My what big feet you have...

Sarah, at Madurodam, fit her klompen quite well.

Waffles in the market

On Saturdays the Groote Markt in Haarlem is covered with stalls for an open air market, with booths selling everything from hardware to flowers to girdles to waffles. Now that we know what these delicious waffles taste like hot off the griddle, we'll be a little disappointed with the regular ones we can get in Hamilton. Jessica got a lovely leather bag for ten euros at the market too.

national pride

Even the plants bloom in the colours of the Dutch flag, the "roodwitblau". The Dutch are understated in their patriotism, yet still very proud of their country. This afternoon, us three girls caught the last part of a Tatoo in the Grote Markt of Haarlem, and the marching bands played beautifully. To close the program they played the national anthem, and every single person stood up, many put their hand over their heart, and they all sang this beautiful anthem. I didn't know the words, but as I gazed through the crowd, my eyes filled with tears and my heart with love for this people whose love for their nation could so move me.

real or tiny? It's Madurodam

Today we took the train to Den Haag and spend the afternoon in Madurodam, an amazing miniature representation of many of the famous buildings and locations in Holland. We recognized some of the buildings from cities we'd already been in, and we noted others that are in cities we have yet to visit, like Leiden, Gouda and Delft. This was probably the kids most fun thing so far. Total biking distance was very small, to and from the train station here and then from the Den Haag Central Station to Madurodam and back.

New jersey

We've shopped in quite a few bike shops lately, and I was able to find a new jersey. Rob and I went for an early morning ride yesterday and found this park to take the kids to one day. They call these play spaces "speeltuinen" (play gardens) as opposed to "parks". A park would be green space with trees. Often the speeltuin will have posted hours with an attendant and require an entry fee.

First class til we get kicked off our car

When we returned to Haarlem from Amsterdam, we climbed on a train car and found nice seats. They were very comfy. Then the ticket checker came along to clip our tickets, and he told us in clipped tones that we needed to move because we had not paid for first class. No wonder the seats had seemed extra comfy. We are such green travellers sometimes.

Amsterdam science centre

After a long day of hiking around Amsterdam in the rain, we decided to spend some time in the NEMO science centre. We all had a blast learning about water purification, shadows, mirrors, etc., etc. As always, the time seemed too short.