Part 28: Gotta love Bayer

Lucky for us, Dustin had a trip back to the States for work. We planned to be in Houston for a week, and then Jacob and I would head to Dallas for a week and Dustin would head back to Holland. We started our Houston portion at a carnival day at a nearby day care/preschool with the Hafers. They had a petting zoo and games and prizes and food. It was a pretty day and nice to be outside - a change from the weather we'd been having in Holland. Jacob decided he liked fishing for rubber duckies and splashing in the water the best. Audrey took a ride on a pony.

Since this trip was going to be shorter and we wouldn't be able to make it to St. Louis, Dustin's mom and stepdad drove down to Houston. Jacob, of course, loved being the center of attention and Dustin and I enjoyed a night at the movies while Grandma and Gramdpa L babysat.

This was the first time that Griffin and Jacob "played" together. Griffin was crawling by this time and Jacob had fun showing him how things worked. It'll only get more fun to watch them together as they get older!

We had to eat at Saltgrass once while we were back in Texas. We just can't get decent steaks in Holland.

While Deb and Frank were in town, we decided to take Jacob to the zoo. He seemed to enjoy it. He probably liked running around more than the animals, but oh well. The worst part about this day was that we received a phone call from our vet in Holland. Dave was boarded there and apparantly was very sick. He told us he would keep us updated on his condition. This was the beginning of the end for our time with Dave (he's doing well now, but has a new home).

I love the picture of Jacob chatting on the phone with Uncle Jarrod. Too cute!

The Houston zoo has a great children's section with slides and tunnels and other fun stuff. The slide was Jacob's favorite. Slides still are his favorite.

The next day, Deb, Frank and I took Jacob to the Houston Children's Museum. I had been there once before with my nieces when they came to visit. It's areally neat place with tons of activities for children of all ages. Jacob enjoyed some grocery shopping and building with Grandpa.

I think Daddy is trying to start him a little young on the baseball.

Jacob and I made it to Dallas just in time to help celebrate Amelia's 3rd birthday with some delicious ice-cream cake! My favorite!

Jacob had fun hanging out with the girls! He's bound to show up as a princess in a future picture.

We timed our trip perfectly! Addison was born 2 days before we arrived in Dallas, so we were able to visit with Andrew, Meredith and Addison. Jacob liked tickling Addison's toes and testing out all of her toys to make sure they worked properly.

More fun in the park. We played while Madeline was at piano lessons.

It was a great trip home! A little short, but we're not complaining!

Part 27: The Schultz Girlz hit Europe

So, my mom really wanted to come at a time when she would get to see the tulips that Holland is known for (she visited in September last year). My sister also wanted to come over at least once, ideally twice – once without the kids and one time with them. We started planning their trip for sometime in April or May. The problem was that our schedule was quickly filling up and my brother and sister-in-law were expecting their first baby mid to late April. So, the beginning of April ended up being our only choice. Our first year here, the ideal time for tulips was the end of April through the first part of May. This year’s winter, however, was really mild and they were anticipating an early bloom. We knew it would be pushing it, but we didn’t really have another option. They booked their tickets. As luck would have it, we had snow the week before they arrived, and it didn’t look good for the tulips.

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!

Part 26b: Birth of the Renaissance

Rome was great, but our vacation was only half over. The next portion of our trip was going through Florence. None of us, including Phil, had been to Florence so our expectations were not precooked.

After booking our flights from Rotterdam to Rome and Florence to Amsterdam, we decided to bridge the middle leg with a train. It was an interesting trip to the train station because, in total, we were carrying about 200lbs of luggage and Jacob in the stroller. We originally planned to take the bus to the station, but got cold feet when we saw the bus line.

Nevertheless, after 2 trips across the street and multiple failed attempts to hail a cab, we did finally catch the bus to the train station. That turned out to be the best option, with exception to Amanda getting felt up by a 70 year old smelly guy. She said she was creeped out, but I think she liked it.

