The Holloway Happenings: Holland

Gorgeous canals in Delft

So I kind of fell in love with Holland. I wasn't expecting to. But I did. And that had a LOT to do with the wonderful friends we visited there. Sam and I wanted to incorporate into our trip seeing old friends from our Prague days. We had already visited with Angie in London, but a big part of the rest of our itinerary was based upon being able to visit more friends. Our first stop after London was The Netherlands, or “Everlands,” as Sasha called it. Our friend, Jenny, whom we taught with in Prague, lived near The Hague with her Dutch husband, Victor, and their three gorgeous girls. They were kind enough to invite us to stay with them for the weekend (which we all realized was definitely not long enough!) and we had such a lovely time.

I had never been to Holland before, and it felt like it was right out of a picture book. Jenny took us on a few bike rides around town, through forests, and even out to the beach on the North Sea. Everything is so idyllic – canals lined with lily pads and ducks, fabulous parks for children around every corner, and even an occasional windmill. But the best part was reconnecting with our friends and watching our five girls play together like they had always been playmates. It was such a perfect break from busy London, and the girls were so happy to be around friends and toys and fun. But even for the adults, it felt like hardly any time had passed since we were hanging out with Jenny in Prague. And though we were just meeting Vic, it felt like we had always known him. Sam and Vic became fast friends, talking a lot about beer and business!

An afternoon in Delft

The girls amazing bedroom!

Away we go - bike paths went everywhere

Sam gets good with the Bakfiets!

Happy girls

See....such a fairytale!

Evie and Morgan became buddies

Testing the waters of the North Sea

This is the cutest picture ever!

Not that our trip could get better, but it did. The first night we arrived was also the opening of the World Cup, and Holland was playing. The neighborhood and towns were decorated with orange and the World Cup was being promoted everywhere, from bars to grocery stores. Holland was not expected to do very well, according to Victor, so it was quite a delightful surprise when they beat their opponent with 5 goals! Needless to say, Sam and Vic had a very fun evening watching together. So not only did we have a fantastic time with Vic & Jenny, becoming fast friends, but coincidentally, Sam had visited Rotterdam (very near to The Hague) a couple weeks before the girls and I arrived in London, where he presented research to a university. The visit went quite well and they extended an invitation for him to come back, possibly for sabbatical. Now that we have spent a bit of time in Holland and have awesome friends there, I quickly decided that Rotterdam would be a great place for sabbatical in a couple years! We will see....

We then spent two nights in Amsterdam, a city I had never been to but had always wanted to visit. It is truly unique. Not the most ideal place to take kids, but beautiful and full of history. But the best part of going there was meeting up with Kim! She was waiting there for us with snacks and wine and local knowledge, since she had been there a few times before.

Our perfect weather had come to an end (or maybe it was just because we were in Holland), but we had a bit of drizzle and cool weather. So the first day we started off filling our tummies at The Pancake Bakery. That is definitely one place where the kids were happy! A huge pancake with all kinds of sugary stuff on top plus a stuffed animal for the girls. Good times! We then took a hop on-hop off canal cruise around the city, which was perfect for little kid legs and perfect for us adults to not have to navigate this watery, circular city!

Crazy sugary fun at the Pancake Bakery!

Yay! Aunt Kimmy is here!

Amsterdam artist at work

The obligatory playground - only 2 blocks from our flat

We stayed in a one bedroom flat in the Jordaan neighborhood, and found it using Airbnb, which was super cool and so convenient. The girls checked out Dutch cartoons on TV (Netflix doesn't work in Holland or France it turns out), ate the best apple pie on the planet, and visited a nearby playground. They got to play happily in a big sand area alongside Dutch kids our second morning, while Sam and I watched our two little world travelers-in-the-making. There was one funny Amsterdam moment as we walked by an "adult" shop. Morgan made the comment about some goofy thing in the window, "That guy has a funny nose." And after being in the city of bicycles, I didn't care if I ever saw one again. They were everywhere! I still have no idea how people find their bikes once they park them.