Erin's HERE!!!

We have a visitor!  Erin arrived right after Colin left.  Although it is a huge bummer that Erin's time here may only overlap with Colin being home for a couple of days, I have to admit that I am pretty darn happy not to be home alone.  Plus, traveling with your sister is SO FUN!  Kleine Maus is also thrilled to have a visitor in our very quiet house, and every morning she runs to Erin's bedroom and dances along the bottom of the bed to wake her up.  We love having Erin here.

We loaded up Trusty last weekend and headed to Amsterdam.  Neither Erin nor I went to Amsterdam during our college travels, so it was fun for us to do something new together.  It was a great city to visit because it can definitely keep you busy for 3 days, but is super easy to navigate and pretty to walk or bike around.  On our way out, which happened to be Erin's 23rd birthday, we stopped at the Keukenhof.

We loved sightseeing in Amsterdam.  From the Van Gogh Museum to the Rijkmuseum, Vondelpark and Anne Frank House, and eating all the delicious Indonesian food, we were busy for all three days!

Dutch Clogs Galore!

We rented bikes and toured the Jordaan Neighborhood

Aaah.  We loved the peaceful Jordaan.

Flower Market

Coffee Shop in former Police Station... hm....

Outside the Rijkmuseum at Museumplein

"Amsterdam's Skinniest House"

Erin was excited about this windmill/brewery

The navy blue pea coat / blazer combo... a staple for the weekend...

Typical for Erin and me, we'd often find that after getting dressed in the morning we were wearing outfits that were way too similar to wear at the same time in public.  Our morning conversations went like this:  "Are you wearing your plaid shirt today?"  "Ok fine, I'll wear mine tomorrow."  "Wait, are you wearing a striped long sleeved shirt?"  "I was planning on it, but fine, I'll change."  "Did you bring anything else besides a navy blue jacket?"  "Nope, did you?"  "No.  Fine, then at least don't wear the coral colored shirt and white scarf too."  I'm really not exaggerating this.  We are our mother's daughters when it comes to our wardrobes...  well, and we also love to shop.  We hit up the Waterlooplein flea market for some bargain shopping... bracelets were the big hit with us, and Erin also found a cool purse.

Sista Sistaaah

With some small alterations we think this is Anthropologie worthy!

The big highlight for me in Amsterdam was visiting Anne Frank's house, the secret annex where Anne Frank and her family lived in hiding from the Nazi's during WWII.  I'd read her diary and seen the movie when I was a kid, but decided to read the diary over again so I could be refreshed on her story.  Erin also read the diary, and we attended a special English presentation before the tour, so we both felt very prepared for the house tour.

 Re-reading the book as an adult, I was absolutely enamored with Anne again.  She is an extraordinarily gifted writer for being such a young age, and so self-aware.  The visit to the house made me very sad to think about Anne and all the others who lost their lives during WWII.  Because Otto Frank wanted the house to remain as they left it, and the Nazi's took away their furniture when they arrested the group, the annex is completely unfurnished.  The biggest indication left of the Frank family are the pictures of movie stars and the Dutch royal family that Anne posted on her bedroom walls, and of course, the diary itself. 

I was surprised to see that the annex was on one of the prettiest canals in Amsterdam. Down the street is an old church, which has bells that ring at least on the hour.  We remembered from the book that the ringing of the bells used to be a comfort to Anne that life still existed outside the annex.  Also a huge comfort to Anne was the chesnut tree that she could see from their attic windows, but sadly the chesnut tree has since been cut down.

Prinsengracht Canal: Anne Frank house on left bank

Across the bank from the Anne Frank House

In the midst of our focus on Anne Frank, the Dutch were focused on the championship soccer game for the Amsterdam Ajax.  There was no end of people dressed in red and white parading down the streets to get to the nearest bar that would televise the game, or the major squares where the game was on big screens.  Dutch guys everywhere were singing the soccer cheers and basically going crazy.  

Erin and I managed to pop into a bar when it cleared out during half time, and caught the second half of the game with a rowdy crowd of Dutch folks.  When Ajax scored, people went out of their minds.  Beer spilling everywhere, screaming, hugging, men holding hands dancing - it was hilarious.  After Ajax won the game, the entire downtown Amsterdam was shut down to transportation - trams, cars and all.  People all walked toward the huge open area by Museumplein where, unbeknownst to Erin and me at the time, they waited for their champion players to show up so the whole city could party together.  We were honestly a little afraid of the crazy drunk celebrations, so we didn't attend, but could hear the fireworks (and sirens) for the rest of the evening.  It was very much a local experience!

Goalllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!

The next day, we left Amsterdam for the Keukenhof.  We were having a grand time joking about visiting a flower garden to celebrate Erin's 23'rd Bday - probably unlike a normal twenty-something's birthday celebration.  We joined what appeared to be senior citizen's day at the Keuk and Erin complied while I made her pose for kooky photos in the gardens.  It was actually pretty fun, in spite of the rain, and the fact that tulips are totally already out of season at this point in May!

Keuk or bust!!!

The only tulips they had were potted - but still pretty!

There was this funny "dress up" scene they created... of course, we obliged...

At least lilies are in season...

and pretty Begonias...

How funny - its like the Keuk knew it was her birthday! ;)

Erin is very nice about posing...

Petting farm was hilarious - these sheep were so loud!

The pigs were squeeling loudly too - we think it was feeding time!

These Dutch folks were so cute - singing and dancing to a band that played inside one of the greenhouses

After hitting the parking structure twice at the Dusseldorf Airport, I'm pretty sure this car is in better shape than Trusty!

Home for Cake!  Happy Bday to the best little sister!