Easter in Holland

After we had finished frolicking in the tulips (actually I wish there was more frolicking and more tulips...haha...just kidding) we continued our long Easter weekend exploring Haarlem and Amsterdam. Really it was more exploring of Amsterdam...the extent of our Haarlem experience was mostly just sleeping...or trying to sleep as we attempted to drown out the rowdy party-goers that passed by our window into the wee hours of the morning! Seriously, it was the strangest thing...Haarlem was quite a sleepy town while we were there...not that many people around, not much even open, but every night around 3 or 4 am I would wake up to what sounded like a party going on just outside! I swore there was a bar right below our room, but when we checked, it was all just little shops...so I guess it was a moving party roaming the streets every night. Aside from that, Haarlem turned out to be the perfect place to escape the busy overcrowded streets of Amsterdam each evening and was an easy commute by train (which saved us the hassle of trying to park in Amsterdam). We didn't get to explore much of Haarlem since almost everything was closed on Sunday and Monday (including the Corrie Ten Boom House which I've heard is a must see...maybe next time), but we did enjoy two nice dinners there...including some yummy Mexican! Here are a few shots of Haarlem...

On Saturday morning we jumped on the train and headed for Amsterdam (only a quick 15 minute jaunt)...as soon as we got off the train we were greeted with the thousands of bicycles. It's amazing to see how many people in The Netherlands ride bikes...especially on cold rainy days like the ones we spent there.

We decided since it was so chilly, now was the perfect time to take one of the canal cruises in the covered boats. We bought our tickets and patiently waited in line while more and more people started pushing their way in front of us on the tiny little dock. So many that by the time we boarded the boat there were no seats left...urg! Pushy Europeans...didn't they learn it is rude to butt in line! The canal cruise was nice and the sun even decided to make an appearance. Autumn's favorite part was running up and down the aisle while her new little boyfriend chased her around. Pretty sure someone has a crush :o)

We learned on our cruise that real estate (especially along the canals) is very pricy in Amsterdam, so you end up with super tiny houses like this one...

Or houses "falling" forward like this one (it's subtle, but if you look close you can see the one jutting out towards the top)...where they try and take advantage of every last inch possible.

We passed the Anne Frank house and this beautiful church...

And great little house boats like this...

Overall, I really enjoyed the canal cruise...I think it's a great way to see the sights in Amsterdam...especially on a chilly spring morning. After our cruise we found some lunch and then set off on Rick Steve's walking tour of Amsterdam. Here are some pictures from our walk...

We headed back to Haarlem for the night, but were up early the next morning to head back to Amsterdam to go to Easter service. One of my favorite memories was during the Easter service, the choir had just finished a song and Autumn started clapping and shouting "bravo"...ha! It was the cutest thing ever :o) We spent the afternoon exploring more of Amsterdam before heading back to Haarlem for one final night. On our way back to Brussels we had planned two stops...Delft for some lovely hand painted pottery and Kinderdijk for the windmills. The blue pottery was beautiful...although quite pricy (like this one that was 12,595 euros...better start saving my pennies...ha)!! We bought some of the knock offs as they were much more reasonably priced.


Our trip to Kinderdijk was a bust though as the Garmin said we were one minute away, it instructed us to "turn right and board ferry." Considering it was cold and raining and Autumn was sleeping we opted to not board the ferry and headed for home. We'll save the windmills for a nicer day :o)

Overal it was a lovely trip to Holland. Hopefully we'll make it back for more tulips and more windmills....and if we're lucky some warmer weather and sunshine.

Click here to view all the photos from our trip.