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! 

My Most Excellent European Adventure, Part 3. Day 8: Tiptoe through the Tulips (and windmills)

Thursday, April 14, 2011
Kinderdijk/ Keukenhof, Amsterdam

Today was another extremely busy but amazing day. We left early (about 9:00) and drove to Kinderdijk in the Netherlands, about a 2 hour drive. This is a town built on a dijk that has 19 windmills.

Creepy Ducth girl in a windmill kitchen

How about these stairs?

After navigating these each day - do you think you'd get use to them??

I particularly enjoyed the groundsworker who took a break to do some texting
(notice the proper wooden shoes!)

Very cool and interesting to see how they work. I didn't know much about the Netherlands before today - or windmills at all. Here are some fun facts:

- 40% of the country is below sea level
- The Dutch lived in the mills
- The workers were called "millers"
- 16 of the 19 mills in Kinderdijk are still inhabited
- The mills were used to pump water out of the dijks when it got too high

It was a gray, cloudy, and cold day to be walking around the mills. Very cool to see. We even got to walk around inside one of them to see how they lived.

After Kinderdijk, we drove about an hour to Keukenhof. This is HUGE tulip/flower garden. This was just beautiful and stunning. So many flowers, colors, arrangements. This was probably one of my favorite things we have done so far. We spent a couple hours there wandering and taking lots of pictures. Here are just a few.

Notice all the professional photographers... They are capturing this area below.

As Betsy and I were trying to catch this shot, we were suddenly surrounded by a hoard of professional photographers and their very fancy, and very big, equipment. Our very small, and very ameteur camers suffered by comparison.

We sadly tore ourselves away since we had an appointment at the Ann Frank house in Amsterdam. We drove the 30 minute drive to our hotel just outside of Amsterdam (appropriately named the Tulip Inn). It's actually pretty nice and more like an American hotel than any of our previous hotels. We rested in the room for about an hour then walked 10 minutes to catch the tram to downtown Amsterdam. We bought a 24 hour pass - and the interesting thing about it is you have to scan it on the tram when you get on and off. It was about a 25 minute ride to Central Amsterdam, walked around a bit to get a feel of a new city. It is a very interesting if not different city than we have seen so far. 

Can you guess the mode of transporation of choice in Amsterdam???

This is the church tower next to Ann Frank's house. We saw this XXX synbol all over the city and were very curious about it.

we made our way to the Ann Frank Haus. We had reserved tickets for 7:45. That was truly amazing to see.

It is unbelievable what she and her family had to go through for almost 2 years in hiding. There wer video clips of some of the people who knew and helped them. Even one of her father speaking which was very touching. Very sad, because she died in the camp just weeks before the liberation not knowing her father was still alive. I can't imagine what it would be like being the sole survivor of my family, especially for a father. I am so glad to I got to see that house and think about that time in history.

After the Ann Frank Huis, we went to dinner just across the street. We all got Dutch pancakes. SOOO yummy!

I got ham and cheese.

And of course a Diet Coke. No ice though...

It was such a cute restaurant and we all enjoyed it very much. We realized it was only the 2nd or 3rd time we sat down to eat with just the four of us at a restaurant on the trip. We have done so much eating on the run. So nice to enjoy the food and atmosphere not being rushed. After dinner we waited a LONG time for our tram in the cold. Finally it came and we made it back to our hotel. Such an interesting and enjoyable city despite its reputation. Although, Heidi did see someone rolling a joint in desperation while we waited fot the train. Don't worry, it's legal here. It's kind of a dirty and trashy city like Vegas but with a lot more charm and history. I love the buildings on the canals. So unique and different than anything we have seen yet. The people seem very nice and friendly and most speak very good English. Very exhausting yet exciting and interesting day.

My Most European Adventure, Day 7: Touring Brussels

Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Brussels, Belgium

Today, we got to sleep in! My alarm was supposed to go off at 8:45 so we could be ready to go at 10:30, but for some reason (international phone difficulties, perhaps) my phone thought it was half an hour later so I didn't get up until 9:15, Betsy and Beth went to a local flee market early- nonw of us wanted to go for very long and we knew they would want to spend a long time. Beth was kind enough to come back and pick us up at 10:30 after she had to drop someone off at the airport. After spending some time at the flea market (Betsy and Beth were very successful!)

Beth played tour guide and took us around Brussels around the afternoon. First we went to lunch at a cute little restaurant. 2 words to describe this place: sandwiches and dessert!

Angela and Heidi shared a Chocolate Bomb and a strawberr tart. Is your mouth watering??

A little dark... but you can see the cute restaurant.

