April 25-May 1, 2015
Saturday April 25, 2015
Jason, Emily and Harper arrived into the Netherlands this
morning. They took the train down to Eindhoven from Amsterdam. The long flight
with not much sleep was a little rough on Harper. After she napped we went to
the center of Eindhoven to go shopping for orange clothes to wear on Kings Day
on Monday. We didn’t find anything quality enough for souvenirs. We stopped for
lunch and drinks at Voor Uitgang.
Sunday April 26, 2015
We took the train down to Maastricht today. It was about
an hour train ride versus the 1.5 hour car ride we would have had with traffic.
We realized in transit that this was Brooklyn’s first train ride!
Maastricht train station
We all were hungry by the time we arrived, so we head
straight to a restaurant on the Markt square surrounding the stadhuis (City
Hall) called Café de Zwaan.
Jason and Harper at lunch
Emily and Harper at lunch
A good scotch ale
Kasteel Tripel
Maastricht Stadhuis (City Hall)
Vrijthof
Sint Janskerk next to Basilica of Saint Servatius
Sint Janskerk
Sculpture behind Sint Janskerk
Brooklyn and Jackie in Vrijthof by Sint Janskerk
Emily, Brooklyn and Jackie in Vrijthof by Sint Janskerk
Jason, Emily, Brooklyn and Jackie
Jason, Emily, Brooklyn and Jackie
Chatting away in Vrijthof
Jason making Brooklyn laugh
Brooklyn was very interested in feeling Jason’s beard
Brooklyn checking out the art sculpture in Vrijthof
We stopped in De Bisschopsmolen just before closing for
some pies.
We walked toward the old city walls.
There was a band playing music near the old walls.
Old city wall fortifications
Begijnen convent
Helpoort
Joe, Jackie and Brooklyn napping in the stroller in
Maastricht along the Maas River by Sint Servaasbrug
Joe making silly faces
Emily and Jason kissing Harper on Maas River
Jason and Harper walking along Maas River
Maastricht, a city on the Maas River
Joe and Brooklyn strolling along the Maas River by Sint
Servaasbrug
Family photo by Sint Servaasbrug in Maastricht
Emily, Harper and Jason walking over the Sint Servaasbrug
Harper and Jason getting more walking time on the Sint
Servaasbrug before getting back on the train
Maastricht on the Maas River
Pretty old brickwork on the buildings in Maastricht
Harper riding the train home from Maastrict to Eindhoven
Brooklyn loves mum mums a lot, but she’s a little lazy
when it comes to holding & feeding herself
And Brooklyn fell asleep with the mum mum still in her
mouth
Monday April 27, 2015
29 weeks old & ready for
koningsdag (Kings Day) #eindhovenisking #prinsesje
We started out the early morning
looking for bargains at the flea market along PSV-laan. It was a whole lot of
junk, but Jason did come away with something. An orange baseball trucker hat
that happened to be bedazzled. We unfortunately did not get a photo of him in
it before he removed the bedazzle jems.
After naps, we then headed out to
Wilhelminaplein. We ate from some food trucks there.
It was here that the Americans saw
their first pea pot. Guys have it easy around the Netherlands. There are
urinals all over the place, especially during drinking events like koningsdag.
Note the hose running straight into the stormwater drain. The permanent ones
around Amsterdam drain straight into the canals. Trust me, you do not want to
fall in there!
Jason had an interesting
interaction with a group of young guys with the same hat as him that had him help
tie a tie. I guess he just has that look.
Beers in de markt
We next walked down to
Catharinakerk
It was around noon and
Stratumseind was pretty dead still.
Emily and Jason at pre-crazy
koningsdag on Stratumseind aka beer row
Happy Brooklyn on koningsdag as we
walked through Dommelplantsoen
Daddy and Brooklyn on koningsdag
in Dommelplantsoen
Brooklyn fell asleep as we walked
through more flea markets in Stadswandelpark
Jackie found a Nintje bath book
for Brooklyn at the flea market in Stadswandelpark.
We got some more beers and ate
some fried fish.
Harper playing in Stadswandelpark
Harper, Jason and Emily walking in
Stadswandelpark
Harper and Jason walking in
Stadswandelpark
Dad and baby girl on koningsdag in
Stadswandelpark
We head back into the center for
more drinks.
Emily, Jason, Harper, Joe &
Brooklyn before we attempted to go up Stratumseind again
Emily, Jason, Harper, & Jackie
before we attempted to go up Stratumseind again
Stratumseind selfie before we
attempted to go through that crowd to head north
We got a whole lot of oh my gosh a
baby! Drunk people trying to touch the babies in the backpacks on their dad’s
back.
This photo is a good example of
our experience in this young party area with our little ones on our backs.
There was a lot of pointing and laughing.
Stratumseind koningsdag craziness
We got a few more beers and
another rose beer for Emily
There is no way we would be able
to do that in the US.
The post-Stratumseind reaction:
relieved to be out of that drunk crowd
The typical “asian” photo stance
We went to get something to eat at
Vapiano, an Italian pizza and pasta place with a huge rooftop terrace.
Emily got some frites (French
fries) with mayonnaise (typical Dutch dipping sauce instead of ketchup) from
‘dik & lang’
Happy Brooklyn ready for some dinner
on koningsdag
