaestrada just happened to coincide with our stay so a few girls and I got to see Sophia’s old gym perform alongside many other teams from different countries. We spent a day in Amsterdam where we learned that Sophia enjoys art museums immensely and that the most famous paintings are not necessarily our favourites. We walked over the tombs of the house of Orange in Delft and sampled cheeses in Gouda. Zadie went to camp for the first time. Aurora and Sophia had a philosophical masterclass with the national youth bouldering champion. The girls got to act like locals and bicycle. We indulged in our fair share of hagelslag and stroopvafel. We dusted off our sweaters and rain jackets and put them into use again. And we cooed at the baby in the hopes of one of her smiles.

Aside from all the fun we had in general life, we also spent time learning and absorbing as much as we could about the Netherlands. We couldn’t get over how much water there was everywhere. We were living in a remodelled river delta after all. It is best summed up by the saying “god created the world - but the Dutch created the Netherlands.” As we crossed over endless canals we mused over how amazing it is that a people living in swampland managed to harness the power of the wind and strategic digging to create a coveted piece of land and a trade empire. We were floored by the fact that in the 1800’s there were nearly 10,000 windmills all busily pumping water, grinding grain, cutting wood, and generally slaving away for the Dutch economy. The girls really enjoyed the bicycle driven culture and we discussed at length ways in which the Netherlands makes bicycling more feasible (the flatness helps!). I could go on and on but suffice it to say that the Netherlands was the perfect spot to make European history come alive for the kids.