Sinterklaas The Kleinjan Way And Plane Delays

Last blog I ended with my short trip to the Netherlands for a hen’s-do of Geraldine. It was a wonderful day filled with lots of emotions.

On Sunday evening, I stepped out of the bus near our house. Rob was waiting there for me at the bus stop to give me a kiss and a hug before he went to the airport to fly to London, we were like passing ships in the night . I was going to see him the next day in Manchester. In the evening, I brought Ayo to our Pilates teacher Jo. She was taking care of him from Sunday evening till Wednesday afternoon.

The next morning, I received a message from Rob’s assistant because a train derailed in the morning I had to go via York, and then to Manchester. It would take me 1,5 hours longer.  I was around noon at the train station Waverly. There, I learned that I wasn’t allowed on the train I had booked, because I didn’t have a reserved seat. They pointed me to the right queue; hundreds of people were apparently waiting on the other side for another train. You know the Brits are good in queueing but I’m Dutch and have not the patience to wait in a queue, however, I waited for 2 hours in that queue and not much had moved. I decided to give up and to go back home to take the car. Below you see the amount of people at the station and a photo that I quickly shot from the car. You can see the time I left the city on the clock. The big building is Balmoral Hotel, a stunning 5 star hotel in the center of Edinburgh.

Six hours later due to heavy rain, I reached my destination in Manchester, what a journey, 8 hours after I left home. By train, the normal route it would take you 3hr and 20 minutes, by car 4hr and 10 minutes, this was exceptional! Rob was waiting at the hotel for me, and we went out for a nice dinner. I quickly forgot all the misery.

Rob worked the next morning in our hotel room, and I decided to have a stroll through Manchester. There were Christmas stalls everywhere but not open yet. In the afternoon we took the train to Liverpool. Liverpool has a totally different vibe; I liked it more. It’s the Beatles city of course, everywhere you look you see something of the Beatles. We’ve decided to see the Beatles museum; we were the last one who could get in. It was wonderful, we enjoyed learning about all of them.

Late afternoon it got cold and started to rain………that wasn’t good. When we arrived at the stadium, we first looked for Diogo’s shrine, a place filled with flowers, cards and teddybears. He got killed in a car accident, 10 days after he got married! He left a wife and three little children behind. There’s another memorial at Anfield, to those who lost their lives in the Hillsborough disaster. 96 people attended a football game and never came home. There’re an everlasting flame and all the names engraved to ensure they will not be forgotten.

Liverpool has a tough season so far, perhaps the men are a bit lost because of the sudden death of their friend and teammate Diogo, who can tell. We only can see that they struggle, but not the evening we were there, simply because they won against Real Madrid! It was wonderful being there, in the crowed, singing YNWA, aka “you never walk alone!”, goosebumps really. In the 20^th minute they sing about Diogo.

Oh, he wears number 20,

He will take us to victory, and when he’s running down the left wing,

He’ll cut inside and score for LFC,

He’s a lad from Portugal, better than Figo, don’t you know,

Oh, his name is Diogo!

After the match we hurried to the bus stop, and we made it to the second last train that evening who brought us back to Manchester. The next morning, we had a smooth return journey back to Edinburgh, much better than my journey two days before.

The next day I picked up Ayo at Jo’s home. He was super sweet at her Pilates studio, he behaved well. Ayo went with Jo to her Pilates classes and had a great time.

On November 7^th Morgan came and Kirsty too, the next day was his 60^th birthday. We also had Jim, crashing on our couch! On Friday night we had Morgan’s birthday celebration with the entire Zuill family, parents, sisters, children except for their son Alexander because he lives in Vancouver/Canada.

It was wonderful to meet them all. The next day we had the rugby match Scotland – New Zealand. What an atmosphere at the stadium, the all-blacks did the Haka of course, spectacular to watch, the game was close, which was great since normally New Zealand is much better.

We went back home for Ayo after the match. Kirsty and Morgan ended up in different places but came home together with Jim. We had a few drinks, but Morgan had already enough and decided to go to bed. On Sunday Jack, their eldest son came over to have breakfast with us.

