Easter holidays - Part 4

I am trying to be relaxed about our multitude of city-breaks and not pack every day with too many sights to see and novelties to absorb. My saying is: "We will always have Paris /London" (annoying, I know).

Problem is that we won't always have Venice, Turino, Madrid, Geneva... A return family trip is unlikely. But Amsterdam? There will have to be another trip. The museums and architecture, the history and cycling were just too wonderful not to be scheming up another visit in a few years.

 

Never met a letter he wouldn't climb

Our lovely hosts

Getting ready to cycle through the Rijksmuseum (though you can only see a couple of statues)

Our colourful duo

out and about en masse (8 people and 7 bikes of varying sorts)

Working as hard as a windmill

the whole gang out for a spin (get it???)

The stunning maritime museum - that proved very popular with an interactive exhibit on the Golden Age of Dutch trade (and wealth generation), a provocative temporary exhibit on the Dutch involvement in slavery, a galleon on which one can imagine life at sea (and dream of a sleepover without parents!), and good sandwiches too.

 The other museum we made it to was the Resistance Museum Junior - a new, award-winning wing of the WWII Resistance Museum that is geared to the under 14 set. It mainly focuses on 4 real-life tales of a Jewish girl, a boy whose father was active in the resistance, a boy who is taken by all the 'excitement' of the war, and the daughter of a Dutch Nazi party member. Terrific stuff that held everyone's attention for almost 2 hours solid.

trying the wave board

Easter holidays - part 3 King's Day!!

Saturday, April 26th was the first King's Day that the Netherlands has celebrated in over 120 years.

 
If the King needed a Style Queen, this was his gal.

Everyone wears orange and the city of Amsterdam turns into one giant yard sale (followed by one giant party boat/club). In fact, one is not allowed to sell things without a permit outdoors the rest of the year. Vondelpark was the place to head for family-friendly wares.

Seb bargaining for some Playmobil

Can't figure out if this is anti-monarchy sentiment

This certainly is

Seb's major find - a wave board

the siblings practicing on it

Digging into a traditional prize bin

our haul (before I got some purple shoes for me and a horse pillowcase for S2)

our kids had made plastic band bracelets in the national colours and so set up a stall and earned about 4 Euros in an hour

these American kids were customers

Everyone got orange

my attempt to blend in

checking out fossils with our hosts

and then around 4 pm, the mood started to change

and the canals got a bit crazy

the kids were bemused and so we headed home all happy

What a fabulous day!!

Was the bunny good to you last weekend?

Easter holidays - part 2

The second 1/2 of the holidays was a trip to the Netherlands. It started with four days in the Hague with Auntie R.

relaxing by the beach

relaxing in the beach...

enjoying the beach

Rocking out at the Museon 

The Museon has a great exhibit on peace and justice that has our son convinced that he wants to join Europol or Eurojust. That career choice was furthered by the interactive exhibit on counterfeiting. When I asked him what skills and personal traits one would need for such a career, he admitted that he couldn't be a judge because he gets angry too quickly.

We also were impressed by the thoughtful and artfully conceived Humanity House. You spend 45 minutes or so touring through the permanent, interactive exhibit of what it would be like to be a refugee.

We enjoyed several beach cafes after walks & cycles along the dunes

Siblings playing a bicycle card game

Sophie adored being in the front seat (which was NOT the driver's seat)

She would ring her bell and zip by me yelling "Eat our dust" - what cheek!!

happy holidaying family

Some of the architecture in this lovely city - leafy, running along the dunes, filled with museums, compact

Easter holidays - Part 1

Yes, after a whopping 6 weeks of school, it was high time for another 2 week vacation. We were delighted to stay home at host for the first week. Indeed, it was a thrill to have my school chum Emma and her family visit for a week and my Brighton cousins nip in for a short but sweet break.

She is once again confident enough to let the reins go.

Seb back in the saddle again

or should I say "on the saddle" again?

3/4 of the delightful Brighton cousins

First time that I let Seb drive me anywhere!

The whole Brighton contingent

Ken starting off the "Lou Chabrol" tradition

                                                                  you add wine to your emptied soup bowl

and slurp it with abandon

Seb doing the non-alcoholic version

The ever-patient and lovely Madeleine

We love these gals so much!