We just happened to be driving near the town of Oss which is Cris' motherland so we stopped by for a kip. It took us a while to find anything in the town that said 'Oss' but eventually we came upon this beautiful murinal.
Just beyond that was a stall in the street containing a dutch couple and a ton of herring. The guy deboned a couple herring for us, added onion, and taught us the proper way to shove raw herring down our gullet. It was delicious and stinky. The lady who sold the fish to us insisted that herring is a super food that we should eat every day. I do feel stronger and smellier so it must be working.
After meeting our hosts (and distant relatives) Jan/Corine, we set off with them to an old ancient type Netherlands town called Heusden. It was really neat, with old buildings, an old defensive steep wall and canal system all the way around the town, and super old (still functional) windmills.
Paul and his parents braved the steep steps to climb to the top of one of the windmills where a guide told them about how they worked.
After that, we headed to a old cheese farm where Cris was in heaven and also drooled all over all of the cheese. It was difficult not to buy it all.
Then we headed to another quaint town (Frieswijk) to visit a coffee/beer shop with Jan/wife. There just so happened to be a live singing event going on while we drank coffee or beer outside. It was about as Dutch as it gets: people dressed as old-fashioned sailors singing on an old boat on the canal, with bikes and flowers everywhere and everyone in the town was swaying and singing along to old Dutch classics about lost loves while sailing and such.
Then it was off to a slightly awkward but also interesting retirement party for one of Paul's mom's relatives. There, we met a bajillion other relatives, and everyone tried to garble a few English words at us occasionally while we tried to fit in. Fortunately, there was beer and coffee available because that's what Dutch seem to love (and I like this custom!).
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