The train was definitely the best option even though it was oversold and we were forced into a 1st class ticket. Jacob was able to seal a 20% discount by winking and calling Phil, brother Ling: i.e. family discount.

The ride through Tuscany was beautiful. The hills roll, the sky was very blue, and the ride was smooth. Everyone took a nap, including Jacob who had a seat to himself. How many 17 month olds do you know that get their own 1st class ticket on a train ride through the Tuscany Hills in Italy?

When we arrived in Florence we did grab a cab (probably learned our lesson from Rome) and found our way to the apartment.

We weaved through the narrow streets and found our apartment. Phil was in charge of booking this one; he did an incredible job. He found a 14th century apartment that still had original frescos on the walls. Seriously, there were literally original wall paintings still scattered throughout the apartment, the stone floor was uneven, and Phil’s bedroom was in a turret… It doesn’t get any cooler than that.

After getting settled in and paying the bill, we headed out to get the lay of the land. Our apartment was on the opposite side of the river, so only a 10 minute walk to the city center.

We weren’t even 2 minutes from our apartment when we discovered a Florentine specialty – gelato! It’s not so much that their gelato is any different; it’s just that they have an artistic flare when it comes to the window displays.

One of the key stopping points in the city is the “golden bridge”. The bridge dates back to Roman times and is over a river that leads to Pisa. It was originally lined with lots of tanners and butchers: a virtual center of stink and nasty chemicals. In fact, it led to countless conflicts between Pisa and Florence; Pisa was always irritated to be on the downstream side of the pollution.
Over the years, the Florentines also grew tired of the smell and replaced all of the cow shops with gold shops – a much appreciated gesture by Pisa.

After the golden transition, a flood hit Florence really hard. It basically devastated the town. Days after the flood, however, the net worth of Pisa increased dramatically as they panned for gold downstream of Florence. Florentine’s demanded they return the lost gold, but Pisa refused and said it was retribution for past sins.

After the bridge, we made it to the town center. It was one of the most impressive centers we have seen because it had about 15 original sculptures under a roofed plaza. It is also where Michelangelo’s David stood prior to moving to its own museum. It was moved because a crazy man took a nearby building hostage and then started throwing stuff out the window. Unfortunately, one of the benches he threw out the window hit David and knocked part of his arm off.
Below is a copy of David that now stands where the real one once stood.

Here is the original bronze statue “Perseus and the Medusa”.

The other thing we noticed about the piazza was it was much colder than we expected. We didn’t bring heavy coats, Jacob’s stroller boot, or any blankets and we were getting really cold. Therefore, I was sent on a mission to fix those problems.

The other big site in Florence is the “Duomo”. We have been to a lot of churches, but this one was really different. When we walked up to the church we were awestruck by two things, the size and the color. The size wasn’t much different than other big churches and much smaller than Cologne and Saint Peter’s, but it was deceiving at first because the surrounding buildings blocked our view until we were right there. The color was also very different. It was sided in red, white and green marble. Phil summed it up just right by saying “this is the birth of the Renaissance”.

The church is also unique because a separate baptistery and tower were built disconnected from main church. The key items on the baptistery are the big copper doors. They were actually designed by Ghiberti, Michelangelo’s mentor. To get the job he won an area-wide artistic competition.
The irony of the competition is another famous artist lost - Brunelleschi. Brunelleschi was so irritated by losing that he temporarily left Florence. After a while, however, he was persuaded to return and design the dome of the Cathedral. He is buried in the crypt of the Cathedral.

After leaving the Cathedral we wandered into a shopping district. Actually, it was more like the leather district. Phil and Amanda had been hounding me all day about how much money she intended to spend on something leather. As it turned out, however, I found the first purchase myself and outspent her in 15 minutes. It really wasn’t my fault. The jacket was practically tailor-made for me, and I was lured by the savvy sales guy. I bought the jacket for 135 Euros - but, I did get him down from 220 - still got it.

