In the Netherlands

Our first stop is Amsterdam as stated in the last post.  Amsterdam was a very family friendly city, and we actually ended up doing "playground tours," going from park to park making local "friends" and trying to learn Dutch.  The very nice thing about Amsterdam was...everyone spoke SOME English (and most spoke English quite well).  This made navigating the city fun and interesting.  Later, in Paris, we had quite a bit of trouble even ordering food from a menu (*especially* for the children) as the food was over-priced and it HAD to be something they'd eat (or lots of money would be wasted).

Back to Amsterdam...

BIKES were EVERYWHERE.  The sheer volume of bikes is amazing.  AND the way they are ridden is very interesting (sans helmets, with babies in baskets on the handle bars).  Tons of smokers.  I think a full 50% of their population smokes tobacco.  Marijuana is legal.

The population is VERY diverse, and the (readily available) food reflects this diversity.  We basically had chicken and rice...sprinkled with pastries and treats.  We also prepared food in our apartment - but the trip to the grocery store was an adventure trying to "figure out" what everything was used for.  "Is this soap or lotion?  Do they have conditioner?  Do we have to cook this...is it pepperoni or salami?"

OF COURSE we made it a priority to visit Anne Frank's House.  Prior to the trip, the children read about Anne Frank and Haley started (and continues to read) her diary.  It was surreal to actually be IN the same SPACE they were in...hiding...for TWO years.  There were no photos allowed, so we had to "sneak" these on on phone.

Finally, the children (and the parents) got to experience Dutch pancakes.