The kids get a long weekend for Queen's Day in the Netherlands. We thought it was the perfect time to head up to Leiden, NL, for a weekend of tulip tiptoeing and windmill watching.
The Keukenhof Gardens in Leiden are only open about 8 weeks a year in the spring. It was definitely worth the trip to see the beautiful flowers, fountains, gardens and walking paths.
We brought along the son of one of Chris' German co-workers, Christian. Christian's family wants his English to improve and we want Sean and Will's German to improve. This weekend was Christian's English Immersion weekend. Sean will travel with his family next month for a German Immersion weekend.
Chrsitian, Sean, Maryn and Will near the Garden's entrance.
Beautiful scenery all around and plenty of photo ops.
Maryn decided she liked Christian and didn't leave his side the rest of the day.
The Andre Rieu tulip. Sean's trumpet instructor is in Andre Rieu's orchestra.
Will poses near the wooden shoe maker, Maryn and I pose by a statue that I can relate to!
The next day we drove over to the Zaanse Schans, an area of the Netherlands where you can explore working windmills and see what life near the canals and on the River Zaan was like. At one time, over 200 windmills peppered the banks of the river helping to industrialize northern Holland.
Cheezy photo op outside the klompen (wooden shoe) museum and the wall of wooden shoes for sale inside.
A canal house
In the background, you can see a windmill under construction. The goal is to restore and/or rebuild many of the windmills in this area.
Cheese shop girls dressed in traditional Holland clothes.
Before dinner, we drove down the coast and dipped our toes in the North Sea. It was FREEZING! We collected shells and had a look around before heading to a pannekeuken house for dinner. Yummy!
1 comment:
You are cracking me up. Beautiful pictures.
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