When dad was a young man and halfway through college, he took a year off to travel through Europe. He bought a Lambretta motor scooter, toured from Italy north, and then sailed back to New York on a steamer, and afterward scooted across America back to California.
Tonight, Mom and Dad hosted the Young But Not Youth Group from Church--a gathering of college age and older, but still relatively young, church members. It was crashed by four young ladies from the Netherlands who are studying to be English teachers. Dad approached them and proclaimed "I have a question that I've been wanting to ask a Dutch person for 50 years!" They said they would do their best to answer it, and dad said "When I was young I sailed from Amsterdam to New York on a ship called the Johan Van Oldenbarneveldt. My question is: who is Johan Van Oldenbarneveldt?"
The young ladies sadly shook their heads in bewilderment. None of them had ever heard of Van Oldenbarneveldt. One of them did have this marvelous suggestion, though: "Why don't you Google it?"
So we did. and we found out who Johan Van Oldenbarneveldt was (and if you're curious, you can click on his name to find out). We also encountered some pictures of the ship itself, which was lost to fire in 1963.
Posted by Martin at March 6, 2005 10:03 PMI see that Johan van Oldenbarneveldt aided William the Silent in his struggle for Dutch independence. What I want to know is how did William the Silent manage to communicate to his men. Was this the earliest use of sign language? Or did William the Silent scrawl notes to his fellow freedom fighters. Since no incriminating evidence was ever found against Oldenbarneveldt, I am guessing that his notes to and from William the Silent were cleverly coded or destroyed.
Posted by: Dani at March 7, 2005 06:38 PMDear Peggy, When you heard Laconia you thought of Greece. When I hear Laconia I think of New Hampshire. Laconia is a mid-sized city (17,000) on Lake Winnepausaukee. Its famous for many things including the annual biker gathering. This year it runs from June 19-26th and kicks off with a Biker Breakfast at the American Legion Post #1 in Laconia from 7AM to 11AM. By the way, in March the average temp is 32.2.
Perhaps in honor of Donel's voyage and motorcycle trip he should go to Laconia for the biker gathering. Donel, you will need to beef up a bit and get yourself some leathers before you go. There tends to be a rowdy atmosphere and you may be asked to participate in a bar brawl. Marilyn will need to be prepared to stand on top of her bike and toss off items of clothing.
It's a lot of fun. I had a Catholic priest friend who went every year on his cycle and blessed the bikers. Let me know if you need help finding lodging although there are many who don't bother sleeping the week they are there.
Jennifer
Posted by: Jennifer at March 8, 2005 06:38 AMDonel-
We were sorry to have missed the party. Look for a small box in the mail shortly......learned a new technique, and decided to use my new-found skill to send you a "warm fuzzy"....a tactile "hug"
Marilee
Posted by: Marilee at March 11, 2005 12:03 AMLost you in the crowd at church just now, Donel and Marilyn, so will have to greet you electronically instead. (BTW, I think our little section of the service attenders were in fine form on that last hymn.)
Your ship discussion is timely.....Erin and I just returned from, among other places, Jamestown, where we were able to tour the replica of the ship which carried the first members of the Virginia Company to the site at the mouth of the James River. Erin, Jeffrey, and I had a wonderful trip and their travelogue is forthcoming. (I was in meetings for a big part of the trip. Darn those business trips that really are actually business!) Do you want to see the extended version or the edited for Harmony School clips? Donel, you were very much on our hearts. Sunday night we (along with Allison Thomas and her mom) went to the National Cathedral for the evening service. It turned out it was a Service for Healing....very lovely.....and prayers were lifted for you from that beautiful place. Love you.
Posted by: Janet at March 11, 2005 05:09 PMJennifer -- there was probably a time when I could both stand on top of a bike and shed my clothing. It might have even been mildly titillating. At this time in my life, I neither could simultaneously complete the fete nor would anyone in their right mind wish to observe it. So, I think I'll just send Donel to the gathering with his leathers and bike and stay home to read my current mystery. I'll take my excitement vicariously.
Posted by: Marilyn at March 12, 2005 05:24 PM
Circles within circles — but while looking at the postcards I read that when your ship was sold to the Greek Line it became the Laconia. Well that was also the name of Captain Wentworth's ship in Jane Austen's 'Persuasion' - one of my all time favorite books so...I hied me over to Google and found:
You could easily spend your entire vacation in beautiful Laconia, in the Peloponnese. When people think of the Peloponessos the name of Sparta comes to mind and of course the valiant Lacedemonians and their leader Leonidas who held the Persian army at Thermopylae...
Posted by: Peggy at March 7, 2005 09:57 AM