Friday, April 21, 2006

The castle we can't get to....

Ever since we started coming to Amsterdam, one of the places that we have wanted to visit is the castle Muiderslot. It is a preserved medieval castle in the town of Muiden.

Something has come up every trip - we *plan* to go, but then we never do. So I was determined that we would make it there this time!

I researched the castle online, studied the train and bus routes and planned the day. Yesterday we took a train from central station to Amsterdam Amstel station, a train/bus station in the southern part of Amsterdam along the Amstel river. We were supposed to get a bus from Amstel station to Muiden.

When we got to Amstel station we found out that the bus lines recently changed and there are no buses from Amsterdam to Muiden! Now the only way to get to Muiden is by car! So once again....no castle!!

Since we were already at the train station, we bought tickets and went on to Haarlem - our favorite sleepy little town. We decided we would eat some pancakes at our favorite little outdoor cafe in the Grote Markt. It's a really nice open area where the kids can run around and play while Jeff and I drink some coffee and watch the people.

We arrived in Haarlem to find that the Markt was one BIG madhouse! The traveling carnival is in town and the sleepy quiet town was transformed into a jumble of children's rides, funhouses, suikerspin (cotton candy) booths, and dare-devil rides screaming American rap music!

Of course it all looked like great fun to the kids! We ate our pancakes amongst the noise and congestion and then let the kids ride a few of the "safer" rides. Journey and Jagger rode the little cars and motorcycles that go around in a circle and then the little motorized cars that you drive around within a fixed area with little walls. Justice tried ut the bumper cars. I held my breath the whole time - our last incident in Amsterdam with bumper cars left Journey with a burn mark on his shoulder from the seat belt, and Justice's face had smashed into the steering wheel and we thought his nose was broken! This time everything was okay though, so I was able to relax!

Justice and Journey decided that they wanted to go into this "funhouse". It looked fun from the outside - a giant wheel that looked like one that hamsters run in, moving platforms, spinning wheels, etc. Journey lasted about 3 minutes inside. The interior had moving staircases, blaring music, air jets that suddenly blasted large bursts of air, sudden honking noises - he started crying and Justice had to bring him out. They both jumped a railing and ran out - Journey was sobbing and shaking! Poor guy! He really had his hopes up and this "funhouse" wasn't much fun for him!

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Fun stuff

When we arrived at the Keukenhof Flower Show, the parking lot was like a sea of tour busses. As our driver parked our bus next to all of the other maroon and gray busses, some of the passengers on our bus started to snicker.

We looked out the window and saw a bus parked across from us - light gray/silver in color, with purple lettering. So I sent Justice over to take a picture of the bus - just for fun!









Funny, huh? I'm sure it means something else in another language, but we were not able to tell where the bus came from - there are tours from all over Europe to the Keukenhof.

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I was fooling around with Bablefish this morning (procrastinating about doing the taxes!). I put Justice and Journey's names into the program and translated them from English to Dutch. Since they are real words in the English language, and not names, I got a number of results.

Justice - the quality of being just or fair. Dutch translations:


  • justitie
  • gerenchtigheid
  • rechtvaardigheid
  • bilijkheid


Journey - the act of traveling from one place to another:

  • reizen
  • tocht
  • trip


Jagger's name is not a typical word in English, but he wanted a list of new names, just like his brothers! So I looked up the word "sharp" (in some parts of the US, people refer to the sharp thorns on roses as "jaggers"). Translations for the word sharp are:

  • peinter
  • schrander
  • snugger
  • spits
  • vernuftig


So we have been calling the kids by their "Dutch names" all morning - they love it!
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As part of the dining room decor, the owner has a very large ceramic bowl in the center of the dining room table. The bowl is meant to look weathered and old (but the price tag on the bottom shows that it was purchased at Hema for 9.95 Euros!) The bowl is filled with fresh cinnamon sticks. It makes the room smell really good and Jeff regularly stirs through them with his hand to refresh them.

The other day we were eating breakfast and Jagger asked what the brown sticks in the bowl were. We explained to him that they were sticks of cinnamon - and you can guess what happened - he quickly grabbed one and stuck it in his mouth! The sour look on his face was priceless! He loves it when I make him toast with cinnamon and sugar, so he thought the cinnamon sticks would be a yummy treat!

