Amsterdam!

 After a very busy day on the road we finally arrived in Amsterdam! 

On our way into Amsterdam we made a stop at a farm. The farm produces two things Cheese and the famous Dutch clogs! We were told that there are only four artisans left who follow the traditional methods for making the clogs and this farm has one of those artists in residence. Below are pictures from our visit. We were able to meet the cows, see the process and the storage of the cheese and we had the opportunity to purchase the cheese as well. It was really delightful.

We met the cows that provide the milk for the cheese.

They are very busy cows! This is a storage room for the cheese where they age it before it goes to market.

This is the machine that cuts the shape of the clogs. There were bags and bags of them made and I believe they are sent out to be finished as I did not see evidence of finishing there in the shop.

There were so many beautiful things to see and buy in the shop! The man in blue in the back is the clog maker.

We certainly left our mark in the farm economy that day! Notice the handles on the cheese cutter and grater. That is the traditional Delft pottery white with the blue paint. It is truly beautiful!

We had some time before dinner to visit the I Amsterdam sign. It was a great photo opportunity and we ran into quite a few characters while there! There was a whole group of people dressed in footy pajamas in patterns of jungle animals and they sang "in the jungle, the mighty jungle   The lion sleeps tonight!" It was very entertaining!

Our jungle friends!

Here you can see the whole sign thanks to Taylor and Bailey!

Taylor and a few other brave souls climbed the letters for their photo op!

After our visit to the sign we went to dinner at Wagamama. It was asian cuisine but what was nice is we had four dishes to choose from! It was the only time we had a choice and I personally really appreciated that!

In the background is the the restaurant. In the courtyard they had this large chess game set up and across the courtyard was the Hard Rock Cafe. I do believe a few people made it over there to pick up a souvenir or two! There was also a shoe store that sold hats and scarves. It is fair to say that they too enjoyed our visit and contributions to the economy!

After dinner we headed out to our hotel for a well earned night of sleep! It had been a very long and busy day!

The next morning we started our day bright and early! This hotel had quite the breakfast and many of us were well fed as we loaded the bus. There was fresh fruit, cheese, ham, bacon, eggs, waffles, breads and more! And, we were introduced to a crazy Dutch speciality that has you shaking chocolate shavings onto your buttered toast in the morning. It was crazy!

Our first activity of the day was our visit to the Anne Frank House. Anne Frank is the young Jewish girl who kept a diary while she and her family hid from the German soldiers during WWII until her family was captured. The family was taken to concentration camps. Only her father, Otto Frank, survived the camps. Poor Anne died one month short of liberation.

This statue pays homage to Anne.

The door to the Home where the Franks were hidden.

The photos above and below show the house and museum and the line we waited in to enter the house. It was a very moving experience and most of us found the house to be surprisingly larger than we had anticipated. There aren't really pictures from inside as we were discouraged from taking these photos.

At the end of the tour there was a video of famous visitors who gve their reflections of their visit. And one person shared a "game" he and his sister played where they asked the question, "If the time came...who would hide us?" I found that to be a very profound question. Who would hide you? And, who would you be willing to hide?

After our tour of the house we met up with our local guide to take our city tour. 

Amsterdam is a really beautiful city. It has a tram system but the most popular form of transportation seems to be biking. We struggled to remember to look for bikes as we crossed the streets! 

We went to an area where a special sect of nuns lived, women who banded together for protection but could leave when their spouses returned from the war. 

Passage to the nun's secret garden.

A statue honoring the sisters.

A home typical of the era. 

The chapel doors and below, the chapel. 

The Gardens around the enclave...

This was a lovely, peaceful place. After our walking tour we had some time for lunch and then we boarded a boat to cruise the canals. I was sitting in the wrong direction to take pictures so thank you to the students who used our hashtag when they posted pictures because I borrowed most of the following pictures!

After the cruise we had some free time for shopping and we were able to see the flower market.

And, a few of the kids found "the bench" from the movie "The Fault in Our Stars."

While others found a great big shoe!

Our dinner this last night was much more traditional. It was a smoked sausage with a potato and carrot mash.

Dessert was also more traditional with ice cream served with traditional pancakes. These were small half dollar size and they were puffy. I don't remember what exactly they were called but "puff" was a part of the word! What I do know is that everyone seemed to like them!

After dinner we had more free time to do some shopping. No pictures for me as I used the time to work on the Paris post. However, it seems as though the students were successful during this time as many bags made it back on the bus! 

And, once again we were on our way to our last night in the hotel. Wake up time is 6am! Time to figure out how to pack all of the souvenirs! The bus ride back was long and very entertaining! 

Often this is what the bus ride looks line as we're trying to catch all the sites!

And sometimes we're not so serious!

And, we could always count on Joel, our tour director, to keep us entertained!

Our last morning came early! But I did manage to take a picture of our last breakfast!

I wish I had taken a picture if the breakfast buffet as it was impressive!

We loaded the bus for the last time and watched the sun rise as we drove to the airport.

