They arrived on Sunday morning and got pictures of the tulips outside of Schiphol airport just in case those were the only ones they saw on their trip.
My mom and sister were only staying for a week, and Amy informed me she wanted to see as much as possible. So, Sunday we spent planning the rest of the week and recovering from jet lag. We also had to keep in mind Flat Stanley. For a school project, my niece had to send Flat Stanley to someone and ask them to take pictures of Flat Stanley in front of famous or interesting sights and then write back telling her where Stanley visited along with the pictures. I didn’t want to disappoint her, so we made sure to bring Stanley along on all of our day trips.
Monday, we headed to Zaanse Schans, a traditional Dutch village where you can see working windmills and how wooden shoes and cheese are made. The highlight might have been the cheese tasting! Amy was amazed to see all the students riding bikes home from school while we were there.
The next day we headed to Cologne, Germany to see the cathedral (yet again). We made it there shortly before the guided tour began so we grabbed a quick lunch at a deli. And, for dessert, we had to try the Berliner! Basically, it’s a jelly filled donut coated in sugar and you get 2 for a euro. Can’t really go wrong with that! After the tour, we walked around the town a bit and did some souvenir shopping. Then, we stopped for dinner to get some traditional German cuisine: beer and bratwurst. You can’t visit Germany without have some sausage, right? After dinner, we headed back to Holland.
On day 3, we woke up bright and early so we could catch the Aalsmeer flower auction in action. Aalsmeer is on the way to Amsterdam, so after the auction, we planned to head to Amsterdam for the rest of the day. The auction is quite interesting. This is the largest flower auction in the world and for about 3 hours each morning, flower traders are bidding on every kind of flower conceivable. The unique thing about this auction is that the price bids down, so the first trader to hit their button pays the highest price. All the flowers are moved around on carts, and it’s amazing they get to where they are supposed to go. We couldn’t figure out their system, but they seemed to know what they’re doing.
By mid-morning we were on our way to Amsterdam to see the sights. We made it to Dam square, Anne Frank’s house, the flower market, the Van Gogh Museum, and of course, lots of bicycles and canals.
Thursday was our day in Brussels, Belgium. I hadn’t been there yet, so this was new to all of us. Brussels is divided into 2 sections – the old town and the new town. We spent our time walking through the old town. When we arrived, we headed directly to the main square to find somewhere for lunch. We ended up going to this café and sitting on the second floor with a great view of the square. The food was yummy, too! After lunch, we did our tour of the chocolate shops, a must when in Belgium. After picking out some chocolates for gifts, as well as some for the drive home, we happened upon a waffle stand. Another must when in Belgium!
After our waffle detour, we continued on our walking tour of the old town. This took us to an interesting statue/fountain that is a must see – Mannekin Pis. It’s a little boy peeing, and the story is that it represents the carefree way of life of those living in Brussels. I’m not sure I quite understand that, but it makes for a good picture. Especially one with Flat Stanley for my niece!
We then walked to one of the huge cathedrals in Brussels that somewhat resembles Notre Dame in Paris. There were pretty daffodils blooming out front, and I tried to get a picture of Jacob amidst the flowers. That, as you can see, didn’t quite work out. As soon as I sat him down and walked away, he started screaming his head off. I still got some pictures, though. On the way out of Brussels, we drove under some train tracks and on the other side this amazing church popped into view. I’m not sure we ever figured out which cathedral this was, but it was beautiful! 
Day 5. This was our last chance to head to the Keukenhof (tulip arboretum) in hopes to see thousands of blooming tulips. Our chances weren’t looking so good since it had been pretty cold all week, but we had to try. We did see some beautiful flowers, including some tulips, but unfortunately, the bulb fields were not in full bloom. At peak time, they look like a patchwork quilt of vibrant colors. At this point, only the yellow ones were blooming. Oh well. Maybe next April/May, my mom can make an attempt to see tulips again.
After the flowers, we headed to Zandvoort to see what Rick Steves calls the seashell Shangri-la. I’m not sure that’s how I would describe it after seeing it, but oh well. Part of the problem was that it was freezing cold and we decided to go to the beach, which of course is extremely windy. Plus, we didn’t see that many shells. Maybe we just weren’t there at the right time or season. We picked up a few pretty shells for my sister’s girls and headed to Haarlem (about 15 minutes away). I had always heard that Haarlem is a great town, but I had never had the opportunity to go until now. It was already late in the day, so we didn’t expect much to be open. We were right. We parked close to the main square and walked to St. Bavo. I think that it’s the biggest church in Holland. For sure, it houses the largest organ in Holland numbering over 5,000 pipes. The church was closed, but the outside is impressive.
Saturday, Day 6. This was my mom and sister’s last full day as they were leaving Sunday. We, of course, had to walk to the market for some “warme appelflappen”. Too bad it was rainy and cold, but hey, they got to experience Holland at its best! We ended the week with some fondue that night.
It was a full and fun week, but Jacob and I needed a break. We had about 5 days to rest until heading to the States for a couple of weeks (Dustin had to make a trip back for work). With any luck, we’ll get to see our soon-to-be new niece!
No comments:
Post a Comment