I amsterdam

Ok, so I didn't anticipate the possibility of not having an internet connection everywhere we went.  But, it happened. So, now that we're sitting in the Zurich airport waiting for our connection to Copenhagen with thankfully.... an internet connection, it's time to catch up! This post may be a bit longer since it's essentially 3 days in 1 post.  Better get comfortable or, save this read for later!

Day 1--Arrived in Amsterdam!

Jon and Cousin Irene (who's sporting my shades ;)

We got on the 6 pm flight from ORD, and arrived in Amsterdam at 9:30am.  Difference of 7 hours.  I don't know if I mentioned this previously but, Jon actually has family that lives in Holland.  Jon's Dad's cousin (follow?), Irene is someone I've heard so many great things about and I was finally able to meet this vibrant, energetic woman when she came to pick us up from the airport.  We then went for breakfast since by then, it was 10:30am (and 3:30am for us! Sidenote: the last time we ate breakfast at 3:30am was probably at Nookies after a long night in Chicago...).  She lives in a village called Loenen (pronounced Lun-nen) about 15 minutes from Amsterdam.  This place is super quaint, historic, green, picturesque and all around beautiful (I have pictures but, need to upload...coming soon).  The rest of the day was dedicated to dealing with jet lag but, we managed to have dinner and try some traditional dutch food such as Bitterballen.  The name is off putting.  I mean, the literal translation is 'bitter balls'. Maybe it's just me but, that's not something I would have naturally gravitated towards had I not been with a local.  Just saying. Turns out, bitterballen is really good and the name is misleading :) Needless to say, we got our share of these 'balls' this trip and I'm ready to shelve eating them for about 10 years.

Dutch appetizer--'Bitterballen'

(Day 2) The next day, Jon and I spent the whole day in Amsterdam.  Literally 8-9 hours just walking around--did a boat tour, went to a sex museum (interesting...), red light district, got foot massages (we needed it by the 7th hour), amongst plenty of other things... Ate dinner with his cousin--crashed.

(Day 3) Since this was Saturday, Irene had some time to take us around to different areas (she's the best!).  We went on a whirlwind tour to several different places.  Even though I have been to Amsterdam before, seeing it with a local is always the best.  We visited several smaller villages on our way out to the Haag.  What an amazing older city, filled with incredible architecture and rich history. We spent the rest of the day there just exploring and eating.

Dutch Parliament in the Hague (Haag)

This morning we were up at 5am to catch a 7am flight to Copenhagen.  So, here we are now in Zurich waiting to catch our connection. Hopefully I'll be writing again before we leave Denmark!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the mom's out there today!!!!

xxj