Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Some for a chuckle.....



We had many a giggle about the stairs in Holland, especially when we were carrying large suitcases.  We always made it, but it often ended up in fits of laughter by the time we got there!


Maps and navigating.
We did quite well, but often commented that we were glad to have all four heads thinking together!


Garbage.
See that small box that the crane is attached to?  That was at street level, and using a card to swipe you could open the lid to get rid of your garbage.  We wondered where it all went after depositing it.  We realized that there is just not enough room on the streets for each home or building to leave their bags roadside.  Plus it would pose a problem for all of the bikers to dodge bags of garbage.
So...during a walk we discovered where it all went- under the ground!  Genius!


We enjoyed some of the fun little places to take photos at the huge flower gardens in Keukenhof!




Public transport....and Marty's face here gave great cause for giggles.  
We were SO obvious tourists...trying to figure out trains routes, ticket machines, gates that locked and needed a ticket to open plus just standing amazed at how many people were STUFFED into a trains during busier times.  Crazy!


Eric and his Oom Jan enjoying fresh fish....plus I just love the enjoyment the fish vendor is getting out of it all!


Thursday, April 14, 2016

Off again....

As mentioned in the Christmas letter....Eric and I joined another couple and off to Europe we went!
It was absolutely wonderful!
We landed in Amsterdam, stayed in Haarlem for two days, fast train to Paris for one full day, tunnel train to London for a couple of days, and a quick flight back to Holland for a full second week.
Apart from a lovely Bed & Breakfast in Paris we rented apartments along the way. 
We thoroughly enjoyed exploring new places, getting to know our friends more, catching up with relatives...and just generally going with an "adult" pace of life.

Here's a very quick snapshot of photos:


Sunday walk.....



Our Bed and Breakfast in Paris.....




The inside of the Notre Dame. 



Big Ben in London. 


"The church of Light" (Leiden) 


Our tour guides in the Haag. 


Katwijk beach. 


Keukenhof.