Gouda, Holland

We did a brief stop in Gouda to visit the City Market and buy some cheese. It was a great addition to our lunch picnics.




This is how the cheese was weighed years ago before being sold to the merchants.

Amsterdam, Holland

After a 10 minute train ride from Haarlem to Amsterdam, we took the tram to both the Rijks Museum and Van Gogh Museum.
The Rijks Museum contains Rembrants Night Watch. We could not do any photography in either museum.





One thing that Amsterdam has is bikes and canals.









One of the most famous photographed spots in Amsterdam. You can look through and see 7 arches.






It's possible that there are more bikes than cars in Amsterdam.













This is the most photographed bridge. We saw this on our canal boat tour.










Not all people live in houses or apartments. Some live in houseboats on the canals.










Our most sobering and impressive museum, was the Anne Frank House. Again, we could not photograph in the house. It's difficult to believe that there was that kind of discrimination against the Jews and how a family, as well as several others, could survive in such a small space.

Haarlem, Holland

Instead on staying in Amsterdam, we decided to stay in Haarlem. In Haarlem, we had the opportunity to explore the City. We heard an organ recital that was free. A person passing us on the street told us about the concert. It was in the largest church in Holland - St. Bravo.




The concert was mostly classical music - Bach, Schubert, and Mendelsson. It was one of the largest organs that we have seen.









Haarlem also has many canals. Water transportation is available as well as biking.



















Drop your bike off at the railway station and take the train into Amsterdam.

Zaanse Schans, Holland

Our next stop was at the open air museum - Zaanse Schans. This gave an overview of past life in Holland. This included cheese making, wooden shoes, working windmills - grinding, woodsawing, and oil making.








Cheese looks good!!!








The wooden shoes are made of poplar wood.
They last for many, many years. No longer do they make the shoes by hand. It takes only 15 minuets to make a pair. One side is a model similar to making a key.









Finally found shoes that fit!

Giethoorn, Holland

Today, we visited three places in Holland. Giethoorn, Witmarsum, and Pingium. Geithoorn is a town of only canals, no roads. Residents travel by boat to get around the town.

Next, we drove to Witmarsum. This is the home town on Menno Simons. We saw the church where he was first a Priest. Then, we drove out to the place where there is a monument indicting his burial site and his first church.















After Witmarsum we visited Pingium. This is the place of the Hidden Church location. Unfortunately, there was no one there to show us inside.


After our visits to these locations, we traveled over the dike which separates the North Sea from the Zuider Zee. The dike is 22 miles long. We saw bikers heading north into a strong head wind. In 1988, we biked across the dike, but had a nice tailwind.






























We spent the night at Bergen-On-The-Sea. It was very cool, in fact, cold as you can tell from the photo.

Zwolle, Holland

After leaving Cologne, we traveled to Zwolle, Holland and spent the night. It is a small town but has it's share of canals and charm.

Cologne, Germany

We flew back to Frankfurt and picked up our rental car. Our destination was Cologne and we arrived in late evening. It was difficult to find a hotel. We asked a gentlemen on the street and made a suggestion which turned out to a very good recommendation. After checking in, we headed for some good German food.

On Sunday morning, we were on our way to explore Cologne. Our first stop was the Cathedral. This structure was preserved during the war. All the stained glass windows were removed by the citizens and replaced following the war.




















There were also many reminders of the Roman Empire. Ruins were seen throughout the city.




This was a well we saw in the parking garage.













A part of the Roman wall is still visible in the city.












One impressive monument that remains from the war is a church which was bombed out, but a statue of grieving parents.