Next stop - Rotterdam

We once again walked the couple of blocks from our hotel in Amsterdam to the Centraal Station and boarded a train.  This time, we had about a 40 minute trip over to Rotterdam.  The city was essentially used as an example by Hitler during the war, and he leveled it...so it looks completely different than any of the other towns we'd seen - modern!  Starting immediately with the super fancy Centraal Station train station!

Here we were meeting up with some of our closest friends who live in England!  We were so excited to spend a few days together!  M hadn't met baby A (baby....she's 3.5yo!) and hadn't seen D in several years.  It was a great reunion! 

I couldn't get enough of this one!  You may remember her from a few of my Maine visits to see them when they come over to the states for a few weeks each year.  

First, after visiting the "ravey baby," this massive glowing baby doll, we went to the Rotterdam Market Hall. 

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We wandered all around, checking out the different vendors and stands - 100 fresh food stands, 15 food shops and 8 restaurants in total.  The ceiling was incredible - so many graphics of various foods.  The windows are actual apartment windows!  

We selected the Spanish tapas place, Pinchos, to grab a bite to eat before we headed out on our Rick Steves' guided walking tour!

We spotted the cubes, and just had to go see what they were up close!

These homes were designed and built by architect Piet Blom in the 1970s.  They sit tilted on a hexagonal pole.   

After exploring all around them, we decided to pay the fee and go into the cube museum!  Once you enter and go up the narrow staircase, the lower level is the kitchen and living area, middle is the sleeping rooms, and the top floor is a sunroom of sorts. They're each a total of 100 square meters, but because of their tilt, only about 1/4 of the space is usable.  

Once we had our fill of the cube museum, we continued on our trek around town.  It was quite chilly this day, but luckily sunny!  

We ducked in a coffee shop for a cake and coffee, and to warm up a bit!

After exploring the city for a bit, we decided it was time for dinner.  We boarded a tram and headed across the river to the Hotel New York.  It's the original Holland America Cruise Lines headquarters.  We hung out in the bustling bar area and snacked on several appetizers for dinner - delicious!  It was especially cool for me to go to the original HAL headquarters as a friend of mine is their president!  They had all kinds of old ship models and posters around - neat spot.

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The next day we were up and at it early to go check out the tulip fields - those deserve their own post, coming soon...

Our last day with our friends, we decided to show them a true Dutch town, so we piled into the car and headed off to Delft.  

Town square with City Hall in the background

Delft is know for it's historic canals and Delft blue pottery.  There are loads of stores that are just FULL of both authentic and replica pottery pieces.  

The leaning Olde Kerk

This is going to be wildly hard to believe, but we followed a Rick Steves' tour around the small town.

  

We stopped in this cute little cafe for lunch, as it was quite chilly outside!

I had a delicious and hearty beef stew, and of course we had to try their apple pie!

A little photo shoot after lunch!

The boys entertained the little one in the square while the girls did some pottery shopping.

And then we headed back to Rotterdam.  Our friends had decided they needed to stay one more night, and were able to rent a cube through Airbnb!  So we moved them into their space for the night!  We walked back to the food mart and picked up some snacks and drinks for a little happy hour in the solarium before we headed off to the airport.  One more selfie stick group photo, lots of hugs and a few tears, and we said goodbye. 

Thanks for an awesome few days, Rotterdamn, we were off to Vienna!

Quaint little Dutch towns

During the 4 days we were home based in Amsterdam, we ventured out to a few quaint little towns around the area.  We mostly took the trains to get to them...with one exception I'll get to later.  

The first morning was the Alkmaar cheese market, so we took the 15 minute train from Amsterdam Centraal Station down to Alkmaar.  Despite the rain, the crowds were thick.  

The cheese carriers guide was established in 1593, and contains 30 men and a cheese father.  There are 4 groups within the guild, and they are recognized by a different color, which you can see in their hats and bowties.  At the market, the cheeses are weighed, sorted, sold and packed into trucks to take to stores and restaurants.  

Suckers are heavy! 

After watching the market for a bit, we went into the small but well done cheese museum, with a great view looking back at the square. 

We stopped at one of the market vendors for a small collection of the different cheeses - perfect sample! 

We explored the little town for a bit, grabbed a grilled cheese sandwich, and enjoyed the scenery.  

The church was really cool...

And the inside was so different and beautiful.

We then were heading to Den Bosch next...however apparently some guy threw himself on the train tracks, causing a bit of a challenging travel adventure.  We made it most of the way on the train, but then had to get off and cram onto coaches to go the rest of the way.  What a mess!  But...once in Den Bosch, it was another beautiful and quaint little town.  

We walked around town before our scheduled time to go to the art exhibit.  We discovered a beautiful little store, Robbies, and enjoyed exploring the little town.  We had tickets to go to the Jheroniumus Bosch exhibit that afternoon.  To celebrate the 500th anniversary of his death, they were hosting a number of different events.  This included bringing together a collection of his artwork from museums around the country back to Den Bosch, his birthplace.  

I tried to see if we could get this guy home for our back yard...

The city was just bustling, and people we talked to said it had been that way since the exhibit opened.  We walked around a bit more and decided on the restaurant Lokaal 1650, sitting outside on their lovely patio.  

After our afternoon in Den Bosch, luckily the trip back to Amsterdam was a much smoother one. 

Haarlem was the next town we ventured off too, and it was my favorite of the bunch.  While small and quaint, it was a bit more bustling.  

Some more rain that morning, but that didn't deter the market from setting up along the town streets. 

So many tulips!  You could buy 50 stalks for only 5 or 6 euros!

It must have been fair season, as every town we went to, including Amsterdam, had quite the little fair set up in the middle of the town square.

We poked our heads into the church, and again it was beautiful and very different than the others.  

Over the centuries, the stained glass windows were neglected, and few originals remain.  However, they have brought in windows from other demolished or defunct churches, so today it has quite a collection of different ones.  

The organ steals the show in this church.  It sits 30 meters off the floor and has over 5000 pipes.  It has more than 25 larger than life statues.  

They have free concerts twice a week, and one was happening the day we were there.  It was still 2 hours before the show and people were already claiming their seats.  Once the concert started, you weren't allowed to leave until it was over...so we decided to save that for the next trip, and just admire the organ while we were there.  

Back outside we wandered around the exterior more, and then off to explore the town a bit.  We did a bit of shopping... and Haarlam is where we acquired the large copper tray that I had to have...which then meant we'd have to carry it the rest of the trip! 

Then we went to another church, but this one was a bit different... it was a brewery in the old church.  

Haarlem has been one of the best beer cities in the Netherlands, starting from the early middle ages!  According to the Jopen website, "Jopen’s history goes back to 1407, when the recipe for Jopen Adriaan was first registered by the Haarlem Guild of Brewers."  The brand really got going in 1994, when they started making their traditional beers, some that they still make today.  While looking for a place to house the brewery, they discovered this church.  They converted the church in 2010, and Jopen moved in.  

They wanted people to be able to see where the brewing process took place while enjoying a beer or food.  We were enjoying the spot so much, we stayed and had lunch and sampled a few of their beers!

After a great day in Haarlam, we headed back to Amsterdam.  If you get to the Netherlands, be sure to get out and explore some of the beautiful little towns around the country!