To Prague

After what felt like ages (I hadn't seen them since Christmas), my parents finally came to visit us in Amsterdam this May. My Mom came first and we took a mother-daughter trip to Prague since neither of us had ever been there. Despite the weather being less than perfect, we had a great time and both really enjoyed the city.

The architecture was really interesting, and we were both impressed at how Prague had really seemed to grow after being out of Communism for such a short period of time (about 20 years). We had tons of amazing food (always a priority), sampled the local Prague beers and walked through the sites in the Jewish Quarter and explored the city as best as we could with my Mom's torn ACL (poor Mom). It was a really fun trip and so nice to get to spend some mother-daughter time together.

Here are a few photos from the trip:

The view of Prague from the Castle

My Mom and I in Old Town Square

Old Town Square

Our typical break: at a coffee shop with our trusted Rick Steves' book

- Krista

Brian's Dad Visits

My dad came as a part of his world tour this spring. After stopping in South Africa, India, Hungary, Spain and other locales, Rick visited us in Amsterdam. We had a great time in the city, but the big highlight was the trip him and I took to Texel island over the weekend. It is a small island in the dutch Wadden Islands.

We rented bikes and rode around the island both days. Our day started with a ferry ride to the island and a scenic journey of sand dunes, beaches, forests, marinas and endless tulip fields.

Great to see you dad!









- Brian

Queen's Day 2010

Queen's Day is the biggest holiday of the year in the Netherlands - everybody gets the day off to celebrate the Queen's birthday and it gets pretty crazy and chaotic, to say the least. Everyone wears orange (the color of the Dutch Royal Family), people sell random stuff on the streets, and anyone who has a boat cruises the canals all day with as many people as they can possibly fit on it.

Since we were here last year for the festivities we knew what to expect, and decided to spend this Queen's Day on a boat with some friends. It was a really fun, exciting, claustrophobic day, and we were lucky that the weather cleared up enough so we had some sunshine to cruise around all day.

Here are a few photos from the day (there are more on Facebook for those of you who are members):

On a boat, wearing orange of course!

The view from our boat on the Prinsengracht

Our friends Jesse and Michelle on the boat

Enjoying the sunshine at the end of a long day

Happy Queen's Day! Or in Dutch, Fijne Koninginnedag!

- Krista