After having beautiful weather in Germany I was disappointed to wake up to rainy weather in Amsterdam Wednesday Morning. I decided to change my plans last minute and had myself and the baby out of the hotel in 15 minutes to try and make it to a Grand Holland Tour. Kevin had meetings, so I was on my own. I ran down to the tourist office and was luckily enough to make it on the tour. We drove to Rotterdam and did a bus tour of the city. We stopped at the Euromast - a space needle looking tower which you can go to the top of and have great views of the city. Because of the weather I wasn't able to make it all the way to the top with the baby. I went as high as I could and then ran around and took some quick pictures before I had to get back inside with Tyler. It was quite impressive.
Next we went to Delft to a family owned factory where they still hand make Delft pottery. It was really neat learning how they make the famous blue and white china. I was able to purchase some really pretty pieces.
Delft pottery from start to finish.
We ate lunch at a pancake house in Delft. I was invited to join two young men from Australia. They were very entertaining and made for some good conversation. I had Dutch pancakes with Strawberries, cream and ice cream.
The new church in Delft where they bury members of the Royal family.
I couldn't get a good picture of Tyler because he was too interested in the pigeons.
I had several people from the tour watching me take this picture. They all loved Tyler.
We next did a bus tour of The Hague, which is the political seat of the Netherlands. This is their parliament. We also saw consulates and embassies.
This is where the Queen stays when she is in town. The Royal Family lives in Amsterdam.
The Peace Palace which was donated by Mr. Carnegie a long time ago. It has international judges and it's where two countries go to try to find a peaceful arrangement and can't come to terms on their own.
Our last stop was Madurodam. This theme park in The Hague is a miniature Netherlands. They had many of the main buildings from the country all in miniature and to scale. It was very impressive. At each stop you could watch a video telling about that building. It was very interactive. Cars moved, ships moved, kids could play with things. It was very interesting and I loved it.
The only flowers I saw in Amsterdam because of the time of year.
I sent Haley this picture and she loved it, she said Tyler was in a giant's shoes.
After we got back Kevin met us at the hotel and we went walking around Amsterdam at night. Here is a picture of one of the canals.
For dinner we went to an Indonesian Rice Table. Kevin did a lot of research about the kinds of food the Netherlands were famous for (because we love food) and we found out that they don't have a lot of their own food. It is mostly ethnic. We read over and over again that we needed to try Indonesian rice table. They basically bring out several different plates of food that you share. I think we more than 10 different plates. It was very interesting. One of the dishes was too spicy for me and it killed me for the rest of the meal. It was Kevin's favorite meal of the trip because each dish was so completely different.
The guy in the background is hand painting Delft pottery.
There was this older couple on our tour who were Spanish and didn't speak any English, and they loved Tyler. At one point I was holding him and the man came and was rubbing his back. In the bus while I was trying to get organized, they took him and the woman played with him and later while I was on the phone with the kids the man took him and held him on the bus. I guess he thought it was his turn. They were very sweet with him and I could see how happy it made them to hold him. It was really cute.
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