235. Europe Bicycle Trip--Nelleke and Luc Mulder and Family in Brielle

After 89.36 km of bicycling on a hot day with the wind on my back and after seeing all the dams connecting the islands of Zeeland and then South Holland, I finally arrived in the town of Brielle, my stop for the night. I had departed Middleburg at 8:30 am and arrived in Brielle at 3 pm.

Brielle  is a very old, fortified town, municipality and historic seaport in the western Netherlands, in the province South Holland, on the north side of the island Voorne-Putten, at the mouth of the New Maas River. The population is about 16,350. The name is derived from the Celtic word "brogilo" meaning "closed area" or "hunting grounds". "Bril" qalso translates to "glasses."

A canal and fountain

On this hot afternoon, many young people were on the bank of the canal.

I had to follow the street toward the drawbridge.

Then I had to go over the drawbridge toward another canal adjoining to this one.

I had two problems: First, I had the name of the street but not the proper number, only the letters ZZ and Second, it was beginning to rain. Finally, I met a lady on the street and asked if she knew where the Mulder family lived. She did not but she went inside her house and looked in the phone book and found the house number. As I proceeded farther down the street toward the number, I had to stop and take a photo of this old pirate ship. I found out later from Nelleke that every year they reenact the fact that during the Eighty years' War between the Netherlands and Spain, the Capture of Brielle on April 1, 1572, by Protestant rebels marked the turning point in the conflict, as many towns in Holland then supported William of Orange against the Spanish Duke who was sent to pacify the Netherlands.

Nelleke and Betsy

When I knocked at the door, there was no answer and I thought that I would go sit along the canal for a while but just then a pretty lady came cycling toward me and it was Nelleke Mulder coming home from work. Nelleke is the cousin of my friend Caroline, in Canada. Their mothers and Tante Anneke who I visit with Caroline, were sisters. Nelleke welcomed me warmly and we brought Silver into the house and unloaded some of my things for the evening. Nelleke and her husband, Luc have 4 beautiful children who are now young adults living at home. Identical twins Gijs and Bart, 21, (both going to Delft University studying engineering) Stijn, 19 (studying to be an operating engineer in factories) and Betsy, 14. (who wants to become an industrial architect after high school)

Nelleke has an interesting laundry room where the washer and dryer are behind the cupboard doors-very neat! Nelleke works in the finance department of the high school that her boys attended. She is an amazing woman as she has worked full time even when all her children were small. In those days, she had a job that required lots of driving and she hired one person to watch her children and another to clean her house. She really likes it now that she can just cycle to her nearby job.

Gijs---It is Friday evening so everyone is going out. As Nelleke and I were sharing a drink, I got to say hello them all.They were all very friendly and polite.  Then Gijs said goodbye as he was headed out to a party. Stijn, who I never got a photo of,  went to the movies and Betsy had an early supper and left to go to a young people's meeting. She would be sleeping at a friend's house tonight so I could use her bedroom. I was very thankful in this busy home to be invited to stay overnight.

Green beans, fried potatoes and sausages

Nelleke , Bart and I had a delicious supper of green beans, potatoes and sausages, hamburger and pudding for dessert.. Luc was at work and would come home late in the evening.  Bart told me about how when he and Gijs were younger, they both represented Netherlands in snowboarding. They practiced at a local indoor snow hill. They also do downhill mountain biking and practice on the hills in France. What unusual sports for boys growing up in the flat Netherlands. Nelleke added that both boys have had every kind of injury and broken bones but have recuperated from all of them. They are tough! They build their own downhill bikes ordering all the parts over the internet.

The outside patio and yard--Bart also went out later to enjoy the evening and Nelleke and I talked. She told me about the boys and their sports and also about Betsy and a very bad boating accident when she was 8 and fell off the boat and was injured by the propeller but that she has miraculously recuperated from it all. She told me about her sister, Caroline who lives not far away and teaches 4 and 5 year olds. Caroline has 3 sons and is busy now with a new grandchild so I won't be able to see her.

We sat at the table and worked on our computers after it was dark. Dave skyped me and got to say hello to Nelleke and Bart. Nelleke and I also talked about the environment and politics. .

After 11pm. Luc arrived home on his bicycle from his shift work . Luc works in the computer department at Vopac Terminal Europort in the Port of Rotterdam. Vopac deals with crude, petroleum products and diesel and has 99 tanks  and 7 berths for vessels and 15 for barges. They have world wide locations. We stayed up and visited for a while and then I went to bed.

I thought this deer head looked festive with its decorations.

A photo of Nelleke's mother and father when they were young. She is very knowledgeable of her family history.