Day 16/2 - Arnhem, Netherlands to Berlin, Germany

So we got up early on Day 16/2 so we could drive through Arnhem, Netherlands on our way to Berlin. There was a WWII museum that we wanted to stop off at and see. We typed into Brenda (our GPS) where we wanted to go and put all our faith in her that she’d get us there, and she did! The museum was really neat, and very raw (as in, it wasn’t all fancified or anything). It was all the real deal and even things like the uniforms that were there were super real, full of bullet holes and blog and all. It was really neat to see it all preserved like that, and not in the normal museum way.

They had so many guns! These were some that they found (hand guns) and these are all WWII era guns, most likely used in The Battle at Arnhem. 

Coffees and teas that they found buried

Jacket of a uniform, complete with bullet holes and medals

Close up on the medals. It was incredible the number of medals that they had found.

Belt buckles. They had tons of ones with the Nazi insignia on them

After that we continued onto Berlin. We got there about 6 or 7 and got in touch with our friends. We were recommended a restaurant to go to, but we were given conflicting answers about where it actually was. And so we found one plaza, told our friends where we were, but that if they were too far, no worries, since it was almost 9 PM. They weren’t far, so they came, we met, found a different restaurant to eat at, had dinner, and it was good! Definitely different  than I’d had before, but good none the less. It was back to our hotel to sleep.

 The Space Needle of Berlin. I actually think its a broadcasting tower or something. But it looked really cool, and the sky was so blue!

As the sun was setting, it just lit up all the brick buildings so beautifully!

Beautiful red buildings against clear blue skies

Not to mention the sunset itself was beautiful (not sure what this building is)

My dinner. Minced meat wrapped in cabbage with a bacon sauce and potatoes. Definitely a different taste than anything I've had, but it was really good (and it had also been 15 hours since we had real food)

Noelle's dinner. I think it was called a hackstack. It was supposed to be like a hamburger. It was good.

Day 15/1 - Amsterdam

Day 15 was the day my family came in, and therefore began part two of my vacation! I left around 3:30 to head to Amsterdam and made it to the airport. My family’s flight info wasn’t posted yet, so I just went and sat near a TV that would tell me when their plane was coming in, and which exit they would come out of. They were supposed to get in around 5:15, and I was there about 4:20. I looked at the screen and it said they were going to get in at 4:45! I was shocked and glad I came early!

Theirs was the one coming in from London Heathrow. They had landed!

So they came off, I found them, and we were all together! We found our rental car place, bought a GPS and off we were to our hotel in Amsterdam. We had decided that, since we would be staying in Amsterdam again at the end of our trip, we’d go to the Anne Frank house then and just see a few little things that night (it was about 6 PM). So I figure out which trams are near our hotel, and off we went to Dam Square. Since I had been to Dam Square, they had put in a sand volleyball court in front of the palace! It was super weird to see there, because it didn’t belong =] We walked around and I showed them things and places. We walked down towards Centraal Station and we had Lebanese food for dinner, and of course, I had to get them fries as well =] Then we went back to our hotel, since everyone was tired, and we had a lot of driving to do the next day. 

Day 14 - Wassenaar

Day 14 was the day before I left, which meant it was laundry day. The laundry literally takes 5 hours to wash and dry one load, so once I started it, I went on a bike ride through the country side that I had seen on Saturday. I knew there was a lake on the bike path, and so I rode out to the lake. Of course though, I was an idiot and forgot to put my memory card back in my camera, so I was without a memory card. It was an absolutely beautiful and WARM day and so I had to come back out. So I rode to the lake and then rode back home, put in another load of laundry, had some lunch, then grabbed my memory card and changed into more lake-like clothing, and rode back to the lake, taking pictures along the way =] I sat on the dock at the lake for an hour or so and it was just wonderful! I wish I had had someone there with me, but it was fun none the less. That was really all I did. I repacked everything so I’d be ready to leave the next day.

Beautiful green fields

Beautiful bike path

Beautiful blue skies

Trustee bike that got me around 

There was a deserted train track along the path to the lake, and part of it had these pretty blue flowers growing on them

More pretty train tracks

The beautiful lake! It was even prettier in person

Me at the lake 

Day 13 - Leiden for Church

I knew I wanted to go to church in Leiden since they had an English speaking branch. There is a young man in the husband’s class who is LDS, so when I went to the school I met him and talked to him about church and made sure I had the times and such right. This also meant I would know 1 person! So again, thanks to Google maps and Wikipedia, I figured out which busses to take to get me to church! I made it there (thanks in part to another man who was on the bus who I figured had to be going to church) and it was wonderful. Everyone was super friendly to me and their branch is just fantastic! Turns out the father of the young man I met is the branch president, so that was neat, and the man that I followed from the bus was new to the ward and had just moved here from Brazil. I also met the branch president’s wife, and she and her daughter took me home after church, since they live near where I was going, and that was super wonderful of them so I didn’t have to take the bus back home. I was home in time for dinner and overall, it was a wonderful Sunday! And of course, I forgot to take pictures of the church...

