Netherlands Adventure!: Day 12 - Breda

Other than enjoying Holland and boating on its many rivers and canals, we also came to meet, for the first time, my second cousin, Rosalinde and her husband, Martin. I "found" her quite a few years ago while I was searching for my Dutch relatives. My grandfather came from Holland in 1914, by himself. He was the youngest of about 9 siblings. Rosalinde's grandfather and my grandfather were brothers!

When I knew we were definitely coming here, I got in touch with her and we made plans to spend the day together. They very kindly invited us to come around 10:30 and stay through dinner! I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. That's a long time to spend with complete strangers, even ones to whom I'm related!

David and I had booked a rental in Breda where they live. By a crazy coincidence, we were within walking distance of Rosalinde and Martin's home!

David and I got to their home and were greeted so warmly by Rosalinde and Martin, you would never know we were meeting for the first time!

They served us tea and the most delicious cake, while we chatted about our family tree. I shared pictures of the American "branch" of the family as well as a brief family tree that I copied from Ancestry.com. She also shared pictures of her parents and siblings. She told us that she had been named after a relative in America, and we both figured out that it was my Aunt Rosemary!

Later in the day, her daughter Maaike, her hubby Jochem, and their daughters Suze and Nine (pronounced Nina) arrived. We had a wonderful lunch and then we all headed into downtown Breda where we walked around seeing the area. We stopped for cold drinks, and then ice cream. We stopped by our rental on the way home to get food leftover from our trip to give to them. Since it was so close, we walked back.

Then we sat in their back yard and had bread and cheese, and later a wonderful dinner! The day flew by and the conversation never stopped! We discussed everything from family ties to politics to sports! I truly feel like I've known them longer than a day!