Anne Frank House

April 28

we got downtown for a free walking tour at 11 o’clock. As usual these walking tours are very informative and we like them. This guy explained some of the history of the Netherlands which we had heard some of this. Basically centuries ago, the Dutch people dealt with a lot of trade . They had the port of Rotterdam and Amsterdam to ship materials all around. The world is also one of the more advanced countries in the world due to initiatives they have started. For example the canal boats run on electricity and this will be requirement by the year 2025. Also by the year 2025, cars will not be allowed into the city. This tool went through the redline district and we learned that there is a push to move these workers outside of the city, but the girls are resisting this move. We also walked through Chinatown which looks like a fun and bustling part of the city. We saw the dancing houses and he was kind enough to take a picture of the different participants in front of the houses. This is an example of the architecture in the city. By building them at angles and either leaning forward or leaning back, it prevents houses crumbling. We also looked at many of the houseboats on the canals and we’re surprised to learn that these were coveted places to live, because they have more room. But they also come at a very steep price house that was worth $2 million and various prices along the way it was for me to see the decorated flower bikes crossing the canals. These bikes are created by the flower man. His wife exhibited Alzheimer’s she often could not find her bike so he decorated her bike with flowers. It became so popular that he started decorating more bikes and putting them all around the city. We went to the beginage in the city. Like the one in Bruges this was a calm oasis inside of a busy city. We went into the church and it was very plain but I found it beautiful and calming. There are still women that live in this commune. We decided to go for a snack, one of her favourites on this trip, truffle fries and beer, we had some time to kill him because my foot was still hurting bit we found some places to sit. That’s when the wind picked up tremendously in the city. It was very cold and it started to rain a little bit.

By then it was time to go on our Anne Frank tour. The tour starts in a room with a timeline and a guide that tells about Anne‘s life. I found she was an excellent guide and presented the information in a clear and sobering way. in the room was also Peter‘s bike. It was still in very good condition and apparently during the two years in the attic, he had hung them bike on the wall after we went through the Work and there was information presented about auto work and the people that worked with him, into the annex and saw the rooms where the franks and the other people liveD. Apparently Frank took all the furniture out of the annex after his death and decided to replace it to write a novel and her wish came true although in a very sad way. It was amazing to see all the different nationalities touring this museum. In a way, people think Anne Frank would’ve been pleased to know that a house was. named after her. I think that anybody who visits Amsterdam should visit this museum just to learn the history and hopefully not repeat the same mistakes of that time period. I came to Amsterdam back in the 80s and this museum has changed drastically. In 80s I remember walking up the steep stairs into the workplace and annex. They have built a whole museum to the right of the Frank house almost like maze to go through this museum.

10 minute walk down to restaurant Red where we met a previous colleague from my Dodds days, Sheilia. I had met with her then also. She and her daughter were visiting Amsterdam for the weekend and we had drinks and snack as we had been snacking all day, and we really weren’t sure what time we would get to the restaurant. It was a pleasure catching up with the two of them. It’s very obvious they have a very close relationship

And often take trips together. It was even more amazing because Katrina had just gotten married two months ago, hadn’t taken a honeymoon yet but was here with her mother. It’s always fun to catch up with old friends.

Vollhave & Giethorn

 After a restless night, listening to the mopeds drive around town, we went down for breakfast. It was another great European breakfast with breads, fruit, meat, cheese, tea, juice, etc. there is also a big group, probably locals there for a day breakfast as they were all dressed in orange. Before breakfast, hostess showed us a back room, where apparently the first king of Holland had slept. It is now a dining room. There was a large picture that reminded me of Napoleon Bonaparte, and it actually turned out to be his brother. The woman told us that Napoleon Bonapart gave his brother a country, the Netherlands, so lived in this Palace for a while. After breakfast, we went for a walk and we followed the trail to the ruins, it really was not much of a ruin. It was just mostly one side from there. We walked downtown and who should we see but four young guys drinking beer sitting by their mopeds. We asked if they were responsible for last nights noise and they laughed, and Bradley said yes , they also told us they read the village of ghost. It was really funny to run into them and we couldn’t be too mad about the lost sleep because it was such a ridiculous tradition. We drove to and took a boat tour around Venice like village. It really is very beautiful as it was very green with the spring trees popping out in the thatched roofs on the houses sitting on small small islands among the canals. We got the feeling that this must be a rather expensive place to live. A attached roof cost €120 per square meter. Houses in the last two years have risen from an average cost of four00,000 to 600,000 euros. The village definitely depends on tourists. Apparently, centuries ago, people from the Mediterranean arrived in this area and discovered that the ground was made of peat. they dug out the Peat and  sold it to other Europeans and made a lot of money. The canals are no more than a meter deep. we then drove the car to North horn and parked and walked into town not realizing we could’ve actually parked closer. Our time ending and I’m still slow at walking from my fall so Scotty walked back to get the car and I walked slowly along the village, taking a few more pictures program the car to the airport and arrived at The beautiful Hilton located at the ship airport.

