April14
Four Gals’ Excellent European Adventure–Day 9
We didn’t have long to recuperate in Brussels. Thursday morning found us on the road north. It was the grayest day of our trip, but fortunately dry and warm-ish. As we got further into the Netherlands it was fun to watch the road signs become more and more indecipherable. Unlike freckles, familiarity with a language must not be inherited.
Our first stop was Kinderdijk. This is a stretch of canal dotted with 18 historic windmills.
And more than just a little bit cool! We couldn’t seem to take enough pictures.
There’s one windmill you can pay to tour. Which we did. It’s set up like a 19th century family lives there. Glad that’s not my bed!
Since the walls curve, the pictures all hang at a funny angle.
I was very excited to see an actual Dutch door!
These are the “stairs.” I can’t imagine dealing with these on a daily basis.
Adrienne, Angela, and I were on an upper floor when we heard a tremendous crash. We rushed to the stairs and saw this:
Betsy fell down the windmill! Her ankle was sore and she developed some bruises but thankfully she was otherwise unharmed. Angela’s version of helping is taking a picture.
We walked around the outside.
The caretaker had been mowing the lawn, but he stopped to check his text messages.
Adrienne was giddy over the wooden shoes.
Admission to the windmill also included a visit to the museum. Apparently no one else takes advantage of this because we had the place to ourselves. If you go, I’d recommend taking a few minutes stop in. There are two advantages.
1) Because you’re across the canal you get to see the windmills at a cool angle.
2) The place isn’t much as far as museums go, but the video presentation is well done. The film is shown on 4 screens and you sit on stools so you can turn and look at whichever character is talking at the time. They explain the history of windmills and Kinderdijk (and how no one knows why it’s called Kinderdijk). Then they show how Dutch engineers have used their technology in other low-lying countries.
Back on the road for the hour or so drive to Keukenhof Gardens. We reinterpreted our “Castle” game from Germany to fit the new roadside attractions. Unlike Castles, I rocked at the windmill game (it helped that I was in the front seat.) There was a dilemma, however, about whether or not to include modern windmills in the totals. I said no. Angela, who enjoyed getting 3 or 4 in one shot said yes.
In my parents’ bedroom, there used to be a poster from Keukenhof. It was a souvenir of my dad’s mission days. I have vivid memories of lying on their waterbed, looking at the pretty red and yellow tulips, and trying to figure out what the strange words meant. And now I was there!
The whole countryside is perfumed by tulips. Even at the gas station we were breathing it in! I guess it’s to be expected when you’re surrounded by acres of blooms.
Keukenhof is only open a few weeks each year, so the timing of our visit was really lucky. Tulips everywhere, as you can imagine.
Angela felt the need to tip-toe through them. And sing about it (which she did in her best Tiny Tim impersonation. I’m sorry you missed out on that!)
Lots of other early spring flowers as well.
Including daffodils–my faves!
There are beautiful flower displays all over the grounds. Including this car/planter. Which Betsy enjoyed “driving.”
There’s a windmill to climb. Though it isn’t quite the same as Kinderdijk.
We got some ham and mustard sandwiches for lunch. They were delish!!!
There were more than a few photo ops here. This is my photo of Betsy taking photos. She managed 174 in the 2 hours or so we were there.
We got a nice stranger to get one of the four of us.
Adrienne and I passed a herd of serious photographers as we were wandering up a path. Huge bags and expensive cameras hung from their necks and shoulders like harnesses. They were all huddled looking at their displays to see what they’d managed to capture. I told Adrienne that my old point-and-shoot develops an inferiority complex in places like this.
As we walked, Adrienne spotted a clump of flowers reflected in the water. She paused to take the picture.
Then from behind I hear, “There’s a great shot over here if you have a [some kind of] lense.” Then, like ravenous lions on a wounded gazelle, the photography group pounced on the river bank and began attacking the view with their equipment.
There were clicks and snaps all around us and Adrienne and I were shunted to the side.
This was pretty funny.
So we crossed to the other bank and took pictures of the photographers taking their pictures. While thus engaged, Betsy and Angela caught up. Betsy, never one to miss out on the possibility of a photo-op, jumped right in.
I made Adrienne go back and pose with her.
(Dad: this would be the perfect job for you. You can walk people around pretty places and teach them how to get nice pictures.)
Once we made it back to the car, we continued on toward Amsterdam.
Our hotel was on the outskirts of the city. It was cheaper that way, but it also meant a 45-60 minute tram ride into the city. The ride gave us a tiny tour of the city.
We rode all the way to the main station. It’s a very beautiful city.
And it is full of bikes.
Anything that holds still long enough will eventually have a bicycle chained to it. Really.
We walked around for a little bit. Stopping in the touristy shops was an education. They have some very, um, “interesting” souvenirs there. I guess when you’re most famous for legalized prostitution and marijuana that’s to be expected. It makes me sad that those two aspects are all anybody equates with Amsterdam. The city was beautiful and charming and full of amazing history. The people were friendly and helpful. Once you’re away from the tourist traps, the seedier side of Amsterdam is really not apparent. Although, that being said, I have to confess that there was a guy next to me rolling a joint on the tram. But he waited till he got off to smoke it!
We had reserved tickets for the Anne Frank house. We weren’t sure if we’d get lost trying to find it, so we gave ourselves plenty of time to get there. The place was jam packed which made it hard to really soak in the experience. I’m really glad we went, though. For me, the most moving part was the video they showed of Anne Frank’s father talking about his daughter.
It was getting dark by the time we left.
We found a nearby pancake restaurant and ordered some dinner. Yum! Dutch pancakes are like thick crepes and are topped with all sorts of tasty goodness. I got ham and apples. I think everyone else got ham and cheese.
After dinner we went to catch the tram back to our hotel. So we waited. And waited. And waited. We stood across from these houses for a long time.
Finally, after more than 30 minutes our bus came. Our hotel wasn’t in the nicest area, so walking back in the dark wasn’t my favorite activity, but we didn’t have any problems. And we were all ready for lots of sleep!
.