It was nearly dinner and we were hungry so we put our faith in “the Rick” and found a little Italian cafeteria and gelatoria.

We made our way back home by 9pm, put Jacob down for bed, and spent an hour chatting. It was a good end to the day.

Day 8: Tours, tours, tours…
We planned Florence just like Rome - lots of tours. They weren’t cheap (again), but for the most part, they were worth it. For the second day we scheduled two tours; the first was a city-wide walk and the second was dedicated to David.

The downside to the first tour was it started at 8am – way too early. Our tour guide was a lady that came to Rome at 22 to complete a Masters program in Renaissance art. After a semester she fell in love with an Italian and never went home. Fifteen years and 2 kids later she is still living in Florence.

As a tour guide, she was below average. Her style was weird --- she would ask really rhetorical questions and then wait for someone to try and answer. Someone always would, they would be wrong, and she would explain part of the story. I left every area of city feeling like didn’t learn quite enough. It was really too bad because she didn’t do the city a service.

During the walk we passed a street vendor shop where the same two brothers had been working for the past 35 years. Even more impressive than that, however, is their family had owned the shop for 140 years. But, the most impressive part is the restaurant was only 4 feet wide by 6 feet long and they served about 120 sandwiches an hour.

We also walked by a clothing store that had original frescos on the wall. We learned that all frescos found are protected by Florence law and must be preserved.

Florence also has some unique architectural characteristics. Many of its buildings have overhangs supported by beams. It just gives a different look to the city.

She walked us by both the Duomo and the golden bridge to share the stories I already mentioned.

The one very interesting piece about the Duomo that you wouldn’t expect was the inside. Like I mentioned before, the outside was breathtaking --- the inside, however, was totally boring. There wasn’t anything inside the church worth looking at - it was totally bare. No one would expect it. The only thing of some interest was the ecclesiastical clock on the wall.

After the tour, we walked back to the two brothers restaurant and had some sandwiches. Afterwards, we headed off to the other major church in Florence - Santa Croce.

This church is the polar opposite of the Duomo. It is smaller and very plain on the outside, but packed with really cool stuff on the inside. This place is famous grave central. The following tombs are in this one church: Medici family – Florence royalty, Michelangelo – artistic genius, Galileo – most famous astronomer, Marconi – invented the radio, Machiavelli – famous writer of “the Prince”, Rossini – gifted musician, and Dante – famous poet.

The church was decorated by lots of artists including Ghiberti (Michelangelo’s Mentor) and Vasari (Michelangelo’s Mentee).

One story we learned on the walk was about Michelangelo and Ghiberti. At the age of 6 Michelangelo went to Ghiberti’s shop and asked to be tutored. Ghiberti said he didn’t have time and Michelangelo didn’t have the money to pay anyway. Michelangelo responded by saying, I don’t plan on paying you, I plan on you paying me. Ghiberti laughed at him, but still gave him a shot. He told Michelangelo to sketch / reproduce one item in the gallery. Instead of drawing one picture though, Michelangelo sketched the entire gallery. Ghiberti was astounded by his pupil and immediately took him under his instruction.

After Santa Croce we had another tour to partake. To be honest, I wasn’t really into this one --- after all it was just one statue, how good could it be? This tour was produced by the same company, but this time the guide was awesome. She was spunky, motivating, and full of information. If you zoned out for a moment you would miss a ton of information – she talked really, really fast.

As you enter the museum, you first see a lot of unfinished work. I actually really liked this stuff because when you looked at it you could see both the raw rock and the “to-be” finished piece. This was the first time that I actually really saw how the statue is made. I know it sounds weird, but it just left me with a different feeling. I know that the artist carves statues from rock. And, I know they did it with hammers and chisels. But, I never got a sense for how difficult it must have been.

That was cool, but the next part was even better…

When we went to the Louvre, we saw the Mona Lisa. You know, the most famous painting of all time by Leonardo da Vinci. Granted, it was cool, but it was disappointing. It was probably because it had been talked up too much for too long. Nonetheless, it didn’t meet expectations.