Vollenhove

 As we had a late check out, we decided to walk for a few hours around Bruges, it was just too lovely to leave. We were looking in particular for a picture bridge. Parentheses add this bridge name later. We then drove to Hove which was a beautiful drive Along the way we saw hundreds of wind turbines doting the landscape and also a few colourful tulip fields. When we got to the hotel we were greeted by the manager and also the woman who overseas the property. The woman told us that Bonner gifted the country of Holland to his younger brother in this palace was his first home. She showed us his bedroom which is now used as a dining room. It did smell rather musty I guess that’s too expected from the building that was built in blank. in our room we found earplugs which we thought was a rather nice touch until the owner told us why we received them . Tonight is Brommernacht when some of the local villagers ride around town from 430 until 830 without their mufflers making lots of noise in order to scare away the evil spirits we were lucky enough to hear the village away that started riding at midnight.. Although we got very little sleep, I really liked this quirky tradition and liked the hotel. Before we went to bed, we hiked around the back of the hotel where there was a hiking trail marked out led to ruins and it was definitely ruins it. It was just a small piece of wall remaining. 

Brugges

Today we took a walking tour with Emil (not the yellow group, red group??). He was a young man about 30 and a schoolteacher at the secondary level. in Bruges and even pointed out his mother’s house on our tour he was very personable and gave a lot of history at several stops. I especially enjoyed hearing his stories of his grandmother and her cooking. I think my favorite was the Beginage. This is a sanctuary sanctuary for single women to live. It began in blank when women were accosted by men and wanted to live a more peaceful life is like a monastery. The women dedicate their lives to God, but are not nuns. It is a walled off community and the gates open at six in the morning and close at six at night. It was like a little oasis in the middle of bustling Brugges. The building had its own chapel, a garden so that they could be self sustaining. There is also evidence of a pigeon coop for male delivery. Some have said that this could have been almost like the beginning of feminism. In any case. It seemed like a very peaceful place to live. he told us much of the history of Bruges, but the one story I remember it was the love story of a Belgian princess from long ago. Her first two husbands had died when she was just a teenager her father wanted her to marry a wealthy man as it turns out she met a German man, but her father did not approve, the young couple to Rome to see the pope to get married, but the pope refused to marry them because he knew the fathers disapproval. they ran off and went to another city to live for about five years. They went out hunting in the woods when a bear started to attack the young princess. Her lover drove a knife through the bear and pin him to a tree. The story got back to the father and the father finally led saying you took my daughter away but now you have saved her and I accept you as her husband. Now, on many of the seals around Bruges, you will see a bear and on the courthouse in the large market you can find a statue of the young man holding his arm after his attack on the bear. The courthouse is filled with many many statues of people, and apparently they were once colored, they now appear white, but they have much detail and are very interesting. At 4 o’clock we went to our waffles and beer workshop. It sounds very strange, but it was really a fun activity. we were grouped with three couples from Florida and two men from Hawaii, 10 of us in all. Our teacher was named Piet. We started off with some beer tastings; a cherry beer, a Radler like beer and a peach beer. Scotty liked the second beer (lemony) and I liked the third (peachy). We moved to the cooking station and each couple had tools to make their waffles. He led us step-by-step and as we went along, he gave us two more beers to sample. So altogether, we had at least five glasses of beer, possibly more as he would pour extra every once in a while the ingredients were all laid out and unlike an American recipe, we weighed the amounts as we went along, we cooked the waffles in the waffle maker and began the fun part of eating. The waffles were very very light and we had some choices of toppings - chocolate, Biscoff butter and whipped cream. It was really a fun workshop, we had a fun group of people and I would recommend it.

Brugges

 We made ourselves a breakfast of brotchen  and meat and cheese and left our beautiful hotel. We headed to Bruges and checked into hotel adornes. This hotel was not nearly as luxurious as our previous hotel but it was just outside of the city center, included breakfast for 15-year-olds per person and Parking in the city of Bruges, this was a good deal. Had my leg been better. We also could’ve had access to bikes, but as it was, I was able to walk, or hobble around the city. Our hotel was right on the corner overlooking a canal, a beautiful setting we wandered around, which is an absolutely beautiful city. It is a UNESCO world site and it’s easy to see why, the buildings look as they did years ago. And the fun thing about is everywhere you turn you see a new beautiful site or you end up in a small alley, or a little garden I can see why so many people love this city, we found the church of the holy blood, and I went up to see it. You asked for a small donation, and so I did that small vile with some crusty red liquid in it I wondered how this blood and the next day I found out from our tour guide during the crusades of the 12th century, a night went to the Middle East to fight and returned with the supposed vial of blood. The guide said you could believe it or not, and you could tell that he did not. It is a rather bizarre circumstance. The church inside and outside is beautiful with its Gothic architecture. We also happen upon several art galleries, mostly modern art. We both thought the art was rather strange, but apparently the city is getting ready for a big art festival the next week. in one gallery, we saw on display a large large piece of wood like it washed up from the beach, also walnut shells all filled with wax laid out on the floor. There was also a photographer with a display of selfies. I looked him up later and not even find his name on the Internet, I do think it would be fun to see all of the art when it’s all displayed next week, but our schedule calls and we will not be there then. We found a small pub, Blonden Os and went inside for two beers and a pretzel. We ended up not eating dinner as we weren’t even that hungry and went back to our hotel soon fell asleep.

