NEMO - a great place to play

Water play for kids

NEMO - Amsterdam's equivalent of OMSI - was my final destination for this trip. I had often looked at the detail presented in OMSI and wondered if I'd ever read anything all the way through - there was just too much going on with the girls darting here and there. Lots of displays and active things for the kids, of course, including a section the teens on hormones, body changes, and "what about sex". This one was very popular and very well done - factual without being too overdone. Not something you'd ever see in the states! They even used the outside of the building, putting the cafeteria up on the roof of the building. You could climb to the top of the building and use the water play area, enjoy the sun on the terrace and eat without paying to go inside. You could also exit, enjoy the sun and food, and then return to the museum with your ticket. Win-win for everyone!

Land of just plain fun stuff

Another zoo play area - great jungle gym

Fun for kids, that is. I am amazed at the huge number of play areas just for kids. The zoo had a number of places, each one unique. 

Kid sized chess board

Dinosaur at the zoo

Parks you passed by had them, NEMO science center, even a restaurant had a play space with tables for families! The water area extended down quite a way with a stream that kids jumped down and ran through. Looked like a lot of fun!

Couldn't pass this one up...just like other places in the world, there are a lot of interesting things that people carry on their motorcycles. Note what is in his lap.

Land of Interesting Bookstores

View of old church into
old nave

The next day found me heading off for Maastricht, via Eindhoven. Another friend from Japan, Kate, picked me up in Endhoven, where she lives, and we took off for Maastricht all while catching up on our lives since we left our hearts in Japan. Maastricht is a very old town with a large number of old buildings, primarily churches. Now, being the book person I am...the most interesting old building in the entire town was the Selexyz Bookstore, located in an old church. The entire building is filled with books (some even in English) and there were hundreds of people roaming the shelves. In the nave they have a coffee shop where we sampled a very sinful (hehehe) cheesecake.

Mendo...though the books themselves
were the real treat

Was inspired by the bookstore to check out the one listed for Amsterdam - Mendo. It's not the huge store I was expecting nor is it particularly flashy. What it has is a spectacular array of eye candy. This particular shop is filled with tomes featuring photographers that have recorded our world in unbelievable detail and beauty. It would take hours to go through a single book, looking at the breathtaking shots. My favorite was Michael Poliza: http://www.michaelpoliza.com/. Check the page out but be ready to spend an hour looking!

Netherlands...Land of Windmills

Stairs climbed to get into windmill

Now, you can't come to Holland without seeing the windmills so I headed off for Zaanse Schans to check them out. The bus system here is fabulous - for about $4.00 I could take the 45 min. trip and be delivered right at the front door! I started off at the museum, expecting a history of the mills and I did get some of that. The most fascinating part was watching a video of the dressing of a young woman in the clothes that were the fashion sometime in the 1800's. I could not believe the number of layers, the time required to get dressed. Even putting on the hair cap took a long time with the braiding and the numerous layers of various decorative pieces. Once dressed, I doubt these ladies did any work whatsoever! Couldn't have been the peasant's class!

The best part was having the opportunity to actually explore a working windmill! Inside! Steep ladders allow you to climb ever upward until you're at the connection from the moving blades down to the huge grinding stones (or saw blades or pumps for moving water) below. (Obviously, they use "common sense" take care of yourself here.) I roamed through the Dye Mill, where they ground various natural materials (dried bugs, various minerals, even dried dung) to provide a powder that could be mixed for painting. Apparently they used milk paint (and I guess it's still available). It is paint made with milk and lime and with pigment was added to it. It spoils fairly quickly but artists in the past used it extensively. One man was painting various "primitive" pieces using the milk paint on wood, finishing the piece with beeswax and fat rubbed over it to seal it and bring out the colors. Fascinating history!

Amsterdam...land of Museums

Amsterdam is just filled with museums of all types - pretty much anything you'd like to see. You could check out Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Modern Art, as well as history of just about any period you'd want. We did check out a few - my limit for the short trip this time.
Van Gogh was my favorite one - amazing to see so many of his pictures up close - and the huge variety of other works I had never heard of before - including a number of Japanese subjects! They also had some fascinating close-ups of paintings. He famous bedroom picture has print from the newspaper he wrapped the painting in on the orange blanket. A number of his paintings have sand or grass in them because he painted outside so often. It was fascinating to look through a microscope and see the brush strokes he used - and the "extra" stuff included.

