We found our way to our apartment in Amsterdam and although we were a little disappointed with it – it seemed a bit dingy – we figured it was a good location and reasonably priced for Holland. We certainly couldn’t afford to stay in the city so we decided to not use the back door because of all the spiders (there were a LOT!) and make the best of it.

Daniel does love the cheeses over here.

We rested a bit in Amsterdam, but also had a full-on sightseeing time. Our highlights included:

The best thing was meeting up with Nick and Karen Klinkenberg.

  

Nick use to be our pastor when we were in Hamilton, so it was lovely to spend some time with them. The kids loved talking to them too, and we all enjoyed the treats Nick bought for us. Then we went out for pizza and ice cream and chatted about all sorts of things. Nick then gave us a bit of a walking tour before we headed home.

 

Earlier in the day we went to the library which is an 8 storey building with a wonderful restaurant on the top floor. We ate our packed lunch there, enjoying the view. It was one classy place, and made a great chocolate brownie!

 

The children’s area

We walked around the canals, taking loads of photos, and stopping for coffee.

 

The leaning house of Amsterdam

 

 

We stopped at a Coffee House (not a cafe) where the kids weren’t allowed inside so we sat outside in the sun and had an interesting talk about marijuana! Very educational!

 

We went for a walk near home and saw some people putting a mosaic onto a bench. Looked cool. One of the guys walked with us to show us over the dyke wall. The lake on the other side regulates all the water for the area, as only 70 years ago the whole suburb was underwater. It has been made by reclaimed land. Fascinating.

 

Our time in Amsterdam was interesting and enjoyable. We packed up on our last day, ready to move onto Horst and the Hooge Veluwe forest.

(Week 30B: Tuesday, 11 September 2012 – Friday, 14 September 2012)