Roosendaal, the Netherlands...

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Roosendaal, the Netherlands... (8 Minute read)
2 weeks of patience and gratitude.

After saying goodbye to my friends Marie and Lotta in Eslöv, Sweden, I took a short train ride to Malmö to jump on the overnight train that would take me back to Amsterdam.

That 15-hour train ride from Malmö to Amsterdam was rather uneventful, and somehow a bit quiet...

This time I didn't encounter anyone interesting on the train, and fortunately, I found an empty cabin when I got on board...
At least the cabin was empty for some part of the night, so I was able to catch some sleep...until eventually, some other people got into my cabin in the morning...perhaps in Copenhagen, or somewhere else in Denmark...

I lost track of where we were, as I was again pondering what I was going to do for the next few days while my funds from Mexico arrived...

Fortunately, I had been in touch with a friend of my brother's in a small town in the Netherlands called Roosendaal, located close to the border with Belgium...

In those days my brother, Mario, used to work for Philips in Mexico, a multinational Dutch company, whose HQ was located in Eindhoven at that time, a town near Roosendaal, and my brother had made friends with a guy who worked there called Dies Tolheok...anyway, this man and his wife Laura had invited me to stay for a few days with them at my return from Sweden...

So, when I arrived in Amsterdam I took a quick ride to Zaandam to collect my mail at Arthur's place...

Arthur wasn't home, not sure where he was but his sister Inge was home and as usual, was very kind to me...

She said... "Welcome back to Holland, how was your trip to Sweden?... Come in come in"...
Then she said, "Arthur's gone away for a few days with some friends, but you can stay the night if you want to, you look pretty tired" and of course...I obliged...
Thank you so much...

I was truly tired after the long train journey and, even though I didn't want to impose further disruption to Inge and Arthur's lives, I welcomed the invite...
I also needed a shower badly...

It was early evening so Inge offered me some soup and we sat down to eat and talk about my trip and adventure in Sweden...and we talked about my future travel plans around Europe once my funds arrived...

It was actually quite nice to be there with Inge and not Arthur...there was no tension in the air...

Then I started opening my mail while Inge watched some telly, there were a couple of letters from Mum and Dad and also a letter from my brother Pepe and my sister Silvia and her husband Tavo …nothing from the Bank...

There was no news about my funds yet but Dad said he was going to check on that in the next few days...

It was all a bit distressing but I had to remain calm...

I had a really good night sleep and the next day I got ready to travel down to Roosendaal, once again I said bye to Inge... and she said as I was leaving...
"You know you have a place here to stay if you need to... you can come back any time, just let me know... Ok?"
Wow... that generosity was beyond my understanding and I thanked her again and walked to the train station...

I caught a train to Amsterdam and then I took a quick 2-hour train ride to Roosendaal...
When I arrived in Roosendaal, Dies was waiting for me at the train station...

"Hey Hector, good to see you again!" he said..."how are you and how was your trip up in Sweden?"
I had previously met Dies, for just one day during a quick day trip when I was living in Zaandam...
We put my bags in his copper colour 'VW Golf' and headed towards his beautiful home...

We talked a bit about my trip on the way and I told him I was expecting my funds to arrive any day soon and he said...

"No problem, you can stay with us as long as you need, we have a spare bedroom"...then he said, "we are both working but you can get around town walking or you can borrow my bike"... How cool, I thought...

Once again kindness with no strings attached... so uncommon and so valuable...and yet, we may not even truly appreciate it when it is right before our eyes...

Laura, his wife, was waiting for us at his house and welcomed me at the door, showed me to my bedroom and provided me with a clean towel...then she said, "Dinner will be ready soon, I hope you like Chinese food", she was cooking a new dish...and Dies said, "leave your stuff in your room and come out to the back yard and let's have a beer...do you like Heineken?"... I sure do...

Dies had been studying Spanish and wanted to practice...he really was improving...

We had a couple of beers and Laura called us in, she had prepared some Chinese noodles and they asked me, "Do you know how to use Chinese chopsticks to eat?"... Nope, I said... I had never learned or even tried to use them...

So they promptly handed me a pair of chopsticks and showed me how to place them in my hand and how to move them with my fingers to grab some of the noodles and how to transport that into my mouth...it takes some skill to do so, and at first it was quite awkward and the food kept falling off my sticks but after a few tries, I got the hang of it...

Who was to say... I learned how to use Chinese chopsticks for the first time from a Dutch couple in Roosendaal!!

I had a fantastic goodnight sleep that night...
Somehow I felt safe and at ease...like staying with family...

After 3 days in Roosendaal, I got news from Mexico!

I spoke with my Dad over the phone and he said my funds would be released on September the 8th, only a few days away, but that the amount wasn't what I expected, in reality, it was going to be about HALF of what I thought it would be!!

No way! I said... How's that possible!? I was a bit angry... and Dad said, "As soon as we get the funds we'll transfer them to your account"...
I said thanks to my Dad and sent regards to all back home...and started thinking...
-I'm going to have to cut my trip short...

I truly was annoyed but there was nothing I could do...but at last, I was going to get some money...I calculated it to be close to $500 USD...

That would buy me an 'InterRail Pass' (Unlimited trips within Europe) for 1 month and it would allow me to travel on a $10 USD a day budget...
So, I started planning my trip...

I spent a wonderful couple of weeks with the Tolhoeks, a bit bored but nonetheless it was a very peaceful couple of weeks...

I rode around the town a few times by bicycle travelling on their nicely organised cycle paths, while my hosts were at work...it is truly a beautiful small town...

I watched MTV a lot (it was quite popular back then), read my books and wrote a lot of letters...as usual...

We also travelled to Antwerp in Belgium, as it was so close...what a nice town!...

In reality, it was a very peaceful and uneventful time in Roosendaal and once my funds arrived I said goodbye to Dies and Laura and thanked them for their generosity and Dies said... "I'll be coming to Mexico soon so I'll see you there some time"...

Thank you guys, I said...Dies took me to the train station and, we said our goodbyes again...

On September the 17th I went up to Zaandam and left some of my stuff at Inge's place, she said I could do that so that I could travel lighter and then I could pick that up on my way back from touring Europe...

I also collected my mail and the letter from the Bank indicating that my funds were cleared and ready for me to withdraw from my ABN Dutch Bank account...

I was so excited, immediately after retrieving my money I went to buy my InterRail Pass, which cost at that time around $200 USD.

I was ready by September the 19th to embark on a journey that would take me through 8 Countries, making stops in 14 cities...(More on that on my next posts)
I was dying to hit the road again...

I had done a bit of washing in Roosendaal, so I had clean clothes, a Train Pass a bit of cash and my spirits were on a high again!

My 'Grand Europe Tour' was just ahead...and many new adventures were about to reveal themselves...
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Let's go travel all over Europe! (well nearly...)