On 11 May, we flew to Amsterdam. For Aric, it was the first time since 2019, but I had been back in 2023 and 2024. Last year, we were planning to visit Iceland, but I got a vision problem (AMD) that affects and limits my activities. This year we decided to travel together for five weeks, after which I would stay in Amsterdam on my own for two more weeks.

Iceland was the main destination and Aric made am elaborate planning for a 19D9N visit. We asked our UK friend Rodney to join and visited him on a 5D4N trip before flying together to Reykjavik. Aric proposed also a 6D5N trip to Germany. And of course there were visits to family and friends. So It was a full program.

I will write several blogs about the various trips, but start here with a chronological report. Only two photos per day, not easy to make a selection.

11 May

Traveling from KLIA to Schiphol, a direct, long flight. Notice how the route avoids the Middle East and Ukraine/

12 May

13 Nay

Trying to contact a central heating technician. In the afternoon, we visited my soulmate Inez, who had stayed with us several times in Malaysia.

14 May

After a long city walk, dinner with my brother Pim.

15 May

Start of our Germany trip. Lufthansa flight to Dresden, via Frankfurt. Hotell with view of the old town center.

16 Nay

Exploring Dresden. Many more pictures in a separate blog.

17 May

A fascinating day trip to Saxon Switzerland. The Bastei bridge is located high above the Elbe river. Lots of climbing. See separate blog.

18 May

By train from Dresden to Gorlitz. The main reason that Aric wanted to visit this town, was the pedestrian bridge crossing between Germany and Poland.

19 May

The town has featured in movies and is worth a visit. Also about Gorlitz, a separate blog/

20 May

A traveling day. From Gorlitz by train back to Dresden, and flying back to Amsterdam via Munich.

21& 22 May

The central heating still wasn’t working, but it wasn’t as cold in the house anymore. There was a problem with the fridge, though. And we were both recovering from a bad cold. Two recovery days, to get ready for the family reunion.

23 May

The family reunion started in the family house in Alphen. We visited the cemetery where my parents were buried, and had dinner in an Afghan restaurant. A very nice day, see the report for more details.

24 May

It was Whitsun, a public holiday in the Netherlands. We stayed at home, just walked in the neighborhood, had a look at -the university where I had spent my student years.

25 May

One more relaxing day. We wanted to eat poffertjes, the traditional Dutch mini-pancakes. But I forgot that Whit Monday is also a public holiday, Beautiful day, but the market and the shop we had in mind, was closed. We found another one and that evening we had mussels for dinner.

26 May

Time for action—a day trip to the windmills of Kinderdijk, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I had been there a few years earlier, but it was Aric’s first. Perfect weather. More details in another blog.

27 May

An outing with Inez. First, we visited the Abbey of Emond, expecting it to be historical ruins. A mistake, they had been replaced many decades ago by modern buildings. The afternoon we spent at Inez’s caravan in Bakkum, enjoying the quiet atmosphere. We had dinner in IJmuiden.

28 May

Staying at home. I tried (in vain) to solve the fridge problem and finally a guy came to inspect the central heating. He found a faulty part; his company would send me a quotation for repair.

29 May

A very active day. Aric had read about a new Apple museum in Utrecht and, being an Apple addict, wanted to have a look. We had lunch with Yolanda and Math, and walked around in the town center. Back in Amsterdam, we had dinner with Nico and Yolanda, the brother and sister of Paul. Probably two vlogs about this day later 😉

30 May

A traveling day. With EasyJet to Gatwick, where Rodney was waiting for us. He drove us back to Bognor Regis, where he is living. We had Lunch there and later dinner in the garden of his home.

31 May

Exploring the region around Bognor Regis. We visited Chichester with its famous cathedral, which was unfortunately closed. We walked to the Halmaker windmill, passing through an enchanting tree tunnel.

1 June

Instead of Stonehenge or the White Horse m we decided to visit the Cerne Abbas Giant, a two-hour drive away. When we arrived at the 55-meter-tall giant with his erection, it had started drizzling, not a good idea to walk closer. A nice pub in the village was alos closed. We continued to Dorchester for a pub lunch.

2 June

Of course, Rodney had to show us his love baby, a classical Morgan. Aric was even allowed to drive it a short distance. In the afternoon, we drove to nearby Arundel, a very picturesque town with a famous castle/

3 June

First day of our trip to Iceland. We took a taxi to our homestay in Reykjavik. In the evening, we went out for dinner and to get a first impression of the town. At 11 pm it was still broad daylight.

4 juni

We rented a car for 9 days with Rodney as driver and Aric as navigator. Aric had prepared Google Maps for each day with the various points of interest marked. Here is for example the map for this day. We could only visit a few,

The first of many churches we visited. The National Religion is Evangelical Lutheran, but most Icelanders are secular. Waterfalls all over the island, often spectacular, like this one. Aric had booked idyllic homestays, often in the middle of nowhere. Well equipped, we prepared dinner and breakfast with food bought in local supermarkets.

