Hanging at Schiphol...

It's an easy commute from our house on the train to Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. Schiphol means "ship hole." Its original name was Schiphel meaning "ship hell," because many ships mysteriously got lost in the lake that existed until 1850 under its reclaimed land. Unfortunately, we haven't found those great flight tracker websites here like in the US, so we've spent many hours there this summer waiting for late flights. Luckily, there's a nice shopping center before security. There's also a giant observation deck that's smart enough to have a bar, but strangely no view of take-offs or landings. In this photo, we're meeting my father for his recent visit. The hamster is the mascot of the largest grocery store chain in Holland; personally I think anything close to a rodent doesn't make a good mascot, but it made for cute masks and a good laugh.