Day 25 - Garderen & the Hidden Village

Today we got up and had another great breakfast - this time Boterkoek. We got ready to go and then drove to Oma and Opa’s. The plan was that Opa was going to show us around Garderen.

Once there we all started walking. Before long we came across an old water pump which is how they used to get water in the village.

All the Dutch houses in this village are amazing to look at - they are really cute and all have immaculate gardens.

We came across the church that Oma and Opa go to! It has a statue out the front to remember the first Dutch reformed preacher who was arrested after preaching in this church.

Next we came across a big windmill. We could even climb it! We all climbed up some steep steps to the top of the windmill except for Titus who stayed behind with Opa. At the top, the man explained to us that this windmill is still used for making meal, but because of the food safety standards nowadays it is mostly used for animal food. He let the kids pull the ropes to lift up the bags of grain to the windmill which they thought was amazing!

Opa also showed us through the cemetery where some of our relatives our buried. We then walked back to his house.

On the way home we stopped in to the local icecream shop. We were excited to see some great Dutch flavours like stroopwaffel! They even had a Coke flavour which is what Ali bought, and it tasted perfect as it is made from real Coke. It was more like a Coke gelato, as it was smooth but not milky.

Once back to Oma and Opa’s house, we drove back to our bungalows for some lunch - the forest picture is the view from the car park where we are staying.

While Ali was making some lunch, we had a visitor walk through the front door!

Titus went for a nap and the girls were playing with Ollie and Gena, so Auke and Ali decided to go for a drive.

We were looking for the hidden village. This is a place where they used to hide people in the war time in the middle of the forest. Sadly, because of Dutch SS soldiers who were traitors, the little village was found and burnt to the ground eventually and eight Jews and one German deserter were captured. The other 70ish people managed to escape. The one today is a re-created version of how it was.

It’s not called the Hidden Village for nothing - Auke and Ali followed the Google Maps route only to end up in the complete wrong place. We were wondering if Google is paid to give the wrong route so that it remains the Hidden Village! Thankfully it was a very scenic drive through the forest on the way!

Eventually we found it after driving back where we came from, and driving another way.

The huts are absolutely tiny, it’s hard to believe they were people’s homes for over a year.

After looking through the huts, we went for a quick walk in the forest.

Back on the road home, we passed the place where they shot the eight Jews that were captured when they found the village. Sadly, one of them was just 6 years old.

We did some groceries on the way home, and then got the kids ready to go out to dinner. We went to the local Indonesian place which was really nice. We got to try lots of different foods!

At dinner, Titus took a shine to Oma and couldn’t stop smiling at her! It was very cute.

After this, we got the kids showered and to bed. Auke went for a bike ride with some of his family to see a naturally occurring big hole/dip in the ground while Ali stayed home to look after the kids.