On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Captain C
The next set continues with the Rotterdam portion of the reunion, including several pics from the Hotel New York where we had our lunch and the slideshow of our family history.
Highlights included:
*The oldest known photo of an ancestor my great 3x(I think) grandfather Bastiaan, who was born in 1802 and is one of many with his name in our family. It’s kind of like the wedding scene in Goodfellas, but with Dutch people.
*The stories of my great grandparents and my great grandmother’s hard-nosed sister who ran a house for sailors between their voyages.
*That my Opa and all of his siblings were active in varying degrees in the resistance.
*Seeing pics of my mom and her generation at various ages.
The rest of the photos are from back in Den Haag.
After the harbour* tour, we took a water taxi to the other side of the harbour to the Hotel New York. This is some of the Netherland’s ubiquitous public art (not as well funded currently as in the past).
*They spell it that way so that’s what I’m going with.
Port machinery seen on the way to Hotel New York.
The room where we ate and watched the slide show was a kind of museum/library. I think at least most of the items are items that were left behind; I seem to recall seeing some old such suitcases as well.
Down in the lower left corner, you can see some of the lunch buffet.
I would like a house that has bookshelves and a moving ladder like this one.
Saw this cutie after dinner that night. They were happily napping, so I admired from afar.
In my hotel. I would like many more whimsical such things were I live.
Seen across from where we had our final Reunion lunch.
A very shiny and reflective building, also right by. the restaurant.
Baud
Nice library.
stinger
So interesting!
Ramalama
I think your family history is very cool. Were you able to get more details on the resistance part?
MartyIL
Sounds like a great trip
Torrey
Those are some amazing ancestors you have there. I want someone to write a novel about your great-great-aunt who ran a house for sailors between their voyages. Heck, I would like to sit down with her and hear ALL about it. (Among the many things I’d like to do that are, sadly, not in the cards.)
It’s wonderful connecting with extended family as you’ve done, and I’m grateful you’re sharing it with us. And, once again, great pictures.
MCat
Thanks so much for sharing all this with us. I am really enjoying your trip.
mvr
My grandfather (my dad’s dad) whom I never met and who was apparently a hard man ran a hospital in Rotterdam and was also an official of the Red Cross in the Netherlands. I believe including during WWII.
Thanks for the photos! Some day I hope to go there.
BigJimSlade
The whole banana-peels-are-slippery-to-step-on thing… how was it even discovered and became a popular meme (for instance, in cartoons)? Were people just leaving their fruit trash on the floor?
otmar
I’ll spend a week in The Hague in September. I’ve been there so often by now, it almost feels like a second home.
Captain C
@stinger: Thanks!
Captain C
@Ramalama:
I was! My Opa taught at the underground university after the Nazis closed the universities in 1943 (mass refusal to sign loyalty oaths, probably among other things), and his three younger siblings were active in the resistance to varying degrees. In particular, the third child, Oom Bas, was one of the leaders of the student wing of the resistance, and was their representative on the Council of Nine (I think it was called), the coordinating body for the entire Dutch resistance. Several times the gestapo came looking for him, and my great grandmother would feign ignorance (“I don’t know where he is, I haven’t seen him in a couple days. You know how these kids are nowadays…”) while he escaped along the rooftops. He met his future wife, Tante Attie, in the resistance. One of the slides was a newspaper photo from the liberation in 1945 of a crowd by a Canadian tank (it was the Canadians who liberated the Netherlands in April-May of 1945 and the Dutch have not forgotten)–you could see Bas and Attie among the throng.
The youngest of the siblings, Tante Cocky, was one of many women who were used to smuggle arms and documents, as women were less likely to be stopped and searched.
Also, at one point my great-grandfather made a sermon which apparently included some anti-German language and was arrested. While at the transfer prison, my great-grandmother came down and explained to the commandant that he was too stupid to know what he was talking about, that he was only repeating things he’d heard and not understood. This somehow worked, and he was freed. Yes, it was a blatant lie
ETA: Oom Bas went on to become a diplomat. I would imagine this was a lot less stressful than his time in the resistance.
Captain C
@Torrey: Thanks! I would imagine she had some amazing stories. She was also apparently a very hard and intimidating woman (one would have to be to manage a houseful of sailors between voyages, men presumably trying to get as much fun in as possible while on land), but got along famously with her sister (my great-grandmother).
Captain C
@MCat: You’re welcome! Lots more to come.
Captain C
@MartyIL: It was!
Captain C
@mvr: Your grandfather sounds interesting. Glad you dig the photos. I hope you make it there; it’s a great place to visit, and the country is small enough that you can get to most of the major places via a train ride of not more than a few hours.
Captain C
@BigJimSlade: It’s been a comic trope as long as I can remember. I suspect that in days past there was a lot more littering.