Tragedy struck, however, and threatened to ruin our weekend away....we lost Kate's Dollie in the airport! John and I still don't know how it happened, but when our flight was called for boarding we took the VERY long walk to the gate and just as we got to our gate Kate said, "where's my Dollie?" John and I looked at each other in panic - we are usually so on top of Dollie's whereabouts and one of us usually has her in our backpack, coat pocket or back pocket if Kate isn't holding her. I dropped everything I was carrying and did the OJ Simpson run through Heathrow. I ran all the way back to the place in the departures lounge where we were - for those of you who have been to Heathrow you know it is not a small airport. I ran the whole way, stopping in the toilets we visited and hollering at people - "has anyone seen a little pink Dollie?" I had to get back to the plane as it was boarding when I ran off - as I turned the corner and ran towards the gate I could see Kate's face - full of hope and excitement - only to be let down and disappointed. "Sorry Kate, I couldn't find her and we have to get on the plane." She fell to her knees and put her little face in her hands and just started sobbing uncontrollably. "NOT MY DOLLIE!? NOW I'LL NEVER SEE HER AGAIN?" It was so painful. We boarded the plane and as we took off Kate put her hands on the window and looked out crying, "please, don't leave my Dollie behind." At this point I wasn't sure who was more upset - Kate or me! Well, Kate survived the trip and Dollie has since been replaced. Daddy came to the rescue again via ebay and found a brand new "puffy Dollie."
Okay, now about Amsterdam. Admittedly, John was not at all excited about this trip. It was February after all so it was really cold in London and that meant really cold in Amsterdam. But we were limited to 4 days so going anywhere warm was not an option for us. When we booked this trip I again let my fingers do the typing and found a private tour guide for us. As we learned on the cruise and also in Rome, the kids respond much better to a private guide rather than being part of a larger group. Thus I enlisted the services of Wynand Vandiggelen, a 62 year old retiree who gives private tours of Amsterdam. He let it be known that his usual clients are older women - think Golden Girls. He was in for a surprise with Team Mueller!
We arrived to Amsterdam and were met outside customs by Wynand. He was very friendly but slightly hard of hearing, so he managed to miss most of Jack's diatribe about Robin Van Persie, his favorite Arsenal player who is from Holland. In addition, having three small children in his immaculate car was definitely a first. We heard a lot of "don't touch the windows" "don't blow on the windows" "don't put your feet on the seat" "is that cup spill-proof?" etc. I thought it would be a long 4 days for him!
Our first stop was to our hotel, The Vondel, where we had a lovely two bedroom apartment. As we suspected the room was not ready for us so we went out for a walk and lunch with Wynand. He told us some history and interesting bits about Amsterdam and prepared us for our four days of touring with him. After lunch we went to the Anne Frank House. Jack has been reading the Diary of Anne Frank and watched the BBC series as well. It was surreal to walk where she had lived and see the pictures and stickers she pasted on the wall to decorate her room. The kids were very interested in Anne Frank and were not rushing through as they normally do. The highlight was seeing her diary - Owen still talks about the little red checked diary that "Annie" Frank kept. Kate kept asking, "but where is Annie? Can we meet her." Tough to explain the Holocaust to a 4 year old.
After the Anne Frank House we took a canal ride. Amsterdam has been built up around a network of canals, earning the name, "Venice of the North." It was a great way to see the city without a lot of walking. After our canal ride Wynand returned us to our hotel where we relaxed a bit before dinner. Jack and Owen noticed that the stairway up to our hotel apartment was a lot like the one in "Annie" Frank's house so they decided we were "in hiding."
In the dining room at our hotel we looked around for a menu and were a bit nervous about finding something suitable for the kids to eat. It was very fancy fusion-type food. One of the wait staff asked if we needed help and when I asked about a children's menu he said, "just a minute" and walked into the kitchen. He returned with the chef who said, "I can make whatever they want...chicken nuggets, hamburger, meatballs, they just tell me." Enough said! We sat down and enjoyed a wonderful Birthday dinner for Jack, complete with sparklers on his cake and ice cream!
On Sunday many of the museums are closed so Wynand took us to The Hague and Rotterdam. In 1899, The Hague (Den Hag) was host to the first international peace conference, from which was born plans for permanent court of arbitration and in 1913 Vredespaleis, the home to the International Court of Justice, was completed. We stopped briefly for a photo op and then it was on to Madurodam, a model of the composite Dutch city built to a scale of 1:25. The model city was opened by Queen Juliana in 1952. Unfortunately due to the snow many of the moving parts were not operating. The kids still had a great time and especially loved the model of the football stadium!
In Rotterdam we visited the Maritime Museum and the warship called De Buffel, built in 1868. The kids had a great time exploring the ships and vessel and seeing more information about The Titanic. For those who read up on our cruise blog entry, the Titanic's demise was a constant concern of Jack Mueller. He was certain we would hit an iceberg as we traveled through the Baltic Sea! Anyway, he is fascinated by the Titanic so the Maritime Museum was a well planned stop. After the museum we took a ride to the top of the Euromast. The high speed lift took us up the first 100 meters to the entrance to the "Space Tower" where we rode a space cabin that ascends another 58 meters up from the viewing platform. We had great views of Rotterdam from the top of the space tower. We returned to Amsterdam and found a darling place for dinner not far from the hotel.
On Monday we took a scenic drive out to Zaanse Schans, part of Zaandam that was created in 1960 as a monument to windmill village life in the 17th Century. Shops, cottages, windmills, houses and historic buildings from all over the Zaan region have been relocated here to create a museum village in which people live and work. We learned how the wooden shoes are made and tried some delicious Dutch cheese. Then we visited an working sawmill powered by wind. The kids were having a blast doing the work in the windmill. It was time to lunch so we traveled to the town of Marken for a quaint lunch in a seaside restaurant. During lunch Wynand told me he has a surprise for the boys. He figured out pretty quickly that Jack and Owen are obsessed with football, so arranged for us to take a tour of the Ajax (pronouned Ay-ax) Stadium. Jack just about came unglued with excitement! We visited the pitch, the club rooms and the press room. It was so thoughtful of Wynand to make this a part of our visit and Jack thanked him with a giant hug, from which he may still be recovering!
Our last day in Amsterdam was spent visiting the Van Gogh Museum and the Science Center, called NEMO. First we stopped at the Van Gogh museum. The kids studied about Van Gogh in school so they were very keen to see "Sunflowers" in person. We picked up our audio guides and set off in search of the favorite painting. The kids loved the museum and we heard Kate scream, "IT'S OVER HERE!!!! SUNFLOWERS IS OVER HERE!!!" Success. We visited the rest of the galleries as Owen recounted to us the story of how he cut off his ear and then shot himself..."very sad, he was a good painter."
The NEMO is a great hands-on museum. Here the kids took apart an ancient VCR machine, mixed their own energy drink and conducted experiments with Dad. The museum insists that children touch, feel, operate, explore, etc. everything in the museum. We could have spent an entire day here, but alas it was time to head to the airport and return to London.
Before driving us to the airport, Wynand presented each of the kids with a gift...for Kate, a little stuffed monkey. "It won't replace Dollie, but maybe it will help." To Owen he presented a flag from the Holland national football team. And finally to Jack, a framed photograph of Robin Van Persie in his national team jersey. They were all thrilled and gave Wynand such hugs...he said, "I don't get this kind of thanks from my older clients!" We said goodbye to Wynand at the airport and decided that Amsterdam was one of our favorite weekend trips!
Sante!
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