water & windmills
cheese
flowers
canals
bikes
and flat flat country.
Holland was pretty peaceful, pretty expensive, not very child-friendly, and with service people who were not particularly helpful. The air smells alternatively of weed or flowers. I loved Amsterdam and tolerated Rotterdam (where my conference was and we ended up staying for a week). The Dutch people are very tall, quite lean, ride their bikes everywhere, and seem to subsist on french fries with mayonnaise and other greasy food.
Traveling with kids is always an adventure. Seth is in that climbing, cruising, crawling phase and does not want to be still or held. So, that was a little challenging. Seth also won't stay in a highchair for very long without a pretty secure lap belt that goes around both legs. We were lucky to ever find a high chair, and if we did, it didn't have a belt at all. So, we ended up eating from the grocery store for many meals. I thought I would never say this - but yes, I did get sick of bread and cheese, even my beloved Gouda.
Kids and public transit is always a challenge. Andrew loves riding trains and Seth likes to look out of the window, too. But having to take a metro or a long long walk to the train and then often to other trams or buses and repeating every day wore the kids out. It wore us out, too.
Plus, public transit is VERY frustrating in Holland. More of that to come. And no one takes American credit cards. Sigh.
We enjoyed our trip to the Netherlands, even with its extension, but I think I've had my fill for a long time, especially of Rotterdam. Enough of that city for a lifetime.
1 comment:
You forgot to add cigarettes to the diet. I'm sure that helps with the leanness.
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