Kuekenhof

 Keukenof

Today was the day I had been so looking forward to, our visit to Kuekenhof. I got up and miraculously my foot and knee did not hurt Nearly as much as it had been the last two days. Although I had rented a wheelchair for five euros, I was able to walk. Our timed entry was for 8 o’clock and so we woke early and got there to get in line just as I had remembered it, the park was beautiful. They plant 7 million bulbs to be viewed within a six week. The grounds are meticulously maintained everywhere you look there are bursts of color everywhere. we walked around for nearly 3 hours, Scotty took  lots of photos also so that telks you just how lovely it is at this flower garden. It’s hard not to be there and not want to take a picture at every corner. I was so glad that our tickets were for 8 o’clock because by the time we left, there were people everywhere. They were crowds like you would see at a huge theme park. We counted at least 50 buses in the parking lot. If anybody ever has the chance to visit, I would highly recommend it. 

Bollenstreek Flower Route

 My ankle and knee are quite sore, and we thought we’d attempt the electric bikes. One rotation around immediately told me that this wouldn’t work. My knee doesn’t bend completely. I started to cry and felt sorry for myself. In all of our travels, this is the first time that either of us has been hurt. I could only wallow in my situation for so long, because after all, we are in the Netherlands during tulip season. We drove for almost 45 minutes attempting to find the flower route, then finally had success. The fields are absolutely gorgeous as you drive along. We happened upon ‘The Tulip Experience’. Scotty chose to stay outside, but I eagerly ran in - okay, I hobbled in. Rows and rows of tulips, all different colors. My pains were firgotten for a short while. 

We arrived back to our beautiful hotel and I took a 2 hour bap - kind of unusual for me. Scotty walked to some stores and found is some breakfast and a better Ace bandage for me. We had a delicious dinner at the Brasserie within our hotel. We each had a hefeweissen with the hotel brand. Scotty had a truffle burger, salad and fries. I had fish - with pasta, mixed with vegetables and acaprese salad on top. The fish was mild and very goid, and not a single bone!

Zaanse schans and Haarlem Floats

 Started the day with a fantastic breakfast at Our B&B.It must’ve been the biggest breakfast we’ve ever been served and I joked with the owner that we just might end up staying there forever.

 We headed over to Zaanse Schans and noticed that they were lots of crowds. We went down a ssmaller path with a few people and that’s when it happened – I Slipped on some wet wood and down I went. I twisted my ankle and my knee began to hurt. I mean it really hurt. I hobble around, But the excursion was hardly enjoyable as I had to be careful as I walked.We ended up not seeing the entire area, but that was OK as it was extremely crowded.

Next week headed to Harlem, which I had been really looking forward to. This is where the flutes on the 75th parade were going to be displayed. We looked for a pharmacy with no luck in hopes that I could wrap my foot. We looked for a bicycle shop in hopes that we could rent bikes and again No luck. We slowly very slowly walked to the center of town to see the flower floats. They were absolutely gorgeous - There were all kinds of floats Butterflies to elephants to SpongeBob to decorated tractors. I absolutely absolutely loved it. And then as we were walking around, we ran across a Red Cross truck.

 Luck finally hit. I walked up to it and asked if they could manage my foot and they kindly did so much better that we were able to maybe a little bit faster. We continued looking at the floats among the crowds of people. 

As we walked back to the car, we decided to stop and get a beer. It was really fun to sit outside have some truffle Fries and beers. Truffle fries, by the way, our fries with mayonnaise, flavored with truffles  and covered with Parmesan cheese. I think they were the best fries I’ve ever had. Not to mention that it was fun to sit outside, and I especially enjoyed watching the waiters cross the street with their trays on the other side of the street lining the canal.

We found our hotel, Van der Valk Hotel in Leiden. From the fire map, it appears we have the largest room in the hotel. It is beautiful with two queen beds, a desk can share, to choose any sitting area, a refrigerator, a balcony, and a large modern bathroom. I took a long, hot Shower wash some clothes and organize my suitcase while Scott walked to a nearby grocery store to get some brotchen. Upon his return, We had brotchen with prosciutto ham and Smoked goats cheese and a rather beer. Delicious. We watched some TV and I caught up with my blog and photos.

