My Most Excellent European Adventure, Part 3. Day 9: Little Dutch Girls

It's hard to believe we have only 2 days left before we have to leave. We have been so busy and have done so much that time has flown by. Today we spent the day in Amsterdam. We slept in a bit, all except for Betsy, who woke early to explore yet another flea market :). Angela, and Heidi, and I woke later to go and meet her- Betsy LOVES flea markets and the rest of us are happy to let her explore on her own. Angela went to do some clothes shopping and after Heidi and I met up with Betsy, the three of us went to a Jewish history museum. It was really interesting to learn about the Jewish culture and see a little more of how they practice their religion- both in the orthodox faith and more modern culture. I knew very little about it and came away somewhat more educated. The Torah is kept on scrolls and the cantor - a singer- chants or sings from it at each each service. Their services are very ceremonial and contain a lot of rituals. To be expected from an ancient religion.

The Jewish History Museum

After the museum we went to have some lunch. Some soup and toasted sandwiches (with Dutch cheese- YUMMY!). We had some time before we had to meet Angela so we walked around the flea market a bit- I found a really cute and colorful purse!) Then we met with Angela for a canal boat cruise. We were a little late because the trams are very unreliable, and we were a bit worried we wouldn't make it in time to catch the cruise we wanted. Turns out there were several more options of times we could take so all was well. The cruise lasted about an hour and was FASCINATING!!! Here are a few facts we learned about our host city for the day:

• There are about 100 km of canals
• Most of the buildings were made in the 16th century
• Most of the buildings have furniture hooks on them so they can haul everything in and out of the windows if needed. Tall, narrow, long staircases aren't the best for moving furniture.
• According to our captain, there are about 3 cars a week that get "driven" into the canal- hopefully accidentally of course.
• There are more than 100 bridges (can't remember the exact # ) 

 We loved all of the different bridges we saw on the canal.

One of the many bridges along the canal

One of my favorite things about Amsterdam was the architecture. So different from the other cities we had seen already.

Notice the furniture hook??

One of the few pictures of all 4 of us. Here we are on the canal cruise. 

After the river cruise, we went to catch the tram back to our hotel where our car was parked. We waited at the train station for over an hour watching train after train come... and keep going. Not the right train, the right train, but they didn't stop ("Niet Stoppen!). Finally, the right train arrived AND stopped and we gratefully rushed on, along with the large crowd that had gathered in the hour long wait. A few stops later, however, the train stopped and we had to get off and switch to another train that was coming up right behind it. Apparently there was some sort of accident or something. Not speaking Dutch, it was hard to understand what the problem really was. 

Waiting for the tram.... 

We weren't the only ones waiting.... and waiting...  

Well, we finally made it back and were on the road to the Passey's house in Brussels. We found a little pita place to get a late night dinner because we were starving. It was delicious!!! Can you say fries and andalouse sauce on sandwich?? More please. We arrived at the Passey's house at about 10:00. We ate dinner, killed a giant spider and it was time for bed!