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The cleaning service comes to clean the apartment every Friday at 11:00am. The owner's girlfriend is in charge of the arrangements and she regularly comes to check on the cleaner's progress.

When we came back to the apartment, we found some little signs, typed and printed on white paper, above each of the toilets. They were reminders not to flush anything other than toilet paper down the toilets.

Well, Justice and Journey decided that they didn't want the signs over the toilet, and ripped them up and threw them in the trash! When we found out, we were angry, as they did not have the right to take the signs down.

So we got out some paper and had them write new signs! Justice had to copy the words from the original sign two times, for the two bathrooms in the front of the house. And Journey had to copy the words one time, for the bathroom on his side of the house.

It really bothered me that the signs were not grammatically correct, but we had them copy the words exactly as they were. Next, they will each write a letter apologizing for taking the signs down and explaining why they re-made the signs. Pretty good punishment, huh?

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Zandevoort

Today we took a train to Zandevoort, a town on the coast of the Netherlands, near Haarlem. Zandevoort is an old fishing town that has miles and miles of beachfront and sand dunes. It is a very popular spot in the summer, when millions of people from around the Netherlands (and some from Germany) flock to the resort to enjoy the sun.

We took a train from Amsterdam Centraal Station to Haarlem, then switched trains to Zandevoort. I was very impressed that Jeff and I were able to easily navigate our way through the train stations and hop on the correct trains (with 3 kids in tow), without having to ask any questions, or verify that we had the correct trains! We're getting pretty good at this!

Since it is off-season in Zandevoort, there were not a lot of people there. Those who were there were Dutch, as Zandevoort is more of a local haunt and less of a tourist area. I met a few people who did not speak English (this tends to be rare) and most of the street signs, shop signs, and restaurant menus were in Dutch.



The areas near the beach are very modern - hotels, shops and casinos that look like those found near popular beaches in the US.







The beach is lined with small cafes and restaurants. Each of them has their own outdoor area of the beach - with little tables, lounge chairs, sun umbrellas, etc.



This restaurant has sun/wind shades advertising one of our favorite drinks - Dubbel Frise. It is a yogurt drink that the kids love - a mixture of yogurt and fruit juice (no added sugar!) that comes in a variety of flavors. I just wish they made something like this in the US!



There were many little play areas for toddlers/preschoolers. Jagger loved to hang out in this area and pretend that he was selling hotdogs from the little cart! He met another little boy who looked to be about his age. It was really interesting how he and the other boy continually talked to each other - Jagger in English and the other boy in Dutch - neither of them seemed to notice that they couldn't understand each other, but were able to turn the little toy oven around together and pretend to sell each other items.



Many parts of the beach have these enclosed areas with large windows to shield beach-goers from the wind.



Miles and miles of beach!






When we were getting ready to leave the apartment this morning, Jeff wanted to know WHY I was packing an extra change of clothes for each of the kids. "You know it's too cold to swim, right?" Yeah sure!!

Jeff rolled up their pant legs so they could each get their feet wet...keep in mind that the outside temperature was around 58 degrees today, and it was windy!



Jeff and Justice at the edge of the water.



Justice enjoyed running on the beach, as fast as he possibly could run.



As usual, Jagger showed no fear of the water at all. It didn't seem to matter to him that he was wading in the *icy* waters of the North Sea!



JOurney enjoyed digging in the wet sand. We were all amazed at the number of sea shells on the beach. When Journey dug into the wet sand, he found that the layers underneath were made of smashed shell particles.



Journey found some sea shells in strange shapes - long thin shells - 6 or 7 inches long!



Journey and Jagger wading in the water.



Justice used the long shells to draw pictures in the sand.



Journey and Jagger running in the cold water.



Jagger eventually "fell" into the water and was completely wet. Wait, WHY was it that I brought extra clothes?



Jagger splashing in the water so hard that his face was wet!


After everyone was cold, wet, and tired, we were HUNGRY!

We changed clothes and then went to Boomerangs, and Australian restaurant. Jagger and I shared a large sirloin steak, (which the waitress kept referring to as "cow" in order to differentiate it from the ostrich and kangaroo steaks on the menu!), steak fries, and salad. Jeff, Justice and Journey each ordered the shrimp cocktail - served in a fancy cocktail goblet with baby shrimps, mayonaisse, fresh lime, avocado slices, slices of hard boiled egg, and fresh baked bread with real butter. Justice and Journey loved it! Jeff also had the onion soup and Journey had his usual tomato soup. Justice was extremely hungry and also ordered a Joey meal (kid's meal) consisting of a hamburger, fries, and applesauce.

