When Petra and Hans arrive in Dordrecht from South Limburg to join Nathalie and myself, we start preparing for the family reunion with Clementine and Willem who live in North Holland. That takes normally 2+ hours of travel to get there. We realise that railway works are ongoing and need to travel partly by bus. We are going to find out …

A bit underestimated but still on time at the place of destination, the restaurant Vogelensangh in the city Vogelenzang, we arrive after 3.5 hours of travel. But what are 3.5 hours in a lifetime? We are happy to see Clementine and Willem already seated and waiting for us. We choose a round table and soon start conversations on multiple topics, like the one about those railway works. While lunching and talking and pictures are taken, we suddenly realise that two hours have already passed. It is time to conclude our reunion and prepare for our return journey, which will take another 3.5 hours. Good that Clementine and Willem live nearby.

The next day, Petra, Hans and I travel by train to Heerlen in South Limburg. They have planned a beautiful hike in het Gulpdal, Gulp Valley, where the riverine the Gulp streams through, which starts in Belgium and joins the river the Geul in Limburg. Although a heatwave is expected our hike will mainly go through cool and refreshing forest areas.

We come out of the forest and enter a farmland area where sheep are grazing. A buzzard in the sky catches my attention. Soon we enter another forest area with even more and larger ferns under the trees. There are openings that give a great view on the enticing landscape of South Limburg, I see a big tall tree, lean on it, Hans takes the picture.

Our next adventure starts in Maastricht where Hans lives, a bike ride through the Maasvallei, Meuse Valley, an area I haven’t seen before. For Hans it is his favorite site of the Maas river and I will soon discover why. Although the water is low the Valley impresses with its landscape that reminds you of prehistoric times, like the wild horses that roam around here, they look similar as the ones drawn on the walls of ancient caves.

We proceed to nearby Belgium, to Rekem, for a break, and sit down at the restaurant De Oude God, the Old God, for a drink and delicious kersenvlaai, cherry pie. Rekem is a small town and we discover a well-maintained ancient Peugeot van for sale. When we continue our bike ride back home, to Maastricht, we seem to be off-track, but not really.

My last stay in the Netherlands is again at Nathalie’s place in Dordrecht where I will leave on the 17th July via Schiphol to Marseille by plane. A train ride would take too long and can be exhausting in its own way. Nathalie has a superb idea, our last supper at Hotel De Watertoren, a former water tower transformed into a hotel and restaurant. We look back on a successful family reunion and plenty of adventures for me with family and friends in diverse Dutch culture. That was Kind of Cool.

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