Amsterdam

First up we took a tour out to the Keukenhof gardens. Sadly we were about a week early to see all the tulips in full bloom, but we still saw some. Plus the gardens were full of hyacinth and daffodils in full bloom so there was still lots of color everywhere!

In Kansas we are used to golden fields of wheat, but the Dutch have fields of tulips. This is what the fields look like in the countryside. . . so much color!! These flowers will be exported all over the world.

Enjoying a beautiful spring day in the gardens!

Did you know they also make those famous wooden clogs

 in the Netherlands, as well? 

I just love all these pretty tulips!!

They also had a massive greenhouse on the property where you could explore hundreds of different varieties of tulips in all sizes and colors. I had no idea so many different types existed!

I'm sure some of you are thinking going to see a garden isn't that exciting. Probably even wondering how I got my husband suckered into going with me. Well it might be because he loves me so much OR it might be because I told him that after the flowers we could go tour the Heineken brewery with free tastings. I'm sure you can guess which one it is :-) Both of course!! The tour was great! You walk through the history of the brewery. Then there are lots of multi-media hands-on exhibits at the end.

Here we are with the first of three free beers we got on the tour. 

Nothing like a cold delicious beer!!

The next day we were off to see the Zaanse Schans. The what?!?! It's a small village north of Amsterdam that was a huge area for windmills and shipping back in the 1600's. They have restored seven windmills that you can tour, along with clog making demonstrations, cheese making demonstrations and tasting, as well as, pewter making. All the housing is painted and decorated in the typical Dutch style. It's a neat area!

Here's a shot of some of the windmills.

 Here's what the traditional style and coloring of houses looks like.

In less than 10 minutes this guy used these two machines to make a clog. It was amazing how quick it was!! Of course that was only half the pair and they would still need to be painted, but it was really pretty easy to make with today's machinery.


Moving on. . . would you ever expect a church to be in this building below???

Our Lord in the Attic Catholic Church

While researching Amsterdam I read about the "Our Lord in the Attic" church. In 1578 the Protestants ran the town of Amsterdam and outlawed Catholic mass. In the mid 1600's a wealthy Catholic merchant bought a canal house and the two houses behind it. He renovated the top three floors into a Catholic chapel, while his family along with the priest inhabited the bottom two floors. It would serve the city center as the Catholic parish for 200 years!! Today it's being restored to it's original decor and from day to day is a museum; however, it is still used at times to celebrate mass for special occasions.  

Fries anyone? :)

A Dutch favorite snack is surprisingly french fries!! There were several places that were just french fry shops with like ten different sauces to chose from to put on your fries! The big difference in the Netherlands is that they eat their fries with mayonnaise! We had to stop one night and get a late snack. Jeff loves mixing mayonnaise and ketchup so as you can see above that's what we got on our fries. I stuck to the ketchup only side!! Regardless the topping.... the fries were delicious!!

Anne Frank's House

The building in the center is Anne Frank's house. We toured the house and got to see where she and her family hid for a little over two years away from the world before they were captured. It was very moving to be there and see it. I remember ready Anne Frank's diary when I was just a kid. I have even more appreciation for it now as an adult.

Last but not least I had to include a couple pictures of what it looks like to look down one of the many canals in the city. As you can see on this bridge above there are bikes parked all along it.... seriously we saw more bikes than cars on this trip. You can also see how all the houses are built right next to each other all the way down.

Here is a typical house boat seen on the canals throughout the city. Some of them actually looked pretty cozy, but not so sure how much I would enjoy having canal cruises drive by everyday. I guess if you get fed up with the city you just pull up anchor and head for somewhere else!!

Amsterdam was a great four days and we hope to come back and visit!!!