Saturday was “catch up with the cousins” day. Elleke, on the left, and Mieke, on the right, are second cousins. Seeing Mieke’s mother, who was sick with cancer and who was married to the first cousin that Willem had spent a lot of time with as a young boy, was part of the reason for our trip. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to hold on until we got here.

Fred and El made a perfect lunch for all of us – salad, great bread, wine, and a variety of fish, including the Dutch favorite, raw herring. There is a special way of eating it:

It was a relaxing day, hearing each other’s “new news” and listening to reminiscences of times gone by. The weather was actually mild enough that we were able to sit on the balcony for a large part of the day, enjoying the scenery and watching the tourist boats, water taxis, barges, and all manner of commercial boats float by on this hard-working river highway that flows into the Rhine.