208. Europe Bicycle Trip--Mia and Tjeu, The Retired Baker

After 56. 95 km and 4 hours of riding, I reached Nederweert. My cycle computer says I have gone 2250 km. so far on my big trip.

I found the address of my Friend of the Bicycle family in Nederweert quite easily following my GPS. This is the home of Mia and Tjeu. Mia was home and after we brought Silver into the back yard and unloaded some of my bags, Mia made me a cup of tea with some cookies and made me feel at home. Then she gave me a tour of their beautiful  house on the way to  bringing me to my bedroom.

The living room area

The dining table and behind it the sliding doors to the patio where we had tea--On the right , the open concept kitchen .

Off from the kitchen is the family room and in the dog bed is Zoe , the beagle.

This is Kida who is quite up in years.

My bedroom--I had a shower and worked on a blog downstairs while chatting with Mia whose birth name is Maria Anna Christina. Tjeu's birth name is Mathias Joseph Marie. They have 3 grown children--Ron, Hans and Rianne Mia and Tjeu used to host exchange students and their son, Ron married the sister of one of their exchange students from New Zealand.

Tjeu came home from his volunteer work at about 4 pm. I learned that he used to own a bakery but sold it just before the economy crisis in the Netherlands. He sold it to a young man that he trained beforehand. Tjeu now volunteers at a museum called Eynderhoof. He is in charge of the bakery there. He also does all the cooking at home while Mia does the dishes. He is an excellent chef as I found out at suppertime.

This is a copy of a photo of Tjeu's bakery with store sign (on the right)

This is a sample of the bags Tjeu used in the store to put the baking into.

Mia and I walked to the store before supper and these houses on her street all looked alike and quite modern.

The end of the street brought us into the centrum area of Nederweert where the grocery store was located. I just wanted to make a 50 Euro bill into smaller bills but they made me buy something in order to do it. So I paid for a cantalope. I was given the privilege of saying grace before the meal.  Tjeu made us a nice fish meal and after supper he said he would take me to the museum where he volunteers. Mia also does volunteer helping each week with a handicapped man.