5 Juni

The long daylight allows you to do a lot in one day. We started at 10 am and reached our fantastic homestay at 10 pm, visiting another church, two waterfalls, an open-air museum, basalt formations, and much more. Too much, we decided to limit our program.

6 Juni

Aric had booked a whale-sighting boat trip for the afternoon and booked a hotel in the small town of Húsavík, where the excursions start. On our way, we passed a very dramatic waterfall. The trip took about 3 hours, we were given much-needed protective clothing. There is no guarantee that whales will be sighted, but we were lucky to spot quite a few. With my AMD, I can not see details, but Aric managed to take a few perfect shots. A well-organized trip.

7 juni

A long 11-hour drive. The main destination was the remote Puffin Island. On our way we stopped for a while only at Hverir, one of the most active geothermal sites of the island. A few hours later, Aric was walking in the snow. Puffin Island was worth the long ride, with hundreds of colorful birds, which you could almost touch. Our accommodation for the night was a former church, transformed into a charming homestay.

8 juni

This day we followed the south-eastern coastline of the island. We had a look at an artwork of eggs, representing all bird species from Iceland. We found another waterfall. that was not in the list prepared by Aric. And we stayed overnight in a luxury homestay, with its own hot bath tub.

9 juni

Glaciers in Iceland can reach the sea, where broken pieces of ice gradually melt in the sea water. We visited another church, with a grass roof.

0 juni

On this day we took part in the most spectacular event of our Iceland trip, a three-hour “expedition” to an Ice Cave, a man made tunnel inside a glacier. Later that same day we visited a waterfall, where there was a path behind the falling water In the late afternoon we visited the famous Blue Lagoon. And we stayed overnight in a fisherman hut, transformed into a homestay. What a day.

11 June

Our last full day. Before returning the car, we visited two of the top attractions in the region of Reykjavik, the spectacular geyser and another dramatic waterfall. Many tourists who stay only a few days in Island, visit these places. Our last night we stayed in a hotel in Reykjavik. After dinner we walked around in the old part of the town.

12 June

Traveling day. Rodney back to UK, Aric and I to Amsterdam

13-14 June

Recovery days. Defrosting the fridge, doing laundry. My brother Otto came to help us with the fridge. He and Aric managed to repair it!

15 June

On this day, Aric was supposed to fly back to Malaysia. During the trip to Iceland, I had noticed how dependent I had become on others due to my AMD. I worried about whether I would be able to spend the next two weeks independently in the Netherlands. It was a huge relief for me when Aric decided to change his return flight and fly back with me on June 29.

16 June

A day trip to Leiden. Aric thought he had never visited this historic town, but during our long city walk (8 km) he remembered a few locations from an earlier visit, more than 20 years ago. Separate blog about this trip.

17 June

My brother Pim had a cataract operation and the eye clinic had advised him to come with an escort. We joined him and after the (successful) operation, took a Uber to his home, where we had coffee. Aric and I continued with another city walk and had lunch with pancake in the Pancake Factory at the Prinsengracht.

18 June

After visiting my friend and former student Roald, another city walk. This time lunch with Apple pie.

19 June

A resting day

20 June

We visited our friends Marjan and Mike. When they lived in Malaysia, we met them and became friends. I kept in touch when they returned to the Netherlands, for Aric it was nice meeting them again after so many years.

21 June

Pim had recovered fast from his cataract operation and could drive again. With him we went to Franeker, where we stayed overnight in the house of Nanda, his partner. In the afternoon we visited the Planetarium and had pizza for dinner. Very hot weather.

22 June

The four of us drove to Groningen where we met Jur and Jasper, partner, esp. son of my brother Ruud who passed away one year ago, when I was in Malaysia/ It was my wish to visit his grave. We had dinner later in a restaurant where I had dinner with Ruud and Jur in 2024. A satisfactory closure.

23 Juni

Traveling back to Amsterdam. During a conversation with my siblings about our past, the topic of the HEMA had surfaced, a traditional department store, famous for its “rookworst” (smoked sausage). They still sell them and that evening we had a traditional winter stew with the outside temperature more than 30 degrees!

24 June

Resting day

25 June

A long traveling day by bus and train to Doetinchem where we met Carle Poeder and Joanne. He is now 95 years old and was the school principal in 1976 when I started teaching. They had a house in southern France, where Aric and I visited them, years ago. Very nice meeting them again,

26 June

We visited my former university colleague Henk and his wife Marian. There was a heatwave in the Netherlands (a code red alert: stay at home), that explains how we were dressed. They had visited us 20 years ago in Malaysia and were pleased to meet Aric again.

27June

A last-minute visit of former school teacher and friend Hans. It was still very hot.

28 June

Our last full day in Amsterdam. The Amsterdams Bos park has a special area for nudist recreation, called the Zonnewiede. We decided to have a look. Although a Sunday, there were a few visitors only. Later that night we went for the last time to the town center, to take night view photos.

29 June

Flying back to Malaysia.