| Holland In and around Amsterdam |
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| Amsterdam has a certain reputation both as a city and as the capital of Holland. We were not surprised to find windows of wooden shoes, nor traditional style windmills. Nor were we surprised to look up and see a half naked woman standing in a window... |
| ...we were surprised however to discover how beautiful and pleasant the city was. The city is built around an extensive canal system. The architecture, boats, bridges, and bicycles just added to the atmosphere and we spent a good couple of days just experiencing the city on foot. |
| oh yes, and Amsterdam is known for one more thing. It used to be the home of Anne Frank, a young jewish girl during WWII that spent years in hiding with her family upstairs. Sadly, they were discovered right before the war ended and the only survivor of her family was her father. She, however, did leave her famous diary that has been read the world over. This is her house on the right. |
| Before we left Weert, Frank put us in contact with his brother, Sjaak, in Amsterdam. Sjaak put us up for a couple of nights and then graciously let us use his apt. while he and his girlfriend went on a long weekend trip down south. Sjaak also showed us a bit of Amsterdam and introduced us to fresh stroop waffels (above, right). ahhhh...stroop waffels...if only we had them in Canada. |
| On a day trip away from Amsterdam we joined the hordes of tourists and paid a visit to a well known cheese market in Alkmaar. 31 000 kg of gouda in total. 17kg per round. An amazing sight! |