On November 17th Karen Jarvis came a few days to see me in Edinburgh. We go back to Warsaw years, so 25 years ago. Amara and Jack were in the same class. We strolled around Edinburgh, first day, Tuesday was awful, it rained cats and dogs, all day long. We decided to visit the castle. I had never seen it. We saw the cananon fire at 1pm exactly, in the old days the ships knew then what time it was. Wednesday was so much better, we walked and walked and of course visited the Christmas market! In the evening we had dinner at Mowgli, an Indian streetfood restaurant. We had a few really wonderful days!

On November 21^st I went to Barcelona to see Kate and Lindsey, my two dear friends also from Warsaw years. This goes 25 years back! Kate took care of me at the beginning of our first international move. I helped her with her first pregnancy, and the same for Lindsey.

It was wonderful to see each other. We had a great time together. Friday was bitter cold, Saturday less, and Sunday the day we left was the best day temperature wise.

The girls were surprised by my cell phone skills. I’m 10 years older and could explain all kind of features on the I-phone, they didn’t know. We ate lots of tapas, had great food all the time. And we chatted from morning till midnight. If you want to know a fun app, use this one if you’re looking for a rooftop terrace: www.wherestherooftop.com. It’ll give you all the rooftop terraces in any city. I've checked Edinburgh, unfortunately there aren't many. But Barcelona has a lot, and we chose a special one, an expensive one!

In the last weekend of November Pieter and Tineke came to see us in Edinburgh. Tineke is the sweetest friend there is, she always helps us unpacking whatever country we landed. She even came to Nigeria to help us unpacking, a true trooper!! This means that Tineke already came to Edinburgh last year, November 2024, but this time end of November she took Pieter.

The first night we went to bed around 12.30am, we said "night night" to each other, but after maybe 10 minutes there was a gentle knock on the door, they needed help, the fell through the bed……that wasn’t supposed to happen! Pieter already took off the matrass and examined the compartment below the bed. The boys fixed something and so we said for the second time "night night". We giggled a bit, when we were back in bed, but after 5 minutes there was another knock on our door. It didn’t hold, so they fell through it again……This time we made the bed stronger with loads of books underneath it. For the third time we said "night night"…..this time it stayed quiet, so the little construction worked. The next morning, they said that they slept really well. Rob and Pieter drove to a DIY shop to make a wooden frame, it’s stronger now! This bed is only 3 years old, and only slept on by our guests.

We had a few wonderful days with of course a visit to the Christmas market. Tineke needed a hat, and after a few shops she found one, soft pink, cashmere, bit expensive but very lovely! We had dinner at Tapa, as the name can tell, indeed a tapas restaurant in Heath. November 30^th, they flew back home to the Netherlands.

In the first week of December Rob was (again) in London for work. He was flying back via London City to Edinburgh and arrived with delay and very late at home. He was also very busy the rest of the week so, he decided to unpack his suitcase and discovered that he pulled a "Jacky" or to keep it simple, he had lost his passport!! He had used it for identification boarding the plane in London, but when he got home it was missing. The next morning he connected with all possible options, both airports, bus transfer, taxi and British Airways but none had found it. He called the Dutch Embassy to ask what to do and he got great help from them. They talked him through the process and website and also explained he needed to report it to the police. He filled in everything and double/triple checked in all places it could be but final conclusion was he really lost it. He still doesn't know how, if you know how, you won't lose it, right?! When you send in a request for a new passport, your old one is automatically blocked. He needed a new one in 10 days since he was going on holiday to Austria. Within an hour of sending in his passport application the Dutch embassy contacted him by phone and told him that if he could come the next day to London, he would have a new passport delivered in Edinburgh within 5 working days. So, that's what he did. He went to London on Thursday and fixed it. The support of the embassy was fantastic and on Wednesday morning he got via courier a new passport delivered to him at the office in Edinburgh. Wow.

One of Rob’s collegues Nic from New Zealand joined Heineken in the UK 2 years ago with her family. This was a big step to move to the other side of the world for all of them. After 2 years they decided to go home again for family reasons and leave Heineken. Rob really enjoyed working with her and found it very brave that they decided that family comes first. It was also sad moment to see them leave again. We took them for a farewell dinner in Edinburgh to thank them and wish them love, luck and success.

