Ahh…the Netherlands!
This is where it all began…beautiful country side with a glimpse of the city. I had no idea what I was getting into, going overseas. My first time out of the United States, what did the rest of the world look like? What am I too expect? Well, I believe it was better than my expectations. Out of the three countries we visited, I can easily say that the Netherlands was my favorite. So what did we do?
We arrived in Amsterdam after a long flight from the states. It was around 9:00 am in the Netherlands but if felt like 3:00 am (I don’t think I got any sleep on the plane). The group joined us when we arrived, just in time for a canal ride through Amsterdam. The canal boat dropped us off at a diamond shop and the Anne Frank house for tours. Dinner took place in Den Hague, along the North Sea. The rest of our stay involved some more touring and class. While the students were in class I did some extra sight seeing. We stayed in a wonderful hotel, located about 20 min from the North Sea and 25 min from downtown Den Hague (walking distance). The people in the Netherlands are very friendly and most speak English. It is amazing how cultured most people are in Europe compared to Americans.
Some highlights of my stay in the Netherlands are…
…visiting a cheese making farm
…putting my toes in the North Sea
…running through a thunder storm
…shopping and lunch on a fisherman’s pier
…open air windmill park
…wooden shoe carving
…Delft (blue and white pottery) factory
…Shell Oil, corporate visit
…Ahold (Giant food stores), corporate visit
…and so much more, just being there was wonderful!
Here are some pictures.
House boat outside of the Anne Frank house.
Bikes are everywhere.
Downtown Den Hague.
Some of the girls in our group.
At the open air windmill park.
The North Sea.
Our coach driver, Ronny, drove us to France for our next stop. Stay tuned for stories from Paris!