Rotterdam, March 24th

Today we are in 'The Hague'.  The Hague is the seat of the Dutch government and Parliament. (Which we saw!) In addition to seeing the International Court of Justice and the medieval Knights' Hall, we saw a few of the foreign embassies and homes of a some different foreign ambassadors. Nice digs!

We're walking, we're walking!... Onto the Mauritshuis Museum, home to many Rembrant paintings, and Vermeer's Girl with the Pearl Earring.  We only had an hour inside so we scuffled quickly through 2 floors of art work, listening to our head-sets the museum provided, and back out the door.

I realized the last day of our vacation that Vermeer is my favorite artist, I will tell you more later. We could only take a 'photo' of this print of the painting. Cameras were forbidden in the museum.

Our tour guide, Jan (pronounced, "yawn") told us this vendor was very famous. Supposedly because he'd had his photo taken with famous government officials... you'de hope he'd run into a few in this town! At least! The photos were on the front of his cart. Cute!

I quickly jumped into this shot that Aida was taking of her husband Joe. We had dinner with them a couple nights earlier and they quickly became our favorite couple... more photos to follow!

How nice... they shot a photo of us! (Most museums instructed you to hold your backpacks on your front instead of on your back, so I just got accustomed to carrying it that way.) Yes, we took turns!

The bike park... I had to grab a shot of at least one to show the 'folks' back home. Unbelieveable how many bikes they could get into such a small space.  Our hotel in Amsterdam was next to the Central Train Station... I should have taken a shot of their biking STRUCTURE!... 5,000 bikes parked there daily!

Our fabulous morning tour of the Hague, was followed by an even more fabulous lunch at the Kurhaus Hotel Restuarant... I thought I died and went to heaven!  The inner lobby had an amazing vaulted ceiling complete with murals and ornamentures.  (I was so in awe I forgot to take a photo of it... google it!) Did I mention the food?! Oh mama! This is the view out the back of the hotel. Nice!

Is the day over with lunch? Oh no! We headed straight to the Porceleyne Fles, one of the last remaining Delftware factories in the city. We watched a video of how they produce their Delftware and then walked through the factory, and ended up, in their showroom... better known as "the shop". P.S... its cheaper to buy pearls!

One of the Delftware stores in the market center. But not just that...

This building is known as the birth place of Johannes Vermeer... cool!

If you speak Dutch, you will totally understand what this sign says! It could be his last living quarters, not birthplace. I can't remember. But I've read both. How reliable is google anyway!

I loved how so many doors were just inches above the water line on these canals. Crazy! They don't worry about flooding?

Our guide said this shop/home was one of his favorites. So, as the true tourists we are, we all took a photo!

The clock tower of this building began to lean so the architect (without computer instruments!) managed to figure out how to keep it balanced... ha! I think it was simple math.... ok, impressive!

We were so tired this last night on the cruise ship, we ate a great meal, and I passed out! But coincidentally I woke up right as they were parking us in Amsterdam right next to 3 other vessels! You can't see it that well, but there are 3 other river boats in this photo. We were on the innermost side of the port. I was impressed!

Back to Amsterdam, March 25th

Before you all jump at the chance to comment on the smirk on my face I have to tell you about the triple wammie thats going on right now. First we had to have our luggage outside the door of our cabins at 8am this morning. Second, this night was Holland's 'Day Light Savings'... oh yes - a second time for us this year! Third, we barely squeezed in a breakfast this morning before boarding our bus and getting dropped off in the FREEZING COLD of Keukenhof Gardens.

But why should I complain! We are in the beautiful KEUKENHOF GARDENS at the time of the Tulip Festival! (Well close enough... we are a little early.) But still! Leslie is in the cute green jacket: she is Brent's Viking Cruise Ship Rep. We had a lot of fun with her throughout the week... including dragging her through all the chocolate shops with us in Belgium (when she gave up chocolate for Lent!) She still loves me though!

It was so cold outside we finally wised up and sat in a cafe for half an hour eating apple pie and hot chocolate with our friends Aida and Joe. Then we meandered outside to find another indoor gift shop (- yeah!) And here's where half of our 500+ photos were taken. We had a blast!

Its Sock-Monkey-Trees... how ingenious! I want one! (Of course!)

Brent is tired of me taking shots of him so now I'm the sucker!

I have about 50 more pictures that look like this... so many 'creative' ideas in here. Brent finally said "ok, Martha! We need to go now!" Oh, I was having so much fun!

The sun has almost burned off all the fog and cold, but we were lucky to find one more greenhouse that was ten degrees warmer inside than it was out. And it was beautiful in here! (Joe took our photo!) I forgot to put in one of them...I will email them!

More than 7 million bulbs are planted each year in Keukenhof. They showcased a variety of crocuses, hyacinths, daffodils and of course tulips.  Some of the outside bulbs hadn't flowered yet, but inside the greenhouse everything was in bloom. It was breathtaking!

