Today we explored the area around Rossum where the immigrant Vermazen family came from. We met up with Duke’s distant cousin Ben and his wife Lin and they showed us around.

Saturday is market day in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. We had fun exploring the town.

Today we visited Paleis Het Loo. Up until recently it was the Country Palace of Dutch Royalty. The palace was beautiful and they have an excellent app with a very interesting audio tour. Het Loo has been used as a palace since the 1600’s. I was especially interested in Willem (William) and Mary who, according to the tour, successfully invaded England and were invited to become the King and Queen of Great Britain .

For dinner we went into the Zaltbommel and ate at Restaurant De Eetgelegenheid Zaltbom. We had our second truly wonderful dinner in two nights.

This morning after breakfast we drove into the town of Dokkum. Along the way we stopped by the side of the road so I could get a picture of a farm. Almost every barn we have seen has been big with a steeply sloped roof. A lot of the barns have thatched roofs. A typical farm that we have seen in Friesland has a beautiful house attached to the front of the big barn. One of the great things about Friesland has been how unique the landscape and buildings are.

In Dokkum we parked and went to the museum. Then we walked along the canal surrounding the town. Several villages in Friesland are laid out so that they are surrounded by canals. You can see one of the layouts on this map of Dokkum.

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From Dokkum we left Friesland and drove south and east almost to the German border to the town of Rossum where we are tonight

After a bit of a rest we went for a three mile walk around the 17th century stately mansion of Singraven. It’s only a few miles from where we are staying.

For dinner we drove into the nearby town of Oldenzaal. We ate at Grand Cafe de Dominee. On this trip we have had a lot of good meals. But we have had surprisingly few great meals. Tonight was a great meal. Duke had a ribeye steak and I had cod. We shared a trifle for desert.

Today we explored a bit of Friesland. It is a beautiful and fascinating area. Not far from where we are staying is the De Heining Pumping station. It’s one of the giant pumping stations that is used to pump water from the lakes and canals and reclaimed farm land out to the salt marsh on the other side of the dike.

Next we went to the village of Minnertsga where one of my distant ancestors, Hendrick Epke Banta was born. The writing on the stone next to the door of the church says the tower was built in 1505. The drive through the villages and farmland to get there was fun.

The sandstone plaque by the front door

Our last stop on our exploration was the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden It all about the history and people of Friesland.

We had dinner in the nearby town of Dokkum at Grand Café de Waugh

Today it rained non stop until about 3. But somehow it just gives more romantic atmosphere to Amsterdam. We walked around a bit to find a coffee shop for breakfast.

After breakfast we packed up and walked to the rental car office.

We had a few problems with the rental car process but eventually we were on the road out of Amsterdam.

Tonight we are staying in a former church in the tiny town of Reitsum in Friesland. One of my immigrant ancestors, Hendrick Epke Banta was born not far from here in 1655. It is absolutely beautiful country.