One Full Week

The past week has flown by. We have had a lot of fun, seen many things, and even picked up a little bit of rest. Monday was an adventure by water. We took our bikes onto a water bus (part of the public transport system) and rode to Dordrecht. There wasn't enough time to explore the city, but we did see an unscaled replica of Noah's Ark! It was quite interesting to be inside there, think about how this family built it, and think about how it could have been built 4,000 years ago. It was interesting to learn that the original proportions of the boat are still used today in ocean liners - apparently it is the most efficient design.

After the Ark we hopped on another boat and cycled to the Kinderdijk, a UNESCO World Heritage site - home to around 20 windmills that were built to drain the land in the mid 1700's. It was strange to see people still living in them today. It would have been fun to see what one was like on the inside...

Tuesday was meant for Delft, but the weather didn't cooperate so we stayed indoors. We made our traditional pizzas for Christmas Eve and they turned out well. On Christmas Day we attended the big church in the center of Rotterdam. It was a nice service and Dad really enjoyed the organ. After that we opened some presents, played a few games, and went for a long walk while the oven worked on the French turkey.

They celebrate two Christmas days here in the Netherlands, so for the second one we hung around the house and made a fancy dinner featuring a roasted leg of lamb. Friday Naomi and I stayed home as we had a lot to take care of. Everyone else went to the Escher museum in The Hague - good day for it as the weather was terrible. They really enjoyed it. We had leftovers for dinner and watched Chasing Ice - a very impressive documentary about melting glaciers and the attempt to capture their decline photographically.

Yesterday was spent in Amsterdam. We started off with a nice boat tour and then had a nice lunch in a 350 year old building. After that we toured a diamond cutting business while Dad walked around to take pictures in the sunshine. We stumbled upon a market and Kalia in particular picked up quite a few nice finds. One claustrophobic tram ride later, we ended up at Edith's place where she and Ron prepared a nice dinner for us. It was a late night getting home, but now we have the morning to rest up and pack for our three night trip to the East Side visiting Alies.

View of Rotterdam from the WaterBus.

Noah's Ark in Dordrecht.

A few of the Windmills at the Kinderdijk.

Making Pizza's

Rotterdam's St. Lawrence Church.

Above the Ambulatory.

Christmas Walk.

Lamb Dinner.

Amsterdam's canal tour.

One of many canals.