Click here to watch our slideshow of Holland or view it later on our Slideshows page.
With only 25 on the tour, we were able to spread out and get comfortable. There was plenty of time for reading, playing cards, enjoying the countryside, and even snoozing.
Blog entry July 5:
And the bus is great—big, brand new, and uncrowded. Wish we could put wings on it and fly it home!
Before we booked the tour, I did a lot of research on Rick Steves’ web site, and one thing that impressed me was how great the guides seemed to be on all of the tours; each group seemed to bond so well with their guide, and each group said that their guide had to be the best. We felt exactly this way about Ferdi, and we were so sad when he had a family emergency and had to leave us in Amsterdam! Although it’s highly unusual for a group to have more than one guide, for our group it worked out wonderfully well. We were lucky to have three more fantastic Rick Steves’ guides on our tour, each a specialist in her country. Now I know why each group thinks their guide is the best—they’re all great! Karoline, who was so knowledgeable and so much fun, would be our guide in Germany, and we loved her just as we did Ferdi.
No, I didn’t eat this entire pannenkoeken by myself—but I could have! It was delicious. Actually, each table had three different varieties to share, and they were all good.
Who needs American hot dogs anyway?
People slept sitting up because they were afraid that if they would lie down to sleep, they would die by morning.
Believe it or not, this is a washing machine! We also got a demonstration in the paper-making factory.
Amsterdam
Much too soon it was time to leave Holland--we all just loved Holland! But we hopped on the bus, and we were off for Germany. On the way, we stopped at this outdoor museum. It was a fun place to walk around and explore for a few hours. There were many old homes to peek into to get a glimpse of life in rural Holland through the ages.
Arnhem Open Air Museum
There is a big Indonesian influence in Dutch cooking (remember the peanut sauce on the fries?), and our group had dinner together at an Indonesian restaurant on our last night in Holland.
Then it was time for our group to get back on the tram for some more sightseeing before getting on the train back to our hotel in Haarlem. The tram was packed, but we all managed to squeeze in. When it was time to get off, the doors slammed shut before Dottie and I could get out and away we went! Seven blocks later we got off and walked back, but our group was gone. Luckily Ferdi had prepared us if we should get lost. We asked directions and found the train station and knew how many stops we needed to go. No problem. Again, the train was crowded, and Dottie and I sat several seats apart, but facing each other. I pulled out my journal and became immersed in my writing, thinking Dottie would watch for our stop. We had traveled quite a while before I looked up, and there was Dottie—sleeping! For how long, I had no idea. Luckily, we hadn’t missed our stop, and later Dottie told me she was only pretending to be asleep because she thought Kristin had her train ticket and thought maybe the conductor would pass her by if she was asleep.
(Later we heard it was quite a sight to see Ferdi chasing after that tram!)
We toured Anne Frank’s house, which was very moving. The rooms are now bare, but the fixtures remain. I felt so
sad as I touched the rim of the kitchen sink. And there was
Anne’s diary—it had a red plaid cover! I had read the diary several times in the past, of course, but seeing that cover moved me. Seeing the worn fabric that had been so familiar and probably comforting to her made Anne’s story so real to me at that moment.
Blog entry July 3:
Did we get in any trouble today, you ask? Oh yeah. Both Dottie and I forgot to set our alarm clocks last night but we all managed to get to the tour on time. (Ferdi says, “We wait for no one!”) Then at the Rijksmuseum, Kristin’s backside accidentally got a little too close to Rembrandt’s Night Watch, probably the most valuable painting there, much to the dismay of the guards. You’d think she’d learn, but she did the same thing at the VanGogh Museum! But that was just the beginning of our day....
The Rijksmuseum had some incredible works of art, and wished we could have stayed a little longer, but there was so much to see here!
Our tour officially began at our hotel in Haarlem with an orientation meeting led by our guide, Ferdi. We all liked him instantly. After a brief walking tour of the town, he set us off to search for food on our own.
Blog entry, July 2:
We were all cocky once we got to Haarlem, thinking we knew quite a few Dutch words by now, but once we were left on our own, we floundered around like lost sheep, trying to decide where to eat. Once we decided on a place, the waiter was so patient with us while we asked him to translate the entire menu. And the best part was, Ferdi told us there was no—or only just minimal—tipping! No more calculating tips! He said the wait staff here were given a fair wage, and the Europeans don’t want us spoiling it for the rest of them.
Later, Robin was hungry and found a street vendor selling “Real American Hot Dogs” and got one. Big mistake. She said it was the worst she’d ever had, and Kristin (who will eat anything) had to agree. Being a good friend, Kristin informed the vendor that these were in no way American hot dogs and politely requested a refund. Request denied. Moral of the story: When in Europe, eat European food!
All of our guides taught us how to use public transportation in every city we visited. This tram was our first experience on our own.
We had a buddy system to insure that everyone was in the group as we headed from place to place. Ferdi told us that we’d be visiting lots of crowded cities; and, if we should ever get separated from the group, don’t panic, just head back to the hotel.
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