I (this is Danielle writing…) finally arrived to Amsterdam on Sunday morning to greet Jason, John, and Joe. I changed and we headed out into the town. The first thing we did was try to get some herring, Joe‘s favorite Nederland treat, but they were closed. We walked around for a little while and then headed off to the soccer match. Ajax vs. some team in green…sorry I cannot remember their name. (I might have been sleeping though some of it). Ajax dominated most of the time and I woke up startled after someone threw a stick of dynamite on the field. That will teach me to sleep during a game. Sorry, but I had only slept about 3 or 4 hours in 48 hours and was beyond exhausted!!! Anyway, there was a section across the stadium that was extremely rowdy. Imagine that at a soccer match…? They were lighting smoke bombs, chanting, and of course, fighting. Security pretty much had them surrounded. At least it was entertaining to watch. Ajax ended up winning 2-0.
After the game we headed back towards the hotel, grabbed a beer, and then hit the pavement again. Being there for such a short time really makes you want to run a hundred miles and hour through the city so you can see everything, but my body finally gave in and I was asleep by 10pm. Monday morning we went to Anne Frank’s house, did some souvenir shopping, and headed to Purmerend via the bus to spend the next two nights with cousins Evert and Bea. We can’t thank them enough for putting the four of us up at their place. They even let us use the car the next day to drive around and do more sightseeing. They guys took me to a few places they had already been, but thought I might like - Zaanse Schans which is an open-air museum with windmills and a wooden shoe factory and also Westzaan, the town that Joe and his parents lived in before moving to the States. I really enjoyed seeing it.
It is spring in the Nederlands and the flowers are blooming! We went to Keukenhof, a huge flower garden. It was amazing to see all of the colors and different types of flowers. The smells were incredible. Our last stop was Volendam, an old fishing village. Joe wanted us to take a photo in old traditional Dutch clothing. It was pretty hilarious to dress up! Wednesday Jason and I said goodbye and jumped on a train to the airport to head to Berlin. The Nederlands was so enjoyable. I hope we can go back there sometime. We are also looking forward to the next time family can come out and visit us in the States. On to our next adventure…
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