Ha! I finally got on the other side of the camera!  There was such a variety of flowers... wish you could of been here! We were tempted to buy some bulbs until they showed us all the hoops we had to jump thru to bring them back to the states. No thanks.

It had finally warmed up outside and we tried to be cute and pretend Brent was holding the windmill... maybe it wasn't our day. But we were able to climb inside the windmill and look around. They are amazing structures!

Yes, we had a little bit of fun while we were here!

Keukenhof has many different gardens, winding paths, picturesque bridges, placid ponds, and bubbling fountains.  All these were surrounded by a kaleidoscopic floral exuberance that is unique to only Holland. (And if you think I am taking that right out of the tour guide you would have guessed correctly!)

About 1:00 we all jumped on bikes and spent an hour riding through the outer fields. This isn't the best pictures, but a lot of the fields were in full bloom. Pretty spectocular! -(trying to add more vowels!)

About 50 others from the cruise ship joined us for this bike tour. We were a little intimdating  of a crowd when we had to pass through intersections. Our fearless leaders just stopped traffic for us, making the cars wait. We felt so special!

We ate lunch at a farm house where I tried to talk to two little girls who lived here. All they could understand was when I asked what their names were. I tried to ask how old they were but the language gap closed at that point. They were adorable kids too!

It couldn't have been a more beautiful day! Perfect weather for a day at the park!

Our bags were waiting for us in our hotel room and we took advantage of a couple free hours to find the Anne Frank house.  That was a treat! Very sombering. For dinner we were escorted to the Koepelkerk, one of Amsterdam's landmark buildings, right across the street from our hotel.

We listened to a live jazz band as we ate another fabulous meal. I could not believe how amazing the food and entertainment was on this trip. Kudos to Viking River Cruises! And thank you!

Amsterdam Finale (Part 1), March 26th

It wasn't until we were inside the Rijksmuseum this morning that I realized just how much I love Vermeer. This museum also is home to Rembrandt's Nightwatch as well as quite a few of his other works. I could go into more detail about the museum and its artists but for the sake of time I will just suggest you Google it if you want to find out more.

'Diana and her Companions' was in the Mauritshuis Museum, we saw it on the 24th. But I felt on Sunday in the Rijkmuseum that while so many of these famous paintings were called Masterpieces, Vermeer reached a level of mastery superior to the others. I just didn't want to stop looking at his work! Vermeer enjoyed a level prosperity that didn't rely on income from his pieces.  I think he had more freedom to paint what he wished than what he was commissioned to. Its not just the subject he painted that made his artwork my favorite.  I saw something on a more personal level that spoke to me through his artwork about who he was and I would have to define my reasoning in more detail... call me!

I don't want to diminish the mastery of the other artists either. They deserve great credit as well, and their work is just as amazing. We were allowed to go on a private tour of the new "Rijksmuseum"  which will become the new home to all of its artwork next Spring.  This building just happens to be to the back of the museum.  The city has taken an old cathedral and put hundreds of millions of dollars into refurbishing it.

A group of us followed behind 3 tour guides who explained what they put into this building. It was impressive... for a quarter of a billion dollars!

The architects built in and covered 2 mirroring atriums on either side of a main walkway that originally had been a street (its now part of the museum.)

Inside the floors were either beautiful granite or marble, with intricate tile work inlaid. The walls had been repainted and polished. The windows were preserved, in addition to all the stained glass. Every square inch has been improved, fixed, or strengthened. Did I mention this was impressive?

This is the new room where Rembrandt's 'The Night Watch' will be relocated.

Silly! What did we do after another fabulous museum tour? We enjoyed an equally fabulous meal in a restaurant that was converted from a green house. Super beautiful, the most enjoyable lunch ever!

Leslie and Sandra talk as we wait for the appetizer 'round'. I think I love being spoiled. As a matter of fact, I couldn't keep my little mits off the bread at this place... so delicious!

Just a few views of the scenery on the way to the bus.

Loved the trees here... I took this from the bus window.

I think this is another shot from the bus. The canals were so cool to look at! I could never get tired of living near water. Oh water, I miss you!

Amsterdam Finale (Part 2), March 26th

After our fabulous lunch we decided to take a small walk and see if it helped our stomaches settle a little bit better. We were joined by a few new friends and just meandered up and down the streets near our Hotel.

We kept seeing ads for 'The Hunger Games' which we were dying to see!  Its #1 on the 'To-Do" list as soon as we get home.  We did find a small flower market on our walk but were instructed not to buy bulbs this time of the year because they are better in the fall. Well, ok then.

Our last 'hoorah' was in the 'Sky Lounge' of the Hotel overlooking the city. Nice! 

We are so happy! Can you tell we enjoy being a 'little bit' spoiled!

Self portrait!

Our dinner table was so nicely decorated... however our candles struggled a little since we were right next to the door. We were aftraid we'de be in the dark by the end of the meal.

2 candles out, 4 to go... I just loved these table settings!

Goodbye beautiful Holland! Thank you thank you Viking River Cruises! Awesome vacation!