Bruge and Amsterdam - George and Monica Visit

A week and a half ago, our friends George and Monica came to visit. It was so great to see them and show them where we live. Fortunatley, we were able to get a sitter for a couple of nights so were were able to go out for dinner and some jenever without the kids and spend some time with them.

Over the weekend, we all took the 2 hour train ride up to Amsterdam. Colin was convinced that we were going to Hamsterdam and that it was going to be crawling with hamsters. Our hotel was right next to the train and directly in front of the infamous 3 story bike parking garage. We spent a couple hours trying to navigate around the city and getting a bite to eat. We don't normally take pictures of our meals, but I wish I had gotten one of our lunch. We all had different varieties of a tradional Dutch meal - Stampot or a Dutch stew. It was so good.

We rented bikes to get around the city. The streets all follow canals that wrap around the city and it is easy to get lost. We spent most of the day dodging the rain before we packed it in for the night. George and Monica were able to see some of the nightlife. The next day, we cruised around, saw a few sites, took a canal cruise and stopped at a bar for some apple pie. The apple pie was recommended to us by Paul, one half of our Dutch Bike Repair Team. The apple pie did not disappoint and George made a friend on the way out.

While Colin was in school on Monday, we went to Bruge. We made plans to take a guided bike tour and ended up having the tour guide all to ourselves. The weather was crazy, it poured then the sun came out a bit before more ominous clouds rolled in. We saw a lot but did not have much time after the tour to see much before we picked up Colin. We did make sure we stopped at our favorite chocolate shop to pick up some chocolate covered rice krispies.

By the end of George and Monica's trip, both of the kids loved them. Colin called both of their names, non stop. Chloe was letting both of them hold her! I don't know how they put up with traveling with us and the kids.