Friday, May 18, 2007
We had a fun time exploring the windmills. Then it was back to Mannheim. We did stop in Nijmegen hoping to find some memorial or something to the 82nd, but we saw nothing and kept on trucking. Another great trip and another country visited.
We were able to go inside one of the windmills too. One was for sale but the kids did not want to buy and live here.
In 1740, no less than 19 sturdy windmills were built here. The mills drain the excess water back up and eventually to the River Lek.
Besides flowers, the other thing that the Netherlands is famous for is its windmills. Today there are still more than 1,000 mills. And nowhere in the world will you find as many as near the Dutch village of Kinderdijk.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
While driving to our next destination we couldn't stop laughing at the signs. Hope this one wasn't important -
From the North Sea we drove to our hotel - the Holiday Inn in Leiden. It was a fun evening with the kids - they have an indoor pool and the kids loved it!
Then we felt the need to check out the North Sea - or as they say in Holland the Noordzee. It was a beautiful beach and very soft, fine sand.
Fields and fields of color after color.
We left the park and drove through the growers fields - I decided that this is what heaven must smell like.
The kids fed the swans which were nowhere near as docile as the ones they hand fed in Switzerland. These guys bite!
We were searching and searching for this guy - an albino peacock. We heard him squalking and started our search/chase. We never caught up to him so I posted someone else's phot of him. I think he is magnificent - and very fast.
The garden was full of beautiful flowers -
You could smell the scent of the hyacinths in the air -
It was beautiful day and we all enjoyed the sunshine and the flowers.
This was our destination - Keukenhof , Holland. They have been having a flower exhibit hear for 58 years - and it is the best in the world. It is a beautiful spring garden - open only from the end of March until the end of May. It is in the heart of Holland's bulb country and is surrounded by fields of flowers.
Friday, April 6, 2007
We are crossing the border into another new country - this weekend's destination - the Netherlands! It's not too far from Mannheim either - about 4 hours to the border.
