The boys left early for the rowboat with the fishing rod. We saw a few fisherman by the canal but Darius and Brennin were trying the slootje. Apparently they came up empty but had a nice time nonetheless.

We drove from Kodeike to Franneker, a town in the province of Friesland. This spot is incredibly special because 5 generations from Tim, and 6 from our kids, lived an ingenious relative. Tim's great, great, great, great, great grandfather, on his mother's side, Eise Eisinga, built a moving Planitarium on the ceiling of his home. Tim's mother and Mariah have Eisinga as part of their names.

Eise Eisinga lived from 1744-1828. He was a wool comber by profession, and an astronomer in his spare time! Sharing the passion of astronomy with his father he was supported and encouraged to self study mathamatics and astronomy, which he mastered. At age 17 he published a book on the principles of astronomy. Eise was out to prove that a giant meteor was not going to destroy the earth as predicted by his contemporaries. His town was extremely worried and he wanted to put their minds at ease. Based on his calculations, and calculations of scholars' work that he studied, he went to work building a moving model of the solar system in his living room/bedroom. His attic housed the cogs and wheels and other mechanisms needed to run the moving parts. Weights were pulled each day to keep the timing accurate, and today the planetarium still boasts accurate calculations and is the oldest functioning planetarium in the world!

The harrow bone cobble streets were wet from the light rain. We proudly walked up to the quaint brick home that sits swished between other gabled houses.

The house is now a public museum, and when we arrived it was packed with people walking through the narrow hallways, peering at explanations of Eisie's work, and finally climbing steep steps into the attic.

We started in an area that shares a video of Eisie's life as a wool comber and displays authentic wool comber tools that Eisie would have used. The movie explains his fascination with the sky resulting in the building of a moving planitarium. We were eager to get into the living room, and after waiting for a group to finish, we filed in and listened to a lady explain how to interpret the planetarium overhead. She pointed with a long stick to various spots on the bright blue celestial ceiling. We also saw where Eise and his wife slept; a cramped space built into the wall with a curtain for privacy. They slept sitting up because they believed it was good for their health. It worked for Eisinga who lived to be 84, but not for his wife who died much earlier. Underneath them were a set of drawers that their children slept in.

Climbing up the narrow steps we found the attic and spent time admiring the handmade wooden cogs, wheels etc..
The precision involved based on complex calculations is mind-boggling!

Walking across the street we entered town hall, an ornately decorated historical building. Eisie Eisinga's painted portrait is displayed in one of the meeting rooms, the walls are covered in leather painted wallpaper.

Although Eisie fled Franneker in 1787, because of his political views, years later when it was safe to return he finally enjoyed recognition. Eisinga became a professor at the Franeker Academy until 1811 when Napoleon ordered the academy to close. King William I of the Netherlands and Prince Frederik visited the Planitarium in 1818. King William I bought it for the Dutch state, later in 1859 it was donated by the Dutch state to the city of Franeker. Eisinga became an honorary citizen of Franeker, the street his house is on was renamed after him, and in 1994 an 80 cent stamp was issued by the post office in honor of what would have been his 250th birthday. In 2006 the planetarium received permission to officially begin using the title "Royal". That same year Eisinga became part of the history curriculum in schools throughout the Netherlands. We were also excited to find out that in 2011 the Planetarium was added to the tentative list to qualify for inclusion by the World Heritage Site - a process that can take 15 years. No wonder we are proud of this relative.

We were not in any hurry to leave Franneker. The town had a sleepy peaceful feel to it. We found a cafe and enjoyed one of our favorite Dutch treats, bitterballs. We wandered through shops picking up a few back to school clothes for the girls.

Our drive home took us across the afsluitdijk. We looked across a choppy lake called IJsselmeer on one side of us and at a grassy bank, kept short by a few sheep, on the other side of the road. Beyond the grassy bank the North Sea could be seen above the level of the roadway. It was a strange feeling to drive below sea level. Lake IJsselmeer use to be open sea but after the dike was built it became a lake. We parked in a viewing area and braved the cold strong winds to visit the lookout tower. Unfortunately it was closed. Waves crashed against the rocky shore and Kite surfers blew by. We continued our drive home.

After supper we rode our bikes to Bergen. Earlier in the week Tim was talking with a fisherman who mentioned Bergen would be having a lantern festival on this night. We were not disappointed. The already sweet Bergen became even more enchanting after dark. It was a warm evening and the residents put out lanterns of all kinds in their windows and yards. We parked our bikes next to the fire department who had a beautiful water/colored light show with music. We joined the crowds of people wandering through the streets looking into the lit up yards, and into shop windows who also lit up their shops with tea lights and lanterns. We lined up to buy the kids glows sticks and ice cream. We rode home late with our lights on. The bike path was busy and we even witnessed a head on bike collision - the bikers were ok and even had a laugh over the mishap.

This was a day to remember! Unforgettable and definitely places we will want to visit again.