In one of the history ones - I think it was Rijksmuseum - there was an old library - with a wonderful circular staircase up in a corner. Sadly we couldn't roam the shelves but we could look over the area.

There were huge collections of different famous paintings, sculptures, wonderful doll houses and beautiful replicas of boats - sailing vessels figured big in this part of the world! The doll houses were unbelievable - taller than any kid who would use them and filled with wonderful replicas of furnishings, paintings and life-like dolls. The attention to detail was astonishing. Absolutely exquisite!

Amsterdam - Land of Canals

Amsterdam is absolutely amazing! The network of canals completely boggles your mind...and makes it quite easy to get lost because, just like all cream colored houses, all canals look the same (or pretty darn close). Fortunately, they do have road signs to help.
We stayed in a very small apartment, in the heart of old Amsterdam; a great jumping off point for exploring the old town area. The intricate network of canals weave you through various shopping and eating areas - everything was outside during the wonderful, warm weather. We took a great boat trip through the canals, weaving past old homes and businesses, Anne Frank's home, old churches, and numerous other sites.

They had some interesting old bridges - balanced with different weights to allow ease of opening them. They used it for both foot bridges as well as roads for cars - a very interesting design.

The reflections on the water were gorgeous - far better than our pictures show. We dined on the canal, watching the various boats cruising up and down the very busy waterways. The most amazing one was this guy with his boat. Most of the turns were 3 point turns where the drivers had to jockey the boat back and forth to make it. Not this guy - he had just the right pivot point to make it around - phenomenal watching him...and he knew it too! Click on the picture below to see his amazing turn.

Seychelles

We feel unbelievably fortunate to be able to travel to so many exotic places, be they a tropical paradise or a rocky get-away from the frenetic life we live day-to-day. Yet again I’ll be sharing snapshots of our latest, greatest, traipsing around the world.

This time we headed for another island country…the Seychelles, located north of Madagascar and south of the equator. Arrived at the islands, and, after a bit of haggling, found a taxi to take us to our hotel, located in an idyllic rocky location. First, the drivers had to figure out WHERE the place was – bit of discussion on that – and then the price – more discussion. Finally found us on our way south, Japanese style; they drive on the left and the roads are very twisty and narrow with drop-offs and rain gutters. We wind our way around the rocky coastline until we come to our right turn…STRAIGHT up the hill. 

Relaxing on the verandah...

They don’t seem to believe in switchbacks, at least not for driveways – probably cheaper to build a short road so…it was up. The driver took one look at the road and decided to back up on the main road (thank goodness there was no traffic) and take a running start. We still fishtailed a bit but made it to the top…and then wondered exactly where the top was!

The residence was perched on top a rather large granite outcrop with a stunning view of the coastline. The main home, with a wide porch that served as the breakfast dining room, was completely open with a spectacular view of beach and tropical vegetation. The breeze wafting through the tables made it a wonderful and calming place to sit, sipping tea, and taking pictures. The larger cabins were in a chalet type building with stunning views and roomy accommodations...next time...

Warm water - perfect for lounging!

Our cabin was a bit further down the hill, without the complete view but still the horizon was dominated by the water and lush vegetation. The night view, however, was gorgeous. With so few neighbors and little ambient light, the sky was alive with shooting stars. It was delightful to sit out in the warm breezes, sipping tea, or stronger stuff in Jeff’s case, and watching the nightly display. 

Fortunately the island of Mahe is small – we circumnavigated the thing a number of times! We explored numerous beaches, walking along some of them, getting soaked on others, sunbathing at times and frequently dining overlooking them. 

The ocean in this area has a lot of limestone, giving the water here a distinctive and intense turquoise blue color, setting off the landscape to create gorgeous scenic shots – my pictures hardly do them justice. The ocean, the flowers, the scents - all gorgeous!