Marken, Vollendam, Edam

 We stayed at the Madrid Airport on Friday night and caught a 6:00 flight to Amsterdam - WAY too early, can’t remember WHY I did that!! Got the rental car and off we went….

The first village we visited was Marken. It’s a traditional Dutch village and to get there you have to drive out on the road that has water on both sides. It’s a lovely town, but it’s unbelievable how many tourist are there. The town is located right on the water in the main street had many tourist shops, but it was also fun to see all the boats out in the water. We went into the bigger church Noticed that there were many boats hanging from the ceiling. These were to honor the long mirror time, history of the village. It rained often on, but we were able to see the village and enjoy it.The one thing that bothered me was at the town was hanging up flags, and it interfered with photographing. We saw three men hanging the flags and because all the flags look new we guess that there might be a festival coming up, but it really did limit our photos.

The second village was Vollendam which is which is a bit larger. Once again, another traditional Dutch Village and we had to get under awnings often on during the day because of the rain. Fallen dam was having a market in the street and on the way out we bought some cod bites. They were delicious and we even thought they were better than the ones in Portugal because the ones in Portugal are cured in salt for so long. These cut bites were slightly salty, but we both agreed they were better.

Our third village was eaten, and if you’ve heard the name, you are right this is a cheese village.We went into a cheese shop and they were giving out lots of samples, and we fell in love with all of them, but since we couldn’t take all of them with us, we bought a smoked goat cheese. Then on the way home, we stopped at a supermarket and bought bread and prosciutto and some drinks.

Tonight we are staying at Shepherd’s bed-and-breakfast in Lynne and it’s a lovely place to stay.The owner told us that the house was built in 1844 making it 170 years old. She even brought out plates and glasses for us so that we could sit in the dining room and have our dinner.

Pueblo Ingles

I’m sitting on the bus returning from our Pueblo Ingles week. I didn’t keep up with my journal during the week so this weekly summary will have to suffice. 

I didn’t know what to expect as I had only read online reviews, but I would highly recommend this program to anybody. It’s a program for people that want to learn English. It’s open to groups and works as a result of English speaking people joining the program to act as teachers for the week. We started every fay with breakfast at 9, had a 2 hour break and then continued until 11. As a volunteer, I am only supposed to speak English - no problem! At meals, we are to alternate our seating pattern - volunteer, partner, volunteer, etc. We are also encouraged at meals to sit with different people so that we can talk with all of the students and it naturally turns out that other volunteers are included in the conversations. The program moves quickly, but is very engaging. We did 1 on 1 talks, group discussions with prepared questions, prepared skits, skits we developed, listened to volunteer presentations and student presentations, telephone calls and group computer meetings. One day we walked into town for a ‘special’ meal. We had appetizers in the square, then moved into the restaurant for a meal. Another night we participated in a Campanada, which is an old Spanish tradition of witches saying spells to ward off the bad spirits. Such a great, great experience. At the beginning of the week, it was easy to see that most of the students were nervous as they were being totally immersed into a second language.

The setting was absolutely beautiful. We were a 15 minute walk from a World Heritage site, the village of La Alberca. Sometimes we walked down there during our 1 on 1 conversations, sometimes on our break.  

BUT, the real success of this program is the relationships that quickly built up on just a week among the 21 individuals, led by a master of ceremonies and a program director. As the week went on, it was amazing to see their English improve, their confidence grow tremendously and our conversations in time became more personal. We shared stories of our families, lives, country, travels, and best of all was when the laughter broke out. When we were in groups doing skits, it seemed the sillier, the better! When a student referred to his toes as fingers, and soon realized he had made a mistake, it led to numerous jokes. Then at ‘graduation’, each student was asked what they learned this week.. A student replied that his vocabulary had decreased over the week,there was stunned silence and he started to giggle and the room erupted in laughter. So  many fun and happy moments that I could never begin to list them all. But, the care we developed will always remain with me. It was a week when the outside world was left behind and we existed in our own little bubble. I went to bed tired every night and thought that I would sleep on the 4 hour bus ride home. The bus is quiet, apparently we are all tired. As students began to leave, our emotions swelled as we said our goodbyes. Lots more goodbyes when we get to Madrid. This week I was privileged enough to see the best side of humanity, strangers from several cultures come together and become friends. It’s a week that I’ll always remember - and now the tears are starting to flow. 😊😢❤️❤️❤️🇪🇸🇺🇸🌎

First visit to La Alberca

We have a 2 hour break during the day and Scotty and I chose to walk to this nearby village (15 min walk).