So I have finished my errands for today and now I am working on Part 2. After our BBQ at Udo's house, we were on our way to my cousin Regina who lives in Muehlheim am Ruhr. Her husband was away on a trip and so it was just us 4 girls. So we went on an adventure to the Gas-O-Meter! And what might that be? I'll show you!
Mühlhausen, Rheinland Westfalen
I don't know if you can tell how big this thing was until you see it in person...really. It is 100 meters high and there is an old elevator and a set of stairs that are on the left side. Each stair set goes round and round till you get to the top. There must be 100's and 100's of steps. Jamie isn't fond of elevators and so chose to climb a million stairs. (and back to the bottom, as well) I opted out of that one and Regina, Brecklyn and I took the elevator. It was quite a slow ride to the top. I got there and then got a little uneasy as I was at the top. Heights are not my favorite thing. And I didn't stay up there too long. But here are some pics from the top of our world!
So now you have the full view. It was another cloudy day and a bit chilly at the top. So then we went down and went inside the Gas-O-meter. And pray tell what is in here? It used to be filled with some kind of "Gas". What kind, I don't know exactly. But now there are art displays, paintings and such in the entire insides. Different shows come at various times. There is also a show that shows the earth and how it changes from night to day and in the seasons. You sit in the seats and there are bean bag type things so that you can lay back and look at the earth. It was pretty cool! I took pictures of that, but at the moment I can't seem to spot them!
So we went to a little cafe, all of which are outside in Germany, by the way. I love that! And you can see the other side of the Gas-O-meter.
So this is what we ordered. Ice cream in Germany is amazing! And it's served with a cookie wafer.
We went to the largest mall I recall ever being at. It was huge. I got tired just from walking around!
A Steiff buffalo!
That night, Regina prepared Rouladen, which is my favorite thing to eat! Red cabbage and Kloese. It was so good.
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Then we went on a "little" excursion! It was so fun. We went to Amsterdam! Did we like it? No, not at all. WE LOVED IT!
We had purchased tickets online for a "Hop-on, Hop-off" canal ride boat. This boat went to all the great spots we wanted to see. It was reasonably priced and we could just leave our rental car to rest in the parking stall all day long. Here are some pics of the city!
This boat driver looked to be about 8-9 years old or so. All by himself, cruising the canals!
A bit of home?
The line to wait to the Anne Frank House. It was a mile long, but we had online tickets! Thanks Susan Anneveldt for the advice! In high school I was in the Play about Anne Frank. I was Mrs. Frank, the mom. It was such a remembered part for me. I loved the play, the history and the emotions, so I had to come here. Brecklyn loved it. It was a kind of introduction to another place we will be going to, Dachau.
Anne Frank's Annex hideaway.
Lots of products can be purchases all over Amsterdam! Take a close look!
Birkenstocks!
On the Hop on-Hop off!
Time to nap.
Not Birkenstocks but similar!
Rijks Museum, where we had an unusual lunch.
Someone's lunch. Not sure what it was, but I could see our order waiting to be picked up at the counter for at least 10 minutes. Finally we asked where our lunch was, because the people next to us were already eating and they came way after we ordered. She didn't get a tip. Sorry.
There are so many bikes in this city that even the stairs have a "BIKE LANE".
There were lots of party boats cruising the canals.
The I AM STERDAM sign was very active today. I have pics of Jay and Brecklyn in the letters, but we must have them on Jamie's cell phone. I don't seem to have them.
We saw a 4 story bike parking lot. It went for miles!!!
Another party boat!
Zaandam
So after a hectic, fun and adventurous day at Amsterdam, we eventually headed back to the car. And we piled in and left for Zaandam where we were spending the night. Outside there was a full street of shops and Regina and I explored them in the morning while Jamie and Brecklyn were still asleep.
Our cute hotel!
And then on to Zaanse Schans
This is a wonderful interactive place to go in the Netherlands. It was just a ways north and we spent the night here and the next day. Kids enjoy it. You can see them make wooden shoes and see the insides of a mill and eat and shop and have lots of good fun!
Regina and I bought matching wooden shoes! Mine were too big.
They had old historical shoes, too. As you can see, the ones above might slow your walk just a bit!
Brecklyn got some Klompenshoes too!
This was at a flea market, used "stuff" shop. Jamie wanted to take the skins home. They were quite soft.
Going up a ladder to see what's going on at the mill.
We saw bus loads of Chinese tourists everywhere we went. Here the kids are walking on stilts. Brecklyn gave it a go, as well.
Afterwards we drove over the ocean on a long, many mile long bridge. We saw hundreds of swans, black ones and white ones. And lots of water fowl everywhere. This picture only shows a very few.
I have one more picture to show, but for some reason, I can no longer upload any pictures. I will keep trying and then it will be time to continue with Part 3!
Ahhh, was finally able to load this picture. The last one, which appears on the calendar we bought! Now on to part 3.
Ahhh, was finally able to load this picture. The last one, which appears on the calendar we bought! Now on to part 3.
