Garnwerd, Winsum and Zuidhorn

Admittedly, the first few days of May were very calm at work. Only a handful of kids - on Friday morning as I first arrived there were only three of them, and most of the day it was only five. I have to say I'm really enjoying the smaller group sizes in Netherlands; I don't know if all the nurseries here are like this, but I would welcome more smaller nurseries and groups in Finland too. I think it's a lot more hectic when you have 15+ kids, even if that does mean there are more adults present as well.

But on Saturday, I had another get-together with Hennie. I took the train to Zuidhorn, and from there she drove us to Garnwerd, a small village by the river Reitdiep.

It was very quiet, quite a contrast to the city of Groningen, but it was also very pretty to look at. I can only imagine they get plenty of tourists seeking less-known towns to marvel and take photos of. We even spotted some lovely tulips!

After that, we had a cup of tea (or hot chocolate, in my case) at the local cafe. The village might have been quiet, but the cafe was full of life and people - and the chocolate milk was really delicious, a lot better than most hot chocolate I've tasted in other places or in chain cafes like Starbucks.

After that, we started driving again - until I spotted something I hadn't yet seen on my trip to the Netherlands. No, not a tulip field, unfortunately; ultimately I never saw one, maybe on my next visit to the country. But I saw a windmill that was actually rotating! Hennie humoured me and drove into its direction, and that's how we found the windmill called Friendship (Molen De Vriendschap). We were even able to visit it on the inside. It was a very windy day too, so at times the steel blades were going really fast. Funny enough, there was a second windmill in town as well, which also started rotating while we were in the area. But unfortunately the weather wasn't as pleasant as it could have been and we got ambushed by the rain, so in the end we decided it was time to move on, and back to Zuidhorn.

Hennie was kind enough to invite me over to have dinner with her and her husband at their home. Both only confirmed what I already knew - the Dutch are indeed very kind and friendly people. The meal was lovely, and as for the final treat, we had some tea and oranjekoek (a typical Friesland pastry).

All in all, I feel lucky to have had such kind coordinators and mentors looking out for me in the host country. I'm sure the experience would have been a lot less pleasant had it not been for people like Hennie and Margriet.