Time with the Sassens

We had 4 nights with the Sassens in Wassenaar in the Netherlands. While it wasn’t warm, the rain largely held off allowing us time for cycling and walking, the most common pursuits of locals. On Monday we did a ride to an area in the dunes to the north of Wassenaar where the Germans built fortifications to keep out the allied forces when they were occupying Netherlands in WW2. Scary. Tuesday Joop had the day off to spend with us. In the morning Charissa, Dave and I went to Rotterdam Hospital where Bec will be doing her placement from 15/7 for 3 weeks. She had to complete a mandatory swab to confirm she had no weird bugs! Bec left us Wednesday to go to Albania with fellow student and housemate Annie. Tuesday afternoon the 6 of us rode to Leiden For a tour led by Joop and lunch by a canal. On Wednesday Dave and I visited the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. While the day started out wet and rainy it cleared later in the day. We really enjoyed the museum, seeking out famous art including Dutch artist Jan Steen whose home Joop had showed us in Leiden on Tuesday. On Thursday in addition to a walk with Charissa, we spent time at the beach watching Nick kite surfing. Given the wild wind and cold water, those guys are crazy! 

Basically, Dave’s tummy bug stayed around for about 5 days and then I caught it. Very unfortunate! It meant we didn’t have one meal all week when Dave and I both ate!