When the meal was over, the waitress brought each of the kids a special treat - a fancy goblet of fresh tropical fruit mixed with fruit juices, with vanilla ice cream, real whipped cream, and a wafer cookie on top! The look on their faces when she brough it over was so adorable!





Jagger was so exhausted after his romp on the beach, that he looked like he was going to fall asleep while eating his dinner! He somehow managed to stay awake for the train ride home and didn't crash until about 9pm!


Justice ended up eating ALL of his food - the shrimp cocktail and the full kids meal. He was quite hungry! Of course a day in the sun brought him even more freckles!


It was really a fun day and we hope to visit Zandevoort again sometime when the weather is warmer.

Friday, April 14, 2006

Niewe Kerk

Today we went to the Niewe Kerk (New Church) in Dam Square. The church still holds regular religious services, but it also hosts multi-cultural exhibits.

The current exhibit is "Indonesia". The display included large statues, paintings, and artifacts detailing the history of Indonesia.

I was fascinated by the beautiful hand-woven tapestries (very intricate patterns on very old cloths). They had hand-carved wooden palace doors from the early 1800's and the detail was amazing! Journey enjoyed the gold and silver jewelry worn by the royal families of Indonesia. And we were all impressed by the Wonoboyo treasure. In 1980, a farmer in Indonesia was having his farm land dug up and cultivated. He found an enormous metal box encased in layers of old lava. Inside the box was 7000 pieces of precious metal, gems, etc. - all ancient pieces used by the Wonoboyo tribe!

Unfortunatley, I was only able to take 10 pictures inside the church before the security personnel told me that photos were NOT allowed! Most museums, and even the palace, have signs stating that photos are not allowed (in some places photos are allowed, but only without a flash) so I was surprised that this place didn't have such a sign. But I guess when you're dealing with such valuable items (TREASURE!), it makes sense that photos cannot be allowed for security reasons.

So here are the few photos I took while we were there - most of the architecture of the church. The two statues are part of the Indonesia exhibit, and not typically part of the church.














Jagger was quite fascinated by the stained glass windows. While Jeff, Justice and Journey looked at the Indonesia exhibits, Jagger asked me if we could sit on the bench and look at the windows! He is very fascinated by colors right now and any time we see a colorful sign or display, we have to stop to name all of the colors (even though he has known all of the color names for over a year!). So after we named the colors we saw in the stained glass windows, I asked him to describe what he saw on the windows. He thought for a long moment and then said...."Mommy, I think I see someone REALLY old! Yep, I see George Washington!!".










Thursday, April 13, 2006

Scheepvaart Museum

On one of our first trips to Amsterdam, Journey, Jagger and I went to the Scheepvaart Museum. The museums chronicles the history of boats/ships throughout the history of the Netherlands.

We went to the museum again today, to show Jeff and Justice (and since Journey and Jagger enjoyed it so thoroughly the last time!)


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The Scheepvaart Museum is in the north of Amsterdam, near Centraal Station and the docks. The main building has ship repilcas, naval paintings, and lots of historical information. Outside there is an exact replica of the Amsterdam, a large war ship built in the late 1800's.




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A small ship replica.



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Replica of a ship that transported Delft pottery.



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Replica of the USS Amsterdam.



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Eating dinner in the ship's galley.



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Oh no! The food was poisoned!



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Shooting at the enemy!



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Dinner at the captin's table!



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Jurney thought this little room was neat, until Jeff explained to him that it was the ship's toilet room!



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The captain's quarters.



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Journey wondered what would happen if a crewman got his head stuck in the "steering wheel". What a kid!



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Waking up from a long nap at sea.



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Another crewmate wakes.



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Yep, waking up again!



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Journey takes aim!



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Jagger liked the cannons, but was mad that the cannon balls were glued to the floor!



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Justice took a rest below deck.



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Jeff and I in the Scheepvaart Museum courtyard.



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Jeff, Journey, Jagger and I. I really need to hand the camera over to a stranger and get a family picture one of these days!