Today was Queen's Day as you know so we went to Beetsterzwag again to see Nel's parents and go to the parade since there was a big parade in that city (the main city of the province). There were some awesome floats. From back to front we walked by a huge "hacienda" where there were men wearing "horserider"costumes. You know, where the man's body is the top and on his waist he puts the horse. There were flamenco girls complete with Spanish music! The next float was garbage and it was for the victims of the recession, a boy held out a shoe on a fishing line asking for money. Then there was the complete opposite, the lifestyles of the rich and famous float was so incredible. The front held a bathtub that was hanging by chains and inside was fake euros (money) and a man drinking champagne (complete with gorgeous dressed up girl drinking champagne and walking beside him). The back of the float showed their servants weeding the garden, doing the laundry, etc! There was an Alice in Wonderland float complete with oversized mushrooms, a tea party, and all the characters. The entire parade was gorgeous as was the other scenery. There were cherry blossom trees that had just blossomed (so basically imagine where every leave should be a flower instead). Nel says that the flowers last for two weeks only. There were a lot of other floats as well, blue smurf kids, paparrazzi, Michael Jackson float complete with stage, dancers, fans, music, and steam machine. There was the rebel float with teenage boys drinking beers, fighting and swinging on a real swing (it was supposed to be set in a park so real, grass, swing, castle thingy!)! They did a good job of looking and acting the part, so funny! Beer and mud was flying everywhere!
On the way to see the whole parade a second time (jumping ahead through a shortcut) we saw the town hall where Nel's dad works in the financial department dealing with road construction and repair. We got to see the Mayor--Francisca Ravenstein in a very antique yellow car and baton twirlers as well. There were children dressed like trees, mice, soccer players, and even a "snackwagen" float that was dragging a large electrical cord on a scooter behind it!!!
We went back to the house and watched the parade in Zeeland (the area southwest where my mom's family is from) on TV. This was the province the queen went to this year. We enjoyed coffee together and I found out alot about the history of the Netherlands. Originally it was a republic, ruled for a while by a French king, and when finally the president of the republic returned he became King WIlliam I as the nation began their monarchy. After him was William II, William III, (Emma, the mom, for 10 years because her 8 year old daughter Wilhelmina couldn't rule til she was 18), Wilhelmina (for 50 years!!!!!!!!!!), Juliana (for 32!), Beatrix is the current queen. Her son William IV will be next followed by William's daughter Amalia. Last year there was a horrible attempt on the queen's life on Queen's day. A man crashed a car and 7 people died. Everyone was shocked and the festivities were cancelled for the rest of the day.
For lunch we had rolls with ham, butter, and cheese and then Nel and I headed out on our visit of our ancestors land!
Our first stop was Oostermeer (Eastermar) which is where our family name originated. Our first ancestor took his official name in 1811 in the registry book as "Overzet". His name was Geert Jans and he owned a ferry in Oostermeer. We were able to see where the house used to be (but now a beautiful new one is there) with the words Oerset in metal on the house in memory of our ancestor. The stream was a lot smaller than it used to be, but it used to be the crossing point for people coming on the footpath from North to South to the Drachten area. Geert also owned a cafe with gin and beer before there was wine. It was such a cool feeling to see exactly where it all started!
Next we went right to the Eastermar city and got to see the quaint city. There was a gorgeous canal running through it with bridges to houses and beautiful flowers as is common all over the Netherlands. We went to a few other smaller cities next like Burgum (where Nel's mom and dad were married in the town hall and Nel's mom's father had been the head of the police), Ferwerd (where Nel's mom had lived from the ages of 7-20), and up along the coast! We saw the huge dijks (dikes) that guarded the mainland, sand dunes that you could walk along all the way to the islands in the 6 hours of low tide, and many churches and memorials. We stopped at fisherman towns to admire the old Dutch town feels and beauty. We stopped in Weirum and Moddergat and went on the dijks too see the sea as well as the reclaimed land and sand dunes that you can walk on to the islands in low tide.
In Lauwersoog we saw fishing boats in the harbor before going to Ulrum, a city where the Overzets lived as well. Lastly though we stopped in Marum which is where MY ancestors had broken off into right before they moved to America in 1903. Nel had actually found the footpath that led to where the house used to be so we walked down it and speculated where it might have been.
It is sooo cool that I actually know my family line!
Geert Jans-->Jans Geert-->Jan Jans-->Roelf-->Jan (John)-->Ralph (my great grandpa)-->John (grandpa)-->MY DAD!
We know some ancestors before Geert, but Geert is where we got our last name because that is the year that Napoleon declared for everyone to register with a last name. Before that time there were no last names for the Dutch people, they just switched the names of their father (as you see that Geert Jans named his first son Jans Geert...so Jans was supposed to name his son Geert Jans like his grandfather but he named him Jan Jans...what a rebel!) Nel acually has copies of the REAL documents that she tracked down with registration of our name, registration of them moving to America through Ellis Island, account of Geert's ownership of the ferry, marriages, births, etc, all in a large black binder, that she showed to me tonight!
After our excursion we stopped by the grocery store and got the ingredients for dinner tonight. She made a great salad with honey mustard, chicken, wheat bread (oh how I've missed it!), and rosemary potatoes (Holland potatoes=spectacular). Everything was so good. The thing I love about Holland is they are always eating, drinking, or both.
We walked around her gorgeous neighborhood which is called Fennepark for a while and talked.
The Netherland's flag along with the orange banner for Queen's Day. Nel told me that there is a law that you must take down the flag as soon as you can't distinguish the blue from the red (before nightfall). They have an interesting tree that they grow 2-D that you can see in the picture as well.
Nel has traveled to more countries than I can name. Pretty much anywhere, you name it, except Australia!!! She is the most amazing and interesting person and I love talking to her and finding out about her experiences. She is a pharmacist, in fact she works in two pharmacies in the area, and she has been so generous and kind to me! She has 27 days off per year during which she plans a good vacation :) this year she went to California for two weeks to visit other Overzet family that lives out there!!! She just got back the week before I came.
Nel has a very nice house, but the funny thing is that all the Dutch people, well most, have a house, but it is a duplex, it looks like one house, but it holds two. I have my own room here and there are 1.5 baths. It is spacious and beautiful, she spends a lot of time tending to her garden and three cats. The plants here are gorgeous!!! Broken heart flower, tulips, cherry blossoms, orchids, the plants I think are the most beautiful I've ever seen. Her neighborhood is nice with a gorgeous lake, canals, rivers, and paths running through it. There is even a miniature beach with sand and swans (below)!!!
We then came back and had olie bollen and tea and then a bottle of wine and herring on rye bread that was small and wet. Everything was great!
Nel's cats are named Minka, Rakert, and Misty. December 26, 2011 marks the 200 year anniversary of our name, and Nel and I want to put together a family reunion.
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