Pronounced "dahnk yuh vel", that has been the only phrase that I have been able to retain from this past weekend's whirlwind of an adventure. It means "thank you very much" in Dutch.
It became very useful as I met such kind people up in the north. From the waiter in Brussels who slipped us some chocolate after our meal, to the lady at the ticket counter who offered us a specially discounted train ticket, to the sweet people at the metro who walked us to our next destination, I was blown away by the kindness that I had been shown during the past few days.
3 days in 3 different cities = exhaustion + lots of good memories
I came away from this trip so in awe of how God brings people together and holds everything together. Bobae and I could not get over the fact that after all these years, a friendship that began in seventh grade homeroom had made it all the way over to Europe. It was like a dream and we had to constantly ask ourselves during the trip if this was all real.
Our first stop was Brussels, Belgium. This was our meeting point because it is situated right between Paris and Maastricht. Brussels was a lot smaller than I had expected and there were far too many peeing statues, but I enjoyed the melange of old and new in this bustling town. Did I even mention the chocolate, beer, and moules frites? Mm Mm Mmmmm ;]
The next day we headed over to
Amsterdam, Holland in hopes of seeing the
annual flower parade. Unfortunately, so did the rest of the world. After spending the afternoon at the Van Gogh museum, we took the bus, got stuck in traffic, ended up walking along the road in the light drizzle, and arrived to find out that we had missed it by two hours or so. It was fine though, because we came across a beautiful patch of spring flowers at the Keukenhof garden.
My last day was spent in Maastricht, Holland where Bobae is currently studying abroad. Her hotel school is located in the middle of the woods, which was already a big change from what I was used to--there were lots of trees and hardly any noise outside. Honestly, I loved getting away for a bit. We grabbed yummy fries in the city and laid out on the grass by the waterfront in the afternoon. The weather was perfect, and I would not have spent it any other way.
"And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together"
-Colossians 1:17
Anyways, the ballet teacher said something that caught my attention today. To help the girls balance after their jumps (this combination in action is adorable by the way), she told them to imagine a string attached to their head that’s being held up by someone.