Day 12 - Delft

Day 12 was a Saturday, and so the family I was staying with wanted to take me to Delft, a super cute city about 30 minutes from their house. This is also where the artist Vermeer lived and painted, which was why I was super excited to go. So we got there, and since they had already done everything in Delft, they went and just relaxed and hung out, and I went to the Vermeer house, the Old Church and the New Church. I loved going through the Vermeer house and learning more about his life and his paintings.

Vermeer House

They had a little set up of one of Vermeer's paintings where you can place yourself in the painting, but since I was alone, there was no one to take my picture, but this was the set up. Looks pretty real right?

 I then went to the New Church, which is where a lot of the coronations and burials for the royals in Holland happen and then I went to the Old Church where Johannes Vermeer is buried. That was incredibly neat; I really enjoyed that.

His grave

The bell tower of the New Church

Inside the New Church

Me outside the New Church

Another cool thing about the old church is that its steeple/bell tower is leaning! So that was cool to see.

The Leaning Tower

Me with the Old Tower, that leans =]

The Old Church was also closing for a few hours for a wedding, and while I was in the Old Church, the bride and groom had gone to the town hall in a carriage, but sadly I missed it. I would have loved to see her dress. That was all we did in Delft, but I very much enjoyed it and it was just super cute and quaint. When we got back to Wassenaar, we walked to a petting farm to enquire about something, and then went to a goat farm to get some goat milk cheese. I very much enjoyed the walk to these farms as we got to go through beautiful green pastures and it was just very picturesque. That night we had smoked lamb for dinner, which was incredibly delicious! I hadn’t had smoked lamb before, so I really enjoyed that!

Day 11 - Zoetermeer

I decided that even though the temple was kind of far away, I wanted to see it, even if I wasn’t going to go inside. So I figured out thanks to Google Maps and Wikipedia which buses I needed to take to get to the temple. It took about 1 ½ hours to get there, but it was worth it =] It was the smallest temple I’d ever seen, but it was still great to see! It was beautiful and I wish I could have gone in to do baptisms, but it was still great to feel the spirit the temple has, even from outside. I didn’t spent too much time because I wanted to make sure I caught the next bus. So it was just a quick (and expensive) trip to visit the temple. I didn’t do anything else that day really, just the temple. I may have gone on a bike ride or walk…but I don’t remember very well…

I of course forgot to take a picture of me in front of the temple till at the very last minute, so this is all I got. 

Day 10 - The Hague

So this morning, I went to school with the family I was staying with (they are teachers at the American School of the Hague). I was given a tour and got to observe one of their technology classes that the wife teaches. I loved being able to see her teach, and getting to see the classroom structure at ASH. Afterwards I got to meet the middle school principal (both the husband and wife of the family I was staying with are middle school teachers). The principal is great and I really liked her. She gave me her business card and basically said to contact her when I have my teaching license and she’ll see what she can do! So I’m very excited and am thinking maybe I will teach middle school (though I still really like high school…) but I will be going back to the Netherlands when I finish school! I fell in love with it and I really liked ASH and I LOVE Holland and will live there someday =] After my tour around the school I was off to The Hague. The real reason I wanted to go to the Hague is because the LDS temple in the Netherlands is The Hague Netherlands temple, so I assumed it would be in, The Hague. But it was actually in Zoetermeer, but I decided to go to The Hague anyway because of the Mauritshuis, which houses the painting by Vermeer, The Girl with the Pearl Earring. I really enjoyed the museum, and they have free audio tours, and I heard the kids one was really good. So I listened to that one, and it was really good! It gave just enough information and it was done in a really fun way. I saw the painting I wanted to see, and that was really neat to see it.

The Mauritshuis

After the museum, I walked through the palace that was next door, and found me some good street food (I love eating the street food, or eating at the really small snack places; best food!) Then I made my way back to the bus station and headed home. I wasn’t gone too long, and I like being back home for dinner. So that was my day!

The gate to the Palace courtyard

In the courtyard