The Colosseum...

While we enjoyed seeing the outside of the Colosseum at all different times of the day, we only saw the inside once during a tour (we're not big tour fans, but this one was worth the price because we got to skip the long lines). It truly is spectacular and an engineering marvel. Amazingly, it took 20,000 slaves just 8 years to build this stadium for over 50,000 spectators. In an effort to appease the public who were upset over high taxes, the Emperor offered free fights of gladiators (surprisingly, both men and women) and wild animals (lions, hippos, elephants and zebras). The ground was covered in sand to help soak up the blood. The two floors below ground housed the slaves and animals. The stadium was greatly damaged by quakes in the 400's after the gladiator combats were banned. While today the ruins are mostly exposed brick, originally everything was covered in marble. Much of the marble was recycled by the Popes and can be seen in St. Peter's Basilica.

A Dream Comes True...

When we started talking about the idea of moving to Europe, we asked the girls where they'd like to visit. Ashlynn said Iceland because she'd seen some thermal pools on TV that looked really cool. Veronica didn't even hesitate to say she wanted to go to Rome to see the Colosseum since she loves digging in the dirt and dreams of being an archaeologist. While we hope to go to both places eventually, we figured it would be in a few years. Lucky us that Jimmy was sent on a business trip to Lisbon then Naples routed thru Rome that just happened to fall during a week holiday from school. With just 12 days to plan, we were able to put together 4 nights in Rome and 3 nights in Naples. We also managed to see the Colosseum 4 times, which really made Veronica's dreams come true.

Starting the Dutch Treat Family H3...

Since the Hague Hash runs on school nights during the summer, we decided to try our luck with starting a family hash to run monthly on Sunday mornings. We hared the inaugural run on Queen's Day and were very pleased with the turnout. We did a mimosa stop at a playground overlooking a field complete with a windmill and some wild hares hopping around. The girls were so excited to be running with their friends and getting to help find trail that they actually ran most of the 3 miles. The On-In included a Southern breakfast and canoe rides. Turns out that there's a family of hashers in Veronica's class, so they hared the 2nd run with a drink stop at the beach. Here's hoping you can come run with us sometime.

Fun with the Hague H3...

It didn't take us long after we arrived in the country to hook up with the Hague Hash House Harriers. The girls have been the only hash horrors along and the hares have been very considerate. One even suggested a way around The Hague's Red Light District, but they just picked up their speed (frankly, we didn't know that Den Haag had one Red Light District, let alone two, and were shocked how many guys were strolling through on a Sunday at 3pm since it isn't in a tourist area). We've ridden our bikes to several runs and gotten accused of child abuse for making Veronica ride so far and then run; someday when she's doing Ironmans she'll thank us. This photo was taken when we hosted a On-In for Queen's Day.

Land of Bikes...

This photo is of just one aisle in the 3-story bike garage at Amsterdam Centraal Station. There's 16 million people in Holland and rumor has it that there's 16 million bikes with 90% of households owning at least 1 bike (somehow we already have 9). The bike paths are truly wonderful and cover much of our area. Jimmy rides 9.5 miles each way to work almost entirely on lit paths. Amazingly, the bike paths are salted during winter storms before the roads. On our ride into Leiden Centrum we even pass through a traffic roundabout just for bikes. We rarely rode bikes in Cary, so we're really proud at how quickly Veronica has adapted to riding here. Now we just need to stop being lazy and get Ashlynn off those training wheels. My personal goal is to eventually get fast enough that no old ladies can pass me--it'll finally be my turn to use a bell.

An American History Lesson...

Granted I don't remember much from school (or from this morning for that matter), but I don't recall ever hearing of the city of Leiden before visiting here 2 years ago. It turns out the Pilgrims lived here for 11 years after escaping religious persecution in England. Haven't been to the Pilgrim Museum yet, but there's several plaques dedicated to the leader of the Pilgrims at the Pieterskerk (a church built in the 1300's). The Pilgrims originally attempted to sail to the New World from near Rotterdam. Their ship wasn't sea worthy, so they returned to England and sailed on that famous ship from Plymouth instead (but you already know that story). Poor John Robinson was in poor health and unable to make the trip; he finished up his years here in Leiden and was buried in the church. Now for a pop culture quiz: Can you name the TV show that featured a John Robinson as a futuristic pilgrim?

Grocery Shopping is a Fun Adventure...

It's just a quick 10-minute bike ride to Leiden Centrum where there's a farmers market twice a week, which we just love. We've never seen such a huge variety of cheese, bread, flowers, fish and veggies as well as bike supplies, clothing and household goods. Jimmy can never pass up the booth selling Mediterranean nuts and foods, and I'm addicted to Old Amsterdam cheese. The grocery stores here are good, but small, so we're glad that there's lots of speciality shops to offer what they're lacking. Many of the small shops we go to specialize in just one food category such as cheese, chicken, fish or spices. There's also a lot of international shops such as Turkish, Indonesian, Asian and Italian. Every few months I tag along with a friend in her car to the Foreigner's Market (which is like an overpriced Costco) to stock up on staples (it's hard to erase all those habits as a US-consumer and besides it really helps save extra trips to the store on my bike).