Loving Smoke Free Holland ...

Starting yesterday, Holland finally went smoke free as one of the last EU countries to ban smoking indoors. Not only will we welcome this change inside restaurants and bars, but inside shopping malls as well. This will especially make a nice change at the small indoor winkelcentrum near school where folks smoke while walking around, sitting on benches in the middle and in the open cafe in the center. Apparently the infamous coffeeshops are able to work around the ban since it only applies to tobacco, although there are areas of Amsterdam that banned funny little cigarettes a few years back (the above signs were being stolen regularly, so now you can buy your own.)

Moving - Phase 1

The beginning of our move from Leiden to Leidschendam has begun this morning as the movers arrived to take about 1/3 of our furniture and the boxes I’ve been busy packing over the last 6 weeks. Seeing our belongings stacked up is a stark reminder that we have entirely too much stuff. This is definitely a lot different experience than our overseas move when we weren’t allowed to box our own things so we couldn’t smuggle anything and all our furniture was wrapped in bubblewrap to protect it in case the container took on water. We thought about trying to move ourselves, but with the crazy stairs in this house it just isn’t worth it. So we’ve hired a guy with a truck that does a lot of moving and handyman work for the local expat community. He’ll come back on the 12th, the day after school finishes, to move the rest. We’ll definitely make the most of these final two weeks on the river.

Hup Holland Hup!

While I used to follow the Raiders and San Diego State Aztecs while in college, I haven’t watched football in years. Of course, European football is what we Americans call soccer. Frankly, the Dutch are just mad about football, especially when the national team is competing (11 million of the 17 million population watched the last game). It was impossible not to catch Orange Fever as flags and orange banners were flying all over town after the Netherlands beat Italy for the first time in 30 years. The girls caught the fever and they made signs for all of their stuffed animals when we watched the Netherlands crush France. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed watching. Unlike American football, this was fast paced for 90-minutes of play and commercial free, except for the 15-minute halftime. The Netherlands made it as far as the quarter-finals, but sadly got outplayed by Russia during double-overtime. Now we have to wait two years for World Cup.

Sharing Our Lives with Great Friends...

We always enjoy going into Leiden, but it’s even more enjoyable sharing it with great friends. We did the usual loop around town showing them the market, Burcht (a man-made hill with a circular fort on top for flood safety), gothic cathedral and lots of canals. Of course, Jimmy and Michael had to visit the beer store and the fish stalls to get provisions for our paella dinner that evening. The day before, I took the gang into Amsterdam for the usual whirlwind tour while the girls were busy at Sports Day at school. On their final day, it was raining and we just relaxed. It’s so great knowing that distance hasn’t changed our friendship and that we can have fun together wherever we are.

A Unique Windmill Tour...

On our way into Leiden Centrum (some by canoe and some by bike), we noticed that the lumber windmill was finally turning after a 2-year renovation. This windmill, built in 1804 from a kit, is run by volunteers who enjoy using old-fashioned technology to cut wood. These same techniques are what made the Dutch famous as shipbuilders back in the 1600’s. When we went inside, the saws were popping up and down by wind power but nothing was being cut. Instead, we watched as giant trees were moved by a combination of wind and winches. Then we were given a fantastic tour of the different levels by Arthur, who’s been working there for 35 years. The kids especially enjoyed getting to stop and start the blades.

A Great Day in Den Haag....

A visit to Holland isn’t complete without seeing some Dutch Masters of the Golden Age of the 1600’s, so we started our day with a visit to my favorite art museum, the Mauritshuis. The kids were very impressed with the new children’s audio guide that described the masterpieces coming to life after dark. This photo was taken next door in the courtyard of the parliament building.
Next up was Madurodam, which is a miniatures park that depicts many of Holland’s best sites. We finished up the evening at Scheveningen Beach with the kids playing in the sand while the parents hung out at a restaurant.

Happy Kids!

When Veronica introduced me to her best friend Rachel while in kindergarten back in 2002, I had no way of knowing that 6 years later they’d still be best friends or that Rachel’s mom would be one of my closest friends and her little brother would be one of Ashlynn’s best buds. We were all thrilled that the whole family was able to join us for 5 nights after they spent over a week with their grandparents discovering their Hungarian roots. It was Rachel and Ben’s first visit to Europe and they had a great time. Our girls made a major sacrifice by skipping a day of school to help show them around.