Mo’s blog entry:

We’ve been offline over the past two weeks due to our big move, so we thought it would be an excellent time to travel to the Netherlands and Belgium.  This was a great experience for all of us.  Chris and I had been to Amsterdam in 2005, but we really didn’t get to see a lot of the city.  This time we were able to spend more time strolling through the streets, along the canals, and enjoying the ambience of this magnificent place.

We started our journey by taking the Thalys Train (fast train) from Paris.  We sped across the countryside at 300km/hr!!  The trip only took 3 hours, including stops in Brussels, Antwerp, and Rotterdam.

Our visit to Amsterdam was filled with stops at the Anne Frank Museum, Van Gogh Museum, The Heineken Experience (Chris and Greg’s favourite), and Mdm Tussaud’s; as well as ‘Ripley’s Believe it or Not’ museum…but the highlights were not found in the museums. They were found incidentally on the streets as we toured around. Like the incredible musicians in the main square. and the local culture (pot smoke all around :(, hundreds of bicycles on the streets, friendly people).

Brianna began the trip by being stranded on a tram after the 3 of us had already exited (the doors lock automatically after very little time and she tried but couldn’t get off). She continued on to the next tram stop without concern, while we ran after her with our luggage in tow.  Lots of fun memories were made, and both of the kids loved the ‘vibe’ of the city, and all of the new sights and sounds.

Our next stop was Bruges. What a beautiful place!  We had high expectations, and they were definitely met.  This old, medieval town still exudes loads of character and history.  The canal tour by boat was a highlight, as well as our visit to the weekly market in the central square.  With beer halls and festivities around every corner; we loved the charm of Bruges.  Chris and I couldn’t have spent our 20th anniversary in a better setting.  One epic moment found the two of us in the middle of a impromptu rock concert, while loads of animated Generation X’ers belted out a medley of tunes (euro style).

We also took a side trip to Ypres and paid a visit to the Flanders Fields Museum.  Incredible to think that this town was completely destroyed during WWI, then built back to its former medieval glory brick by brick.  There was also a fair going on in the village centre so the kids played some games and ate traditional foods like ‘oliebollen’ and ‘cheese croquettes’. Yumm!! Greg and Bri learned a lot from this ‘side trip’ so it was worthwhile to do (3 hour round trip by train from Bruges).

Overall – Great ‘mini-vacation’, and an excellent chance to recharge our batteries before the school year begins for Chris and I next week.

Update: This evening we were all invited to have dinner with one of Chris’ new teaching partners and her family.  Her husband is a German diplomat, and it was very interesting to hear about their life journey, and all of the places they have lived.  They don’t give a second thought to pouring the kids champagne too so Greg and Bri enjoyed the evening and met their daughter who is Greg’s age. We left at 11:30 and there were no buses running so it was a 30 minute walk home. lol