After lunch, we walked around downtown Brussels. The square is called Grand Place. It's truly grand and amazing to see.

We then walked down a street called Butcher Street. It reminded me a lot of Little Italy in New York. It was full of restaurants (mostly sea food, though) with waiters standing outside to talk to you as you passed by.

On to a shopping mall. In fact, we learned, one of the first, if not the first, covered shopping area ever. It was very fun! I bought some lace and a couple of other things here.

No self respecting Belgian tourguide would have us miss this:

The Mannekin Pis. Yes, the name is literal. He is quite famous and legendary in Belgium, Apparantly there are a few stories and legends about him, not one of them being 100% certain. The Belgians are quite proud of him, and he is often dressed in fancy costumes. You can see him anywhere - candies, cards, chocolate, calendars, corkscrews. Quite interesting.

Then, because we hadn't eaten in a couple of hours, Beth took us to her favorite chocolate outlet: Neuhouse. Just amazing! It was a very small shopped and very packed. But yummy, yummy, yummy chocolate to look at

The best part of this place, aside from the beautiful display,  was that you can sample the chocolate. Beth gave us fair warning to take only a bite of each piece and get rid of the rest in order to power through. It was a rough job, but I think we did well!
Well, then we discovered the back of the store: lucky corner.

 Here, you can buy three boxes of chocolates for 30 euros. What a deal - you cannot beat that.

After a little more sampling (you can see the open boxes for the tasting!), we all decided to buy 3 boxes of single flavored chocolates and trade them later to mix and match. Thank you Beth and Neuhaus Chocolate Outlet.

After stuffing ourselves with chocolate, we went back to the Passey's home to hand out and relax for a bit .Beth and Betsy went to the grocery store and the rest of us stayed back to work on our journals, read, email etc. I got to call home and talk to home and talk to mom. Glad to hear we missed some snowy weather back home. Then we had dinner with the Passey family including lettuce wraps a la PF Chang and a trio of different European lemony sodas. They have been so helpful and generous. We are lucky to have such a great family to stay with.After navigating cities on our own for the last several days,  I appreciate Beth's guiding us around Brussels so much today. We didn't have to worry about where we were going or what we wanted to see. Another great day!!

My Most Excellent European Adventure, Day 6: Cold weather and castles...

Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Rothenburg/Rhine Valley Germany

Today was the first bad weather/ cold day we have had. After almost a week of beautiful clear, sunny skies, we woke up to gray skies and rain. And cold. It was only about 50, quite a change from our 70+ sunny weather. We have been so lucky so far, so our luck was bound to run out. After breakfast at the hotel, we drove the 5 minute drive back to Rothenburg a d did some more shopping... once the stores were open. Most stores didn't open until 10:00. We made sure to stop at the Kathe Wolfhart store. It was amazing and huge. It's like a never ending maze through a Christmas winter wonderland. It's covered with Christmas trees, lights, nutcrackers, villages, ornaments, etc. etc. etc. Very impressive to see. Unfortunately, impressive prices. Hence, I didn't end up buying anything there. Just managed to get this contraband photo:

I LOVE the cobblestone streets throughout the entire city. Not sure if I'd like driving on them in this car though...

View of the city from the wall

You can see part of the wall that surrounds the city here

After Rothenburg, we drove to Weisbaden to see my friend Lindsey. Yeah!! It turns out she was on the way we needed to go. I'm so glad I got to see her. I really miss being able to talk with her. She had her two kids with her. Eva is 4 and Gabe is 3. They were adorable and so excited to see the castles. I rode with her and the other girls followed while we drove along the Rhine river to look at all the castles. We wanted to to a boat cruise, but we couldn't work out the timing and the weather was cold and windy. But, the drive was spectacular! We saw about 10 castles over the course of our 40 minute drive. So green and well maintained. I believe this must be some of the most picturesque land in the world. Some of the bigger, more well-maintained casltes have been turned into hotels. That would be a fun place to stay! There was a small castle on a tiny island in the middle of the river. Apparantly a kind wanted to live there so he could tax all the boats that went by. After we saw the castles we stopped at a cool little town and walked around for a bit.

Our car!

This was someone's house... apparantly they like Easter

 After we left Lindsey we set off to drive back to Brussels. About a 3 hour drive. WOW! What an amazing exhausting few days. I can't believe how much we have done in so short a time. On the way home we drove (for a very short time) through the Netherlands. That makes 5 countries we have been in: Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourh (we drove through shortly on the way to Germany) and the Netherlands. A lot of miles and territory. So amazing. Once we made it back to the Passey's, we had dinner, planned out our hotel for Amsterdam, did some laundry, and went to bed.