Mercure Noordwijk 3m

... and was able to doze a little bit, but I got in to London at 11:30 Wednesday morning just a bit on the groggy side. After clearing customs in London I spent the next 3 1/2 hours alternatly walking the airport and trying to doze in the very uncomfortable chairs. Yuck! The flight from London to Amsterdam was supposed to leave at 3:55 (notice I said supposed to), we finally pushed back from the gate at 4:30. Apparently we were ...

... well. Tough to watch some of the videos but they did it all on the right tone. After, in a stark contrast I guess, we then went to the Heineken Experience at their old brewery . I know Raju visited this place before but apparently it's been renovated last year. It was cool but expensive, although you do get 2 free beers (4 for me, because I got sunny's as well). That's pretty much what we've been up to so ...

... rooms were preserved to look exactly as they did when the Franks hid there, and had passages from the diary written on the walls that related to each room we were in. There were also video interviews with others who survived in the house as well as her father Otto, which really added life to the experience. Fortunately none of us became too emotional.





Van Gogh Museum



Again I went to this 1 just with ...

... to be a part of that. The Haus is extremely tastefully done. In fact, they have not recreated the setting, leaving it unfurnished (which is how Mr. Frank requested it be left). For me the more powerful moment was seeing the wall on which the Frank's recorded the heights of the children. I am always most affected in those moments when history feels close. The History museum was interesting and quite ...

... everywhere, you really have to take care because they have right of way, they are encouraged to be used. We were surprised to see a multi-story car park full of bikes. It would be a worry finding yours at the end of the day, they all look rather similar. The Dutch like other European countries take their dogs everywhere, made us homesick for our two. Catch up again in Istanbul.

... de Nieuwe kerk. The building has endured several fires and renovations over the centuries, and thousnads of people are buried under it's floors. In fact most of the time you walk on their gravestones. We took a break at the hotel and a bar we called the SWF before going to the Amsterdam Historical Museum (Amsterdams Historiche Museum). After being surrounded by the historical elements of the city for ...

Yesterday we went to the Van Gogh Museum and Anne Frank's House. And we also did a really stupid tour of the Heineken Brewery. I thought it was going to cover the history and then we would go see where they brew the beer, however it was more like going to disneyland (without the rides). It was very cheesy and filled with (loud) tourists. We did get 2 free beers and a free bottle opener which i guess makes up for the boring tour. The history part was ...

Amsterdam...what can/should I say...probably nothing. My friend Alex, from college, flew up from Spain to spend my birthday with me in Amsterdam. He grew up in Spain and moved to PA in middle school. He returns to Spain every year and usually in the summer so it worked out well. I did send some postcards though, making sure to remember to add stamps...which I did...but forgot to write all the addresses. I blame Alex. I will return another time most definitely.

Oh so many cannals to explore in Amsterdam.Amsterdam was really neat, we saw the big clock tower, we went on a canal tour and saw the Ann Frank house and many other interesting sites. There were a lot of sights to see. We are have trouble with the computers on the ship, I may have to wait and load the pictures went I get home......Sorry.

... to find places to do it. 3 weeks in Europe and I didn't see a single place. Finally today we tracked on down in a big store like a Walmart and after an hour of unloading pictures and waiting for the CD, I got nothing. Apparently my 1 GB card is "too big" for European machines to handle. I find this hard to believe (especially since in Zambia 1 week later I had no problem at all). Crazy.