On Wednesday the 29th, Brendan, Liam & I set out for The Hague. We spent a quiet morning at home and went in by train in the afternoon. We only had a few hours in the city so we decided to spend the time walking around rather than going into museums. We’ve both found that walking is the best way to see a city, to admire its architecture and get a feel for its atmosphere. Along our walk we saw the Dutch parliament, the queen’s palace (where she currently resides), as well as various churches and squares. The Hague feels much more spacious than Amsterdam, where the houses are all narrow and stuck together. It doesn’t have the same unique charm, but is still a nice city. That night Gladys & Carlo treated us to dinner at a restaurant by the lake across from their house. It was a delicious dinner and a lovely evening – yet another instance of the abundant generosity of our hosts!
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| Mauritshuis Gallery and Parliament |
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| Self-portrait! |
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| Liam in The Hague! |
On Thursday the 30th we went back to Amsterdam for the afternoon. This time we took a canal boat tour, which offered a great view of the city. The tour lasted about an hour and took us through several of the main canals. After the tour we made our way to Anne Frank’s house, only to find that the line up to get in went all the way around the corner! I’ve noticed that long line-ups are a common occurrence in Amsterdam. Most of the major museums we saw had huge lines to get in – we were lucky to get into the Van Gogh museum so quickly. So rather than wait at Anne Frankhuis, we took a picture from the outside and continued on our way. Our plan was to explore the older part of the city and go to Rembrandt’s house, but after taking a break to feed Liam, we decided it was best to go home. I wasn’t feeling well, and since we still have the road trip through Normandy ahead of us, we thought it would be wise not push ourselves too hard. Liam had a bit of a meltdown that evening, but once he finally went to sleep we were able to relax and enjoy dinner and a movie with Gladys & Carlo.
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| Taken from the canal boat |
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| House boat - people actually live in these! |
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| Anne Frankhuis, where Anne and her family hid from 1942-44 |
Today is a quiet day, which is definitely what we need before the next leg of the trip. Liam is back to his old self after being somewhat out of sorts yesterday, and I am taking the time to rest so as to beat this cold. Gladys taught me how to make Grandma’s shortbread this afternoon, but other than that, I’ve just been resting, writing, and playing with my boy. B & I will be making dinner for our hosts this evening. B has it all planned out and it’s promising to be quite a feast – one of those entire evening affairs. I suspect we’ll still be eating by next year!!!
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