Day 5, Jan. 31st Off to Amsterdam!

Wow, oh wow, what a great adventure! I'm getting excited just looking back at all these photo's of our day trip into Amsterdam. I don't want to leave anything out so BEWARE lot's of pics ahead. Arriving at the train station in Leiden early morning light.

Look's like we are going to have some fun today.

Whoa, it's been a long time since I straddled a bike. How about a lift Stuart? And as he would say, "She has her best side forward"!

Got bike stand?

Notice the double decker bike parking in the foreground. There are more bikes in this terrace than in the state of Utah! I think there are trillions of them, don't you? Really!

We stopped at a traditional dutch cafe' and started our mid morning off with dutch apple pie and hot cocoa with slagroom! The sign above our heads translates to:

"A day without laughing, is a day not living".

So true, isn't it. And we sure did a lot of it when these gals were around.

See I told you they sure know how to smother things with cream!

Both Stuart and I are craving a piece of this again. I'll provide the slagroom if they would just ship me a piece of pie. Make that two!

All the houses lined up in a row have a huge hook hanging from the top. See it here in the photo? That is for moving things in and out of the houses because the stairways are so narrow and steep.
Also the houses here are dated with the year they were built. This one says 1688, but we did notice new ones dating in the 1900's.

Arriving at the quilt shop de Haan and Wagenmakers. The first one on the trip.

Even Stuart looks happy about going inside. Let's go.

This shop was beautiful and amazing. They specialize in antique reproduction dutch fabrics.
Here we all are trying to pick out some for me to bring home. Oh, how will I decide. The fabric in the shop is quite expensive but I did manage to squeeze two yards and a fat quarter bundle plus a book out of Stuart's wallet. I snuck that past him without him blinking! He loves me.
I don't know who like the quilts better, Stuart or I. He was doing the photography work. And he got some beautiful shots of their work.

The above quilt is a sampler done with traditional dutch fabrics depicting scenes in Amsterdam. The flying geese quilt below is all hand pieced together. I estimated that each block finishes at 1 3/4". Truly a work of art.
Both Josiphine and Elsbeth were very helpful while making my decisions. Some of you will recognize the name Petra Prins, she is the owner of this shop.
And right next door, low and behold another quilt shop. That's something you won't see in the states. That's what we call competition. This little shop is called Birdblocks and carries everything we see here in our shops. Very fun and brightly colored. Stuart was enthralled with all of her antique sewing machines and notions.
And I myself liked her bike. It was the cutest shiny red with a bit of Kaffe fabrics adorning it along with advertising printed on the frame.
The girl's called this "The Step" or wool shop. Lot's and lot's of needle work yarn. Can't wait to show you what I picked up here. I'm not the one knitting it though. Thanks Diana for doing that by the way!
These funny girl's are trying to figure out if there is anything on the menu that these crazy Americans will eat.
I think they succeeded. We will be eating Bitterballens at the Spanjer & Van Twist. Another awesome meal. Especially when it's deep fried! The balls are a meat gravy concoction with a coating of bread crumbs. Smash and spread on the baguette. It may not look like much but they were delish and filling.
Next on the schedule. The Anne Frank house. This is something that will stay etched in my mind for a very long time. You aren't allowed to take pictures inside, just seeing the images there instills just how great of a tragedy they went through.

Back home we have Molly Mormon vans, here they have bikes! Two kids in the front of the handle bars, one behind the bars, and one on the back. Plus two bags of groceries! As the window reads, if this bike dosen't get you, PMS will.

This is the monument built at the end of World War II after the liberation and is noted one of the most important in Amsterdam.

We took a boat ride through the canals.

Look no coats! Ahh, and no wind.

A highlight of our tour, really a Museum of Bags & Purses. Wow, wonder who's bags are in there? A ladies day destination, some day!

In honor of the Queen on her birthday, which was this day. They fly the flag with a orange sash. In the Netherlands it is known as the House of Orange.

To end this special day we made the go 'rounds of hot chocolate with a mound of slagroom and a cookie. Now back to the train station and home to Katwijk.

Yvonne had already prepared tonights supper of a traditional dutch meal of sauerkraut, mashed potatoes and German sausage with mustard.

I thought Stuart had died and gone to heaven. Yvonne spoiled him rotten with this one. He was still licking his lips after we got home, he's drooling now again as I tell about it. He commented this was his favorite meal the whole trip.
And for dessert, like we need it! Something we call pudding here in America. There it is called Vanille vla. Can you send me this too!

My feet are killing me, time for sleep!

And besides that, I'm tired here in America. Way past my bedtime, it's 10:15 p.m.!