Forty-Ninth Week in Germany
This week the girls had a Holiday (day off of school) on Thursday. It is May Day but I'm not sure if that is why it is a Holiday. We decided to blitz to Holland on their day off. The girls have already missed so much school this year for viruses, weird sicknesses, etc. that I felt guilty letting them take Friday off too. So, we set off at 8:00AM and got to the exit for the Keukenhof Gardens at 11:30AM. However, there was a 7 Kilometer backup of bumper to bumper traffic waiting to go to the gardens. We decided it may be better to go into Amsterdam first for a bit and then come back after lunch. Actually, Greg decided. I was reluctant but it ended up being the best thing.
We took a boat tour in the canals through the city of Amsterdam. Then, we made our way to the Van Gogh Museum. Unfortunately, Bailey had one specific self-portrait that she was wanting to see that they didn't have, which we found somewhat funny. Our seven-year old has an opinion about which self-portrait they should have. They did however have some famous works like, The Potato Eaters (one of my favorite Van Goghs), The Sunflowers, Irises, The Bedroom, etc. Of course, several self-portraits. The weather was a little rainy at this point so it was good we spent it in the Museum.
We made our way back to the Gardens and the wait was much better. The weather was also much better, so it was definitely the best plan. The gardens are amazing. It is a gigantic park filled with miles and miles of flower patches. They also had playground equipment, a hedge maze for the kids, and really yummy hot waffles, but obviously the main attraction for all of us was the flowers. It seemed like such an appropriate thing to be doing for May Day. There are so many pictures, I don't think there is any other way to do this than to have a slide show
Friday, Greg got up and took the girls to school while Bryn and I got cleaned up. We walked downtown to the market and got some fresh fruits, veggies, breads, flowers, etc. We didn't have a ton of time because we had to pick Avery up after a half day. After picking Avery up, we took off to a little town in the Eifel Region called Bad Münstereifel. It was an old walled city like some others we have been to but it was very quaint and much closer than the others.
We took a boat tour in the canals through the city of Amsterdam. Then, we made our way to the Van Gogh Museum. Unfortunately, Bailey had one specific self-portrait that she was wanting to see that they didn't have, which we found somewhat funny. Our seven-year old has an opinion about which self-portrait they should have. They did however have some famous works like, The Potato Eaters (one of my favorite Van Goghs), The Sunflowers, Irises, The Bedroom, etc. Of course, several self-portraits. The weather was a little rainy at this point so it was good we spent it in the Museum.
We made our way back to the Gardens and the wait was much better. The weather was also much better, so it was definitely the best plan. The gardens are amazing. It is a gigantic park filled with miles and miles of flower patches. They also had playground equipment, a hedge maze for the kids, and really yummy hot waffles, but obviously the main attraction for all of us was the flowers. It seemed like such an appropriate thing to be doing for May Day. There are so many pictures, I don't think there is any other way to do this than to have a slide show
Friday, Greg got up and took the girls to school while Bryn and I got cleaned up. We walked downtown to the market and got some fresh fruits, veggies, breads, flowers, etc. We didn't have a ton of time because we had to pick Avery up after a half day. After picking Avery up, we took off to a little town in the Eifel Region called Bad Münstereifel. It was an old walled city like some others we have been to but it was very quaint and much closer than the others.
Saturday was another big day as we went to Bonn, where they were having a festival that we didn't know about. It was fun to hang out in town for a bit. We went to Pizza Hut for dinner which is always a nice break for the girls. That evening, Greg took Bailey and Avery to the "Rhein in Flammen," which is a boat parade on the Rhein with Fireworks at the end. The fireworks here start so late, like around 10:30 or 11:00pm. They didn't quite make it all the way to Rheinaue Park so they just watched the first set of fireworks across the River and then they wanted to come home. Such tuckered out little girls.
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