We unloaded with the help of Partick, bus driver extrodinaire! 

And we followed the yellow jacket one last time into the airport.

We checked in... 

And with heavy hearts we gathered as groups to say our last goodbyes to Joel deBruine, our tour director who made all the difference!

The pink group.

The blue group.

The green group.

The purple group.

The orange group.

The brown group.

And so ended our amazing experience on our European Quartet tour! We were blessed to have a safe flight home and memories to last al lifetime! Thank you to all the parents who made this trip possible for your kids! Thank you students for being awesome travel companions! And thank you chaperones for taking care of our precious travelers! My hope is that each and everyone of you become lifelong travelers and that someday you too will send your kids on an adventure of a lifetime! 

Brussels!

So the plan was to keep friends and family at home updated through social media during our trip. While this worked to some extent, having WiFi proved to be a challenge on the trip and big posts, such as this blog, were difficult to execute with the sketchy availability to WiFi. However, there was so much activity that posting late is better than not posting at all! So, with that in mind I now share our adventures in Brussels, Antwerp, Delft, and Amsterdam!

After our visit to the Louvre we boarded the bus and headed to Belgium. It was a very quiet trip as most students used the ride to catch up on some much needed sleep!

We arrived in Brussels at dinner time. Our first walk from the bus led us to a yummy dinner of a salad with a dressing that tasted very much of mayonnaise. It is safe to say that our students were missing the magic white sauce found in the USA: Ranch Dressing! We learned that Europeans have a strange fascination with mayonnaise and French fries...we are not amused! We also had Chicken, French fries and ice cream for dessert. Some of our older travelers tried a cherry Belgian beer and found it delightful! 

After dinner we strolled the plaza of Brussels. It was a chilly, damp night, but the town square is charming! 

The architecture was beautiful! We strolled the streets and found many charming shops.

The window displays were so colorful. 

We found Tintin street art.

There were incredible displays of Belgian lace.

And chocolate...and more chocolate!

It was simply charming!

We pushed hard and fast that night in Brussels. We were quite tired as we headed back to the hotel. On drive to the hotel Joel, our tour director and Patrick, our bus driver, made a suggestion. If we were willing, for 3€ each they suggested we deviate our plans. We had essentially seen most of Brussels that night so they suggested heading out in the morning and making two non-scheduled stops in Antwerp and Delft before heading into Amsterdam. By vote the group said yes! So, to bed we went with high expectations of of the unscheduled adventure.

After our early morning rise and shine, breakfast and luggage transfer back to the bus we headed out towards Holland!

Our first stop was a photo stop at the Atomium. 

What a cool structure! 

As you can see, part of today's fun was dealing with the weather! It was a cold blustery day! 

The fashion called for layers upon layers!

Once back on the bus we headed for Antwerp! It was still rather early Sunday morning and at first it looked as though it might be a disappointing stop as it was still waking up when we arrived.

But then, something magical happened. As we began to wander around the main square we stumbled upon a marathon race! 

Next, we heard music that ended up being a parade through the town. The parade ended in front of the church. The participants were dressed in costumes that were reminiscent of days gone by. There were people who played music, a group of children who danced and a group of adults who danced. 

Besides seeing this glimpse of everyday life in Antwerp we also checked out the window displays as we wandered the streets. We took in the archetecture and you could t help but notice the most common form of transportation! 

Chocolate, chocolate, and more chicolate!

Belgians take their beer seriously!

Isn't this christening dress to die for?!

JP was admiring the goods in the window. How do you make a decision when it is all so appealing?

Wonderful!

As I mentioned it was a cold, blustery, damp day so before boarding the bus and saying goodbye to Belgium a group of kids were lucky enough to find some yummy hot chocolate! 

Next we went to Delft! Delft is located in the Netherlands (aka Holland). Our amazing bus driver Patrick, who is from the region, expertly brought us to the town square. Once again we were treated to the delights of a small city going about their regular lives. There is something quite charming about these areas that are not bustling with tourists like us! 

Usually the squares are built around a church.

This is the church parking lot! Bikes are EVERYWHERE in the Netherlands!

This is the pub lunch of one if the chaperones. It was a salmon sandwich that had eggs on it and check out those chips! So much smaller than an American serving would be.

This square had a cheese shop that many of us fell in love with! It was so yummy! 

Delft is also known for its pottery and I know at least one lucky mom got a souvenir of a new tea set!

Again we were able to spend time in a beautiful gem of a city!

I should also mention that in this day we stopped at the Red Star Line Museum in Antwerp. Unfortunately I do not have any pictures from the museum as I was busy trying to take it all in! The museum highlighted the immigration process to America...essentially what happened before they arrived at Ellis Island. Personally I found it rather fascinating for two reasons; the first was learning what they had to go through, who went, why they went, and the financial and family struggles they endured. It was fascinating. The second thing I found to be very poignant about the museum is that they made a very clear satement that while the museum documented the past; the idea of immigration, the struggle to escape to a new, safer, more prosperous life is still alive and well today! It was a bit humbling to make that connection.