Au Revoir Brussels - hello Amsterdam

Our final day in Brusslels started with a frenzy of packing, waffle eating and chocolate shopping. Not being a big waffle eater I was pleasantly surprised by how good they are and have blanked out how many possible kilojoules are in these babies....

A fast train trip of 2 hours and we arrived in Amsterdam. The feeling of being home I felt on arrival here caught me by surprise and it has stayed through our time here. We managed to navigate a phone call, tram ticket purchases and arriving at our apartment without getting lost (woohoo!!). Rocket was again very thrilled to carry the rapidly gaining weight bags up probably the steepest internal steps ever seen. 

We are very blessed to have relatives in Nederland (getting down with the right lingo - more to come on that topic) and my mums cousin Ria met us and was the most awesome tour guide. We met Ria's husband Nico outside the Western Tower which is Amsterdams tallest church at 85m tall. Nico is learning to play the Carillon bells of the church and as a special surprise they arranged for us to climb the top of the tower and hear The traditional Carillon player and Nico play the bells. A Carillon consists of at least 23 cast bronze bells and they are played on certain days of the week at particular times. We were very priveleged to go to parts of the tower not for other tourists and to stand out on the top with the bells, look above the clock in the photo below.  (at this point Rocket was peaking as there are not any barricades and he had visions of the kids falling off).

Out with bells at the top!

The Carillon player knows many tunes, it was kinda cool to hear Waltzing Matilda ring out across Amsterdam. He also let the Oogster help out with a tune. 

A whistle stop visit to the old Church which happens to be in the red light district (it was day time) was met with the widest eyes and jaw drops from the girls I have ever seen. Followed with quite a few questions - and potentially some explaining to the girls other parents when we get home! 

Ria and Nico very kindly hosted us for dinner and drinks at their home in Almere which comes with it's very own canal - the girls had a paddle in Nico's canoes, which did result with the Oogster getting very wet. A wonderful day. 

Today we had a much needed sleep in followed by a visit to the Anne Frank house museum. This was very moving and touching and reminded us of the terrible tragedies of war. Like many historic places you have to queue - but this one is most definitely worth it along with the tears you shed during the visit. 

Tour de Tanner should probably be replaced by Rockets 'Culinary fest of Europe', or with the Oogsters 'Tour de Toilet!' We have managed to sample Traditional Nederland foods such as raw herring, stoopwaffles (OMG good stuff), broodjes and cousin Ria has us loaded up with traditional sweets to bring home. Sorry England and Belgium, Nederland provides stiff competition in the food department!!

We met up with cousin Ria and her grandchildren Kat and Mas for a visit to the zoo. All of the kids loved it and they were all firm friends by the end of the afternoon. We also had a cultural update from Ria in that it's not kosher to call people from the Nederlands Dutch or say Holland - it's Nederland all the way baby! 

The near 3 weeks of walking has made us all a bit weary - or read that as, the children are tired and cranky and need an early night! The visit to Anne Franks house made for a lively dinner and history discussion - one we will all remember and beats reading a history book.

Thank you to everyone for the feedback on the blog. I'm enjoying writing it, although lots is left out, these are the stories you may have to hear when we get home.