 On Thursday December 4^th I left with Ayo to Amsterdam and Vienna. In Vienna Robin was waiting for us, then we drove to dr Singer, my doctor who treated me when I had breast cancer in Vienna. Normally I see him in the summer, that didn’t work out last summer, so we saw each other this time on December 4^th. All was good, he gave me my new subscriptions for my examinations in 2026.

I stayed with Robin and Armin in Bad Gleichenberg. The next morning the three of us picked up our new car, a mazda CX-60, the bigger brother of what we had before.

When we came back home, I had a tea with Edith, Armin’s mum, she’s ill, she’s battling cancer. It was wonderful to see her and give a big, huge hug. Normally we have a lot of contact over the phone.

Around midday I left Bad Gleichenberg and drove with our new car to Wiedweg. In Feldkirchen I did a bit of grocery shopping to fill the house. It was very cold at home, I quickly heated up the house. Robin and Armin left a gift in the car, snow chains, super thoughtful,sweet and necessary!

Photos below: Ayo at the KLM lounge patiently waiting for me. He's a brilliant companion with travelling. The other photos are the new car in the showroom and in front of Armin and Robin's house.

I’ve slowly transformed the house into a Christmas atmosphere. I always enjoy doing this. Armin and Rob went to see a Liverpool match in Liverpool, I believe it was against Brighton.

I don't have any photos of it, but the men had fun. Armin organised a big place to stay at.

Rob came on the 14th to Don Papa and he was the first to arrive, then Noa, arrived on Wednesday.  On Thursday we went skiing, and Noa snowboarding. I could ski with my new knee!! The first two runs I was thinking a lot, don’t fall, watch out, a bit afraid to fall, but after a few runs I got more confidence and felt more at ease. The good thing is/was, no pain anymore!!

Anna, Jack and Ailsa came on Thursday and Hugo on Friday and Robin and Armin were the last who came on Saturday, also the day that we celebrated our annual big Sinterklaas fest!! Jack and Ailsa stayed with Zara close by in a small house since the house is too small for 3 dogs.

Friday night I started to get sick, cold fever, running nose and just feeling really miserable. The next day I kept myself going on paracetamol and everyone said that I could sit on the couch and stay there. What a bummer, now all the kids were around me and I was sick.

Rob and the children went skiing every day. Nowadays we ski mostly till 1pm especially in the Christmas period since it is very busy and the snow quality gets poor fast. On first Christmas day Annabelle came to see us for a few days. The day before Christmas my sweet family was too late to get some shopping done, 5 minutes too late, so we didn’t have much at home over Christmas. To be fair we did not know that shops would close earlier before Christmas. It was different then the years before. We decided to get pizza one night and first Christmas day we went out for dinner in Gnesau. We had the last evening of Jack Ailsa and Anna we went out for dinner at Adriana, our favourite steakhouse in Bad Kleinkirchheim. We now know the manager a bit and he had a nice surprise at the end of the evening for us. Rob was wearing a Gösser jacket and the manager said, I have one here too, not wearing it, it's for you! It was more a  Gösser’s ski jacket, and a big size too! Funny we left the place with a ski jacket of Gösser. Gut, Besser, Gösser!

With Christmas Jack, Ailsa and Anna left back home and Anna to Mainz to see her family.

Our annual Sinterklaas party was like always impressive! Every year we manage to come up with new things, great rhymes and crazy stuff to do. This year something funny occurred; three of the Kleinjans men had drawn their partner! I had no idea Rob had me until two days before the 20^th, the actual day we planned to celebrate it. I asked Rob was he was going to do for Jack, because he told me he had Jack, which wasn’t true. Then he said something like, no it’s a surprise for you too, I don’t want you to see it. But when I looked at him, he couldn’t hide his smile. Then I knew it! He had me. My surprise was all about golf, of course! I had to go outside and pitch the ball in the garden, luckily, we have a huge garden around the house. Apparently, these balls were gender reveal balls, pink and blue. Just to be on the safe side he put me in a painting protection outfit and goggles on. Then in the upper garden I had to pitch a few balls, these were glow in the dark balls. Finally, I had to put, which I suck at, this time was not different, it did not go in. Turned out there was something in the ball, it would never go straight! 

