Friday, May 1, 2015

Wrights in Netherlands: Part II of II

April 25-May 1, 2015

Tuesday April 28, 2015
While Joe went back to work, we drove just over an hour away to Kinderdijk, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is a unique polder area of dykes, windmills and pumping stations that reclaim and protect the land. Kinderdijk is the only place in the world with so many windmills so close together in an authentic polder landscape. The 17 windmill area is below sealevel and surrounded by rivers and canals.
The path along Kinderdijk
Jason and Emily at Kinderdijk

Windmills 



Windmill at Kinderdijk 

Windmill and boat

Kinderdijk wooden shoes
We went into the Museummolen Nederwaard, a windmill museum that cost 7 euros to learn how the mill works and how a large family lived inside its tight quarters.
The apparatus (Capstan wheel, tail pole, and long and short braces) used to turn the windmill
The kitchen at the base of the windmill

Working wooden shoes in the windmill
A bed in the windmill 
Tight stair/ladder inside the windmill 
Windmill from inside a windmill


Jason and Harper inside the windmill
How the windmill works
The turning wheel at the base of the windmill
The turning wheel at the top of the windmill 
Windmill blade 
Selfie of Emily, Jackie, Brooklyn, Harper and Jason at Kinderdijk
Yellow wildflowers and windmills

Jason and Emily at Kinderdijk
Row of windmills at Kinderdijk 


Windmills along a canal 

Windmill 
Boat floating down the canal by the windmills 
Museum Blokweer windmill
Quintessential Dutch: Jason and Emily in wooden shoes outside a windmill 
Row of wooden shoes
Bed in the windmill 
Snuggling with our Dutch baby
Recreation of a photo we took of Jackie when she was about 5 months pregnant with Brooklyn
Next we drove to Delft with some baby meltdowns in the car. There we ate lunch in the main square.  Mmm proffertjes which are like little mini pancakes.
While Jackie nursed Brooklyn, Jason and Emily did a little shopping on the main square. Sorry no photos. Baby girl was not a cooperative girl during this period of the day.
The Old Church in Delft is leaning.
Nice old building in Delft 

Somehow in the walk back to the car Jackie lost the parking garage ticket from her jeans pocket. She had to call the booth and pay the full day max of 14 euros. Ugh stupid mistakes like that are the worst. 
We drove home and got in around 7pm. The kiddos were promptly put to bed before we ate dinner.

Wednesday April 29, 2015
We took the train up to Amsterdam for the day. We first from Amsterdam Centraal train station walked through the Red Light District and by the Oude Kerk (Old Church) which is surrounded by red light prostitute storefronts.
Amsterdam Red Light District - Notice the red light by Jason's head.
Next we walked through Dam Square which was crazy with a ferris wheel, swings, fair rides and food stalls.
We had lunch at Broodje Bert. After lunch we got both of the girls to sleep in their strollers.
Selfie of Jason, Emily and Jackie
Emily took a peek inside the Begijnhof, a medieval courtyard once home to Catholic nuns.
Emily went shopping for a souvenir at the Royal Delft Experience.
Bloemenmarkt (Flower Market)
Next we walked along Golden Bend (Gouden Bocht) along Herengracht between Leidsestraat and Vijzelstraat, which was once the prestigious place to live in Amsterdam.
At at Herengracht & Reguliersgracht you can apparently view 15 bridges.
Amsterdam canal houses 

Canal boat
Bike locked to bridge on canal
Large canal tour boat
Canal boat after canal boat
Jason and Emily along Amsterdam canal
Emily, Harper and Jason along Amstel canal
Magere Brug 


Harper, Emily and Jason crossing the Magere Brug

Love lock on the Magere Brug
Tulips on Amsterdam canal 
Heineken Brouwerij (brewery) 
Rijksmuseum

Beautiful floating tulip planters in Museumplein
I am sterdam sign in Museumplein 

Amsterdam bicycle and canal
The Waag in Nieuwmarkt, a 15th century building that was originally a city gate and part of the Amsterdam walls.
Amsterdam canal houses 


We took the train back to Eindhoven around 4pm. We met Joe at Bali, an Indonesian restaurant. We got a rice table for four people. Harper quickly made friends with the waiter and got additional crackers through the night.
While the kids were in bed, Jason and Joe went out for the night looking for trouble. They had some interesting chats with the locals and a few beers at our favorite neighborhood bar, ‘t Vonderke. 

Thursday April 30, 2015
Today we took a trip to Brussels, Belgium. The main reason: Cantillon. They are known for their sour beers, Emily’s favorite. A bottle goes for at least $25 in the States (that’s 4x the amount at the brewery).
We finally found parking in between the brewery and the center of Brussels. We were all very hungry so we head straight to the Grand Place Grote Markt.
Grand Place Grote Markt




Happy Brooklyn in Grand Place Grote Markt 

We ordered some beers and lots of mussels for lunch.
Jason got a beer flight of tasters
Can’t get a much better venue on a sunny day
Mussels 


Harper enjoyed the mussels 
Both girls were not in the best state when we reached Delirium Café. 

Jason and Emily outside Delirium Café
We decided not to go in and head straight to Cantillon. 
Emily is one happy girl at Cantillon!

We toured Cantillon
Now that’s a lot of beer bottles!



Barreled beers
As Emily says, “Starting her education early!” 

Harper, Jason and Emily at Cantillon in Brussels
Baby in yet another brewery 
It was a long drive home. The GPS detoured us through Antwerp. What should have been a 2 hour trip turned into 3+. Brooklyn woke up 30 minutes from home and screamed bloody murder pretty much the entire way. The girl really hates riding in her carseat. When she wants out, she definitely lets you know.

Friday May 1, 2015
Today’s mission was to find tulip fields in Holland. We first went to Haarlem for lunch at Jopen Brewery that we had visited a few weeks ago.
Jason decided to take Emily’s place in the backseat squeezed between the 2 carseats. No clue how he fit. 
Jason’s beer tasting at Jopen Brewery in Haarlem 
Cute girls in Jopen Brewery
We took a short walk to see a bit of Haarlem. Jackie took a break to nurse Brooklyn on a park bench before heading back to the car. Can’t beat this canal view while nursing
Haarlem



Emily and Jason in Haarlem
Tulip fields 


Red tulips 
Field of daffodils 
Jackie and Emily selfie at tulip fields near Keukenhof 
We saw a guy with a drone while we were there. This video could have been some of the footage he was taking: 

We had an early night to pack and get ready for our early flight out of Amsterdam to Zurich. Unfortunately we checked the train schedule far too late. The earliest we could arrive at Schiphol was 8:30 for a 9:40 flight. 

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