After a wonderfully restful and relaxing Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day, we were ready to take in a bit more of our surroundings here in The Netherlands. Gladys & Carlo were off work on Monday & Tuesday, and graciously offered to be our tour guides.
On Monday the 27th, we set off for Amsterdam. We left mid-morning, and spent the better part of the day exploring. Gladys & Carlo first took us for coffee & cake at a fancy hotel restaurant, then led through the city. One of our first stops was at a tourist shop to buy Liam a pair of wooden shoes, which Brendan had been wanting to do since we arrived in The Netherlands! We also visited Begijnhof, a quiet little village in the middle of the city that was once inhabited by the Beguines, a religious community. The houses in the courtyard are still occupied only by women, though no longer Beguines. Begijnhof is surrounded by busy streets, but the atmosphere inside is quiet and still, making it a lovely little sanctuary. From there we continued on toward Dam Square, stopping at a church nicknamed “The Parrot” because of the parrot figure that hangs from the ceiling near the front door. Along the way we ran into an organ grinder and his fancy music machine, something I had never seen before. The music filled the streets, infusing the air with a fun kind of lightheartedness. I’m sure the locals get to find those things tiresome, but I loved it! We stopped for lunch late in the afternoon, and then Gladys & Carlo returned home. B & I visited the Van Gogh Museum before taking the bus home ourselves. I very much enjoyed my first visit to Amsterdam. The architecture is charming and unique, unlike any other city I’ve seen. We’ll be going back tomorrow and are planning to take a canal boat tour, which will offer another perspective of the city. I’m looking forward to seeing it again and doing a bit more exploring.
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| Bicycles line the canals in droves |
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| Choosing a pair of wooden shoes for Liam |
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| Begijnhof |
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| The organ grinder |
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| Dam Square |
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| Liam with his Guncle & Gauntie (Brendan's truncated version of great-uncle and great-auntie!) |
On Tuesday the 28th, we went to Apeldoorn to visit the Paleis Het Loo (pronounced “low”). Apeldoorn is about an hour’s drive away from Hoofddorp, so we took the car this time. Het Loo is an impressive palace, with a long history as a royal residence. It is now a very well kept museum with fully decorated period rooms. We rented audio guide devices at Carlo’s suggestion, which provided extensive information about the history of the place and its residents. There were lots of people there so the tour took a long time, but it was worth the occasional waiting in line to see the various rooms. We also enjoyed walking through the beautiful gardens behind the castle, which I imagine would have been even more lovely in their summer splendor.
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| Paleis Het Loo |
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| The snow-covered gardens |
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| The palace from the back |
After a quick lunch at the castle café, we headed to Arnhem, the site of Operation Market Garden, an important WWII battle. We first stopped at a cemetery where many of the Allied soldiers who fought in the battle were buried. I had never been to a Commonwealth cemetery before, and was quite moved at the site of it. Rows and rows of white headstones, most marked with names and ranks, but some reading only “A Soldier of the Second World War”. There were 1754 men remembered in that cemetery – a small fraction of those who lost their lives in battle. As I paid my respects, I thought of how different our lives would be now had they not given theirs – something difficult to fathom but that ought not be forgotten.
Near the cemetery is a war museum, which we had hoped to visit but arrived too late to see. We poked around the shop for a few minutes, Carlo took a picture of B, Liam & me next to a tank, and then we headed home.
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| We weren't sure what sort of face to make when posing in front of a tank... so we defaulted to the smile! |
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