Sunday, February 12, 2006
Final route maps
Let' s go home
After visiting the doctor and taking my medicines we decide to visit Willingen in Sauerland to go skiing. During the drive we think we can camp again but the closer we get the colder it is and snow is all around us. Good for skiing, not for camping! We find decent accommodation next to the ski area and the next morning I go for my lessons. Blue sky, no wind, good teacher and 2 fellow Dutchmen with the same experience as I: 1 hour on an artificial ski slope. My outfit is not very professional but even too hot with this weather! I enjoy it very much and have a great day. Hans tries 2 days later but has real beginners in his group. The first one gives up within 10 minutes! Maybe he will try cross country skiing one day…
We are welcome to see our friends in Holzminden. Ursula spent a week with us in the Galapagos 12 years ago. A lot changed since then: now we are all married with children. Her daughter and son are bilingual and have a lot of toys that Bart and Rik like to play with. We can even have dinner with the adults without having to pay attention to the kids! Our boys are put in bed within 15 minutes, but it takes them about 1 hour. That does not leave you with much time for yourself especially as the German schools already start 7.50 am so you have to get up early too. We enjoy the forest next door although it is cold, drinking hot chocolate and spending time with our friends. But we also feel it is time to go home, see our family, friends, pictures and slides. Instead of flying to Africa for a game drive we decide to 
visit the zoo of Emmen in Holland. In wintertime we are allowed to see the animals very close, as a lot of them stay inside because of the cold weather. Rik nearly manages to creep through the fence of the hippos while they are eating! A giraffe licks Bart’s fingers. We have to watch Rik as zebra’s seem to bite when you stick your finger through the fence as he likes to do. The 2 Siberian tigers do not mind the cold and the 3 Kodiak bears did not even bother to go into hibernation! The rhino’s like to fight and the monkeys sit closely together because of the cold. We enjoy ourselves very much in our first hours back in Holland.
We spend the night in Haaksbergen where Hans’sister lives. Usually we eat French fries when we get back home from abroad but the snack bar is closed. The take away Chinese restaurant offers an excellent alternative – we cannot finish all the food we get. The next day we pick up Tosca, the niece of Bart and Rik. She can hardly believe her eyes as she did not know we were around. She is astonished Rik speaks. That shows that 18 weeks is a long time to travel with such small boys.
Around lunchtime Hans sister returns from Cuba with a jetlag but we still enjoy to see each other again before driving the final kilometers home. The traffic is busy and we have to get used to fact Holland is so crowded with cars. After 20.713 kilometers we stop the VW in front of our house – safely home after a great trip. Rik says: "Are we there?" "Yes Rik, we are there."
Time to meet everybody is great. Getting organized with agenda’s, appointments, read and sort large piles of mail is a different thing. Bart goes to school for the first time, a new milestone. The VW needs some attention in the garage. They find some sand in the steering parts: no wonder! Hans starts his new job, gets a new laptop with DVD and secretly inquires about the prices to fly to Easter Island this summer. The travel virus has not yet left us and we hope to continue exploring our planet one day.