David was different. I will never adequately describe the statue, but it surpassed expectations in every way.

This statue evoked an emotion and stirred each of us. It was the expression in his eyes, in his face, and in his posture. The muscle tone was perfectly shaped and his expression was pensive. It was just awesome. Everyone should find their way to Florence to see David.

It had been a long day, so after David we found a restaurant (not recommended by Rick and not quite as good) and headed home. It was another great day.

Day 9: One more tour…
We didn’t have to wake up as early on Day 9 because there weren’t any tours scheduled for the morning. I must admit that after 5 organized tours we were getting a little tired of learning. Today, we decided, was going to be more dedicated to relaxation.

As in many cities in Europe, there are yummy looking fruit and vegetable stands dotting the narrow streets. We passed several while walking through Florence, but this one looked particularly tasty!

According to Rick, there were still a few good sites left to see; his top recommendation was the famous Florentine science museum. This museum is cool for lots of reasons, but the top reason is Galileo’s finger is on public display.

According to the stories, after Galileo proved that the earth was not the center of the universe, he was put under house arrest in Florence. Admittedly, the house arrest was mostly purported by the Church, but it was carried out by the politzie in Florence. So, as an eternal “FU” to Florence and the Papacy, they kept Galileo’s middle finger…

As a whole, the museum was really disappointing because two thirds of the exhibits were shutdown and not due to reopen until the 2nd half of 2009. I suspect it will be great next year.

After the museum we took a leisurely stroll up the mountain to look down on the city. The view was great, but the “leisurely” stroll turned into 300 steps of pain. But, then again, we’ve been there and done that. The problem now is that Jacob is really starting to get heavy.

There was also a small copy of David up here.

We finished our stroll right before our last tour started at the Uffizi. The Uffizi is the big museum in town. The tour was a total bust for two reasons: (1) our tour guide didn’t have a commanding grasp of the English language, and (2) Jacob wasn’t happy in the stroller. Needless to say, Amanda and I spent our time missing parts of the tour. We did get to see some paintings by Raphael.

We passed by an interesting shop full of wooden trinkets and Pinocchio paraphernalia. We learned that the author of Pinocchio was born in Florence.


We ended the day with another one of Rick’s recommendations. He personally suggested we eat at a place by the river. We did and it was one of the best meals of the trip.

Another great way to end the day --- with food.

Day 10: And so it ends…
Our travel day home was on Easter Sunday. It was raining and very difficult to find a cab. In fact, so bad that we blew 15 USD on phone minutes just to find out there weren’t any taxis available. So, as I am the good friend and solid husband, I hiked my tail back into downtown to hail a cab.

I found a cab and we ended up making it to the airport in plenty of time, caught our flight and made it back to Amsterdam around 6:30pm. Phil’s dinner plans fell through so the 4 of us spent one final dinner together – Burger King at Schiphol. It wasn’t a Rick Steve’s recommendation, but it was still nice to spend a few final hours with Phil.

Rome vs. Florence: When we first arrived in Florence, our initial thought was “there isn’t a better place in Italy than this. Rome can’t hold a candle to Florence”. But, as we settled into Florence we realized the key distinction. First, both are great cities to visit and if given the opportunity, you should take it. Rome is a big city with an enormous heritage. The city smells bad, has too much graffiti, and too many cars --- not much different than any other big city. On the other hand, it is the birthplace of civilization and has an amazing checklist of must-sees. Florence is smaller, more quaint, and has an inspiring personality. It is where the Renaissance dawned and holds 25% of the world’s “greatest” art. It, however, doesn’t hold the “pre-renaissance” history nearly as sacred as Rome; for Florence, the world began in 1500 AD. For Rome, the world began in 800 BC.

If you are looking for an educational trip with unequaled venues, Rome is your spot. If you are looking for romance, art, and true Italian personality, book Florence.