Saturday & Sunday in Salatiga

The first day in Salatiga we kind of relaxed a bit - did a little walking here and there and went to University close by - also heard about a restaurant to go visit - so we did that too.  We made some contacts and that was fun!  And oh yes met a really sweet couple from Holland Jan & Justa and their son, daughter in law and two grandchildren!  All visiting here in town - Julia the daughter in law is originally from Salatiga visiting her family!  She gave me 2 Dutch magazines to read - how nice is that!!!

Yes.... Libelle & Margriet....... leuk he?

 This restaurant was very popular in town called the Biztro - tucked away in a little neighborhood at the end of a alley!  They even served western items on the menu....BUT Nick & I stuck with our Indonesian dishes - of course!

It was a covered restaurant but open area to the outside with a pond with a cozy setting!

                                                      Contented - does it look it?

Our hotel the Grand Wahid - seems to be a very popular place to be - but what is so nice is that the hotel opens the pool up to the public - so for a small charge families can come to swim here - and enjoy swimming, snacks and have a great time together.  What a really nice idea to do for a hotel!

The hotel has a veranda - which is a great place to eat - with a nice breeze and upper leve,l looking down to the pool area.

 .....and what is special is we are covered by angels protecting us from the roof tops!

                              See - we are covered! Pretty neat huh?  We picked the right hotel alright!

 This morning we are going to Church - English speaking ~  So looking forward to that! The hotel car will be giving us a ride there - good service huh?!!!!

So off we go in just a few minutes!  Talk to you all later!

Well we did make it to church and it was a blessing to meet so many people this morning!  We enjoyed meeting people from different areas too!  We might even have a place to rent - oh we will soon find out this week!  

After church a group of us went out for a bite to eat and a really cute place called Bu Rini!  It was a open covered dining area and right there close to a rice field...so a very pretty surrounding!

 We followed the leader....

The roof top was unique for the area Jessica said!

She took me out to the rice field - 

 And back there is the restaurant - see!

 Come on Jessica - I need a picture of you too!!!!

and Jessica said - hey let's do one together - you have a long arm! 

OK I can do that Jessica! 

 Jeffrey and Albert were so kind and we so enjoyed our time with them!  Jeffrey's two son's were sitting on

 Aan's lap....Aan is the 5 yr old school teacher - so that was pretty neat to have "teacher" right there!

Jeffrey also a school teacher, but now in the business of making these beautiful instruments with his father in law - yes his father in law made and played these instruments and Jeffrey too has a love for them!  Wow...what a blessing to have a son in law who can continue this family tradition!!!!  A beautiful story!
The two are the Angklung and the Xylophone.

                                         Xylophone handmade by Jeffery and his father in law

This little guy is learning early - surely musically inclined just like his Papa!

                                Jessica and Nick try the Angklung - oh what a beautiful sound it was!

 Jeffery's father in law came to play for us!  Oh it was beautiful - he played Nick's favorite song - an old Indonesian favorite Begewan Solo (click on this link)  we did do a clip but thus far we are still not strong enough in our hotel rooms with wifi to down load to youtube.

Then he went to the Angklung and played it for us!  A sweet man - that spoke Dutch and had made many trips to Holland and also to Holland, Michigan USA to play with his group in past years! 

 We were honored to come home with Jeffery to meet his family and see this beautiful work he is doing!
Not sure what wood is used but smooth and a warm sound to it!

 So we all posed for a picture: Jeffrey, our Dutch friend Albert and Jeffery's father and Jessica!
The angklung is made of bamboo.

                             What a beautiful instrument - handmade - and such a warm sound to it!

 Jessica gives us the PEACE sign - go girl Jessica!

                   Jeffrey borrowed the cute VW bus to bring us home - and it was a gorgeous condition!

                                 Mostly needed for all the areas they travel to - to play for people!

                                     WOW!- a very special day indeed!