(Jessica is providing the text for her pictures.) The canal as we were leaving the airport.
A building on the way to our hotel in Amsterdam. I think it looks like a castle.
We were told that some people live on boats like this in Amsterdam.
Our hotel in Amsterdam. Need I say more?
Food!!!!! Our first dinner was a buffet. Some of the things I ate included this roll with chive butter, onion soup, green salad, pasta salad, chicken, battered fish, and fettuccine Alfredo.
A church.
Beautiful trellis roses climbing up an apartment building. My Mom noticed the fine-looking brickwork in this picture instead of the roses. Does this come from her growing up in a construction family?
We even went to a local park where we saw some amazing scenery, including this pond with water lilies.
(Jessica continues her narration.) (We're glad Jessica got to go on this trip with a small group from school. It was hard letting her go on a trip to Europe by herself though. Fortunately we knew a few of the other people who went on the trip including her French teacher whom we trusted with our precious daughter.) We took a trip to a family-owned cheese and clog factory.
A woman there explained to us how they made the various kinds of cheese. I especially enjoyed taste-testing the Stinging Nettle cheese, which was spicy, but tasted good.
Here I am sitting in a giant clog. I never thought that I would be able to sit inside a shoe.
We visited the little city of Volendaam and I even had the chance to wade in the North Sea.
Here are a few of the many windmills that have been preserved in Zaanse Schans.
We were able to go inside of a windmill and see how it worked. There are so many mechanisms involved in working a windmill!
One of the most interesting things we got to see today was the Anne Frank House. Here is the statue of Anne; the girl who wrote the famous diary and was always optimistic. Her story has touched the lives of people all over the world.
