Saturday, January 09, 2021

Amsterdam - Day 12

Day 12 - Amsterdam Day 6 - April 9, 2018

Today was a travel day. Time to head home. 


I couldn't decide whether or not to grab this water for the trip home. It was only $7.95. A real steal. 


In the airport we tried Dutch Poffertjes. They were decent.  We still liked stroopwaffels better. 




Lunch in Toronto. 


The view of the clouds through the window of the 787.  



Snoozing in Denver. 


And finally, home. Lovely trip.  Looking ahead to our next trip, a quick vacation to SoCal. 

Friday, January 08, 2021

Amsterdam - Day 11

 Day 11 - Amsterdam Day 5 - April 8, 2018

Today we visited the famous Keukenhof Gardens.  Fair warning that this post has loads of flower photos. 

Good morning Lyla. 


Ada is sporting her chic pig dress. Apparently (as of 1/2021), she doesn't love pigs anymore because one bit her at Pig Beach in Bahamas (that story will come in a later post). 


We had turned in our rental car when we first got to Amsterdam, so we took public transport to the Gardens.  We had been using it all week and it was super easy to get around Amsterdam. 





So, we were a little unlucky that the Spring of 2018 had been a little cold and wet in Europe. In 2017, by April 8th the tulips were at the tail end of their blooms.  In 2018 we were sadly around 2-3 days too early for the tulips. I had moved our visit to Keukenhof to the tail end of our trip in an attempt to sync up with the tulips, but no such luck.


Even without the tulips in full bloom there was plenty of flowers and growth to admire. 


The tulips that were blooming were in planter boxes that had been moved here from greenhouses. 






Lovely place, eh?




A little bright for a family photo. 


What are these? Wooden shoes for giants?












Kate found her dream wedding dress. 






A field of red tulips in bloom.  In about a week the fields all through this area of Holland were quilted with colorful tulips. 



Fresh, hot stroopwaffels were amazing. 


Have you ever seen a stroopwaffel eaten so seductively? Impossible!


Pigs!


Playing on the playground. 



Still enamored with the piggies. 



Best friends. 


Now onto the petting zoo. 




Big bunnies. 


On the bus heading back to the city. 


Back in Amsterdam.  We had a big surprise for the girls on our last night in Amsterdam...


Not this, whatever it was. 


We had to take a ferry across the river.




Sexyland was not the surprise, but it was a chance to show off their sexy poses.  I'm not sure where Lyla got the idea to thrust out her booty...


The surprise was the pancake boat.  Woohoo.  All you can eat Dutch pancakes on a cruise around Amsterdam. 







Dutch pancakes are pretty much like crepes. 


The best part was the Nutella. 


Apparently the boat had a surprise for us, a ball pit in the bowels of the ship!





There you have it, the pancake boat.  The highlight of the girls' trip to Amsterdam. 



One last sleep before heading home tomorrow.