All the surprises were fun and take care of with lots of time and love. The pictures will tell it all! Noa organised the yearly Christmas outfit again, this year simple t-shirts, and so we made a few family pictures with it on our balcony.

On Sunday December 28^th our dear friends, Ard and Louise came, one day they could see their daughter Annabelle, she left the next day! We had a lot of fun with Ard and Louise, like always. They are wonderful friends and good company to have around. We skied every day, Louise stayed home the first day, she was not fit enough to ski. I stayed home another morning, the morning that it was Baltic!!! Temperatures of -16 and a very cold wind made it

almost unbearable for them to ski.

In the evening, we played boeren bridge, hitster or wizard, we had so much fun with this!

On Friday January 2^nd they left to see our mutual friends Kirsty and Morgan in Starnberg. It took them a few hours extra to get there, but they made it safe and sound. We brought Hugo to Villach to the train station, he was taking the train to Ljubljana, where he was flying from the next morning. While we were on our way to Villach we received a text from KLM that our flight of the next day was cancelled due to snowfall in the Netherlands. The Netherlands + Snow = CHAOS! We left the next morning, Sunday January 4^th for the trip back to Edinburgh. We had no hurry; there was no flight to catch as we were suppoed to fly the next mornin! We drove to Graz/Raaba to Robin’s office to park the car there. We wanted to take the train to Haupt Bahnhof in Graz, but then we needed to wait 45 minutes, and it was bitter cold. So, we took a taxi to the main station in Graz. Then it was another 2 hours 40 minutes to Vienna Haupt Bahnhof. There we took the U Bahn (underground) to get to Landstrasse Mitte, where Hilton Park is. We had a room that was a bit smelly, sewers smell. We thought the next morning we are out of the hotel again, so we’ll stay. But surprise surprise, my flight from 06:50 was cancelled, number two. Rob had a different flight, he flew to Paris and then to Edinburgh. He left the hotel at 04:15 with a a taxi to the airport, at the airport he learned that also his flight was cancelled! What a bummer! So, around 7am Rob was back at the hotel. He worked from the hotel room. I had a long walk with Ayo through the city of Vienna. We had lunch together before left for his third attempt, flying with Austrian Airways to London then with British Airways to Edinburgh. He made it! He came home around midnight. For me there was another day of waiting. In the meantime, I asked for another room, I could get the next-door room, easy. Tuesday was January 6^th , a bank holiday in Austria due to the Three Kings Day, which means everything was closed. Another boring day at the hotel room. On Tuesday evening I received a sms from KLM that again my flight was cancelled. They wanted to offer me something on Saturday!! I was so fed up sitting in this hotel, waiting endlessly, that I made a decision……I was going back to our holiday home, Don Papa. This was so disappointing, I planned a wonderful week, with seeing lots of friends and my ENT doctor too. I took the train to Wiener Neustadt and from there a small train that stopped everywhere but end stop was Fehring where Armin had parked our car the day before. From there it was another 2,5 hours’ drive back home. To make things a bit better I decided to go for my yearly check ups in Vienna. These examinations are a CT scan, bone density measurement, X-ray vertebra and mammogram and ultra shall. I’ve booked it all for January 19^th and I’m going to Vienna on Friday 16^th where I will see Noa for the weekend. She’s coming from Prague. It’s four hours for both of us, right in the middle. Robin is on her way right now. She’s taking Daisy and will leave on Friday with Ayo and returning Monday night just like me. I will tell you all about it in our next blog.

Rob will arrive on January 24^th and stay till the 30^th, we then we travel back together. We’re taking the ferry back together to Newcastle; I think we’ve done this only once together and not to Newcastle but to Harwich.

We will be back in Edinburgh on February 1^st and I'll have another surgery planned on February 2nd.......nice cliffhanger, right?

Next month more!

Stay safe everyone!