Total Recap: Part 2

Back at ya with the second post about my parent's visit. 

I loved playing host.  Our brand new dining table came in the day before my parent's arrival, so it was lovely to cook dinner together and enjoy eating at our new table.  We gave my parents a taste of some of the dinners Todd and I make the most often... including our version of the Dutch favorite, "kipsate"....chicken, veggies, potatoes, indonesian peanut sauce. One of my faves.  And I think they liked it too.

On Saturday, we headed down to one of our favorite cities in the Netherlands, Maastricht. A highlight was our trip in the caves beneath the city.  There is an intricate network of caves that wind below the city, originally dug as a way to mine for limestone.  The large red cathedral you see in the photo below is made entirely of the limestone that was taken out of the ground.

Pretty cool.  Another fun fact - the tower is red because originally it was painted with the blood of over 500 cows.  Crazy, right?  

These caves were awesome.  There are over 80 kilometers of pathways underground.

Heading in...

Going deeper...

The very necessary lantern

Map of the cave system

Listening to the guide tell stories of how the caves were used throughout the years...

Queen Wilhelmina visited in 1895...

At one point the guide took all the lanterns around a bend, and we had to find our way to him in the pitch black.  That was a little freaky, but we lived to tell the tale.

After emerging from the caves, we did the walking tour around the city to see all of the sights.  

Another highlight of the trip was our bike ride to the neighboring village of Nuenen. Once home to Vincent Van Gogh.  We biked around the town and stopped at the various sites that related to Van Gogh's life.

He painted this windmill, which is still in operation today.

Todd's bike, Vincent's windmill.

Vincent's father was the preacher at this tiny church.

VVG

Our pit stop for cappuccinos.

Well, that's the highlights of the trip, folks.  I wish it wasn't over. But my parents did make it back to the U.S. without any difficulty, so that's good.  Now it's back to the swing of things for me here...kind of.  We leave in a little over a week for Italy, so it's nice to have something to look forward to so quickly!

A huge thanks to my mom and dad for making the trip over to see us!