Today we went back into Utrecht for the second time. I can't believe it has been exactly 2 weeks since we went there the first time! We headed straight for the National Museum of Musical Clocks to Street Organs. This is a museum that houses the world's largest collection of automatic musical instruments such as street organs. This was a really cool museum. We first walked around the second floor viewing area which had all sorts of displays. There were even cardboard discs used to play music on these machines! Then we took part in the guided tour (he did an abbreviated English version for just us) which was really cool! The guide demonstrated most of the instruments on display. They also had an activity room just for kids. One activity the kids both did was ... read more

Und today ve vere und Germany! Jahhh. That was German, Nigel-style! Well, today was one of our most fun days so far! We had planned on going to Dusseldorf but at the last minute (actually, around 8am this morning) we reconsidered and found a nearby smaller city called Neuss (pronounced Noice). It was quite noice! sorry about that one... Rather than picking an attraction, we chose a city on the Rhein and decided to play it by ear! We found parking and then found a visitor's centre and got a map. We then just wandered around to see what we could see which turned out to be a lot! The city centre had a ton of history including ancient Roman battlements from 16 B.C. The city is over 2000 years old - amazing. Then it was ... read more

We're always making these gouda jokes - you know, the cheese eet tastes so Gouda! Turns out when the Dutch say it, they pronounce it Hhhhhowda (the repeated h's mean you do one of those noises at the back of your throat). So, we've changed the joke to Hhhhhowda cheese taste? We spent a few hours today wandering around the Gouda cheese market and shops! The cheese market was a fully functioning cheese market and it was surrounded by all sorts of stalls selling everything from cheese to t-shirts to fabrics to fresh fruit. We had brought a french baguette to eat along with the cheese we bought there as well as some apples. We also indulged in poffertjes which are the most delicious little mini pancakes with a dollop of butter and powdered sugar warm ... read more

Today was our first of two forays into Amsterdam. We bought a 48 hour canal boat pass which allows us to hop on and off at all the major attractions. Our first stop today was NEMO which was kind of like Ontario Science Centre only 100% of the exhibits were hands-on. It was a bonus that every exhibit/activity had Dutch AND English instructions! We've purchased a Netherlands Museum Card (at the first museum we went to - the Railway Museum). This gives free entrance to 400+ museums in Holland! We've saved a ton of money so far. Today, when we went to NEMO, the card also got us 4 snack vouchers (worth 22 euros) that we cashed in for 4 big slices of apple tart cake and 4 drinks! We also managed to have a brief ... read more

We started the day with a run/bike ride with the whole family. We tried a new trail which was very nice and took us past several farms with cows, sheep, goats, chickens, baby chicks, and had no traffic except for one guy on a horse & buggy (and he had a buggy whip so I guess that industry hasn't completely shut down)! Part of the trail was just a cycling path across the top of a dike. I think this was my favourite run so far and I'll definitely do that route again. Today we went to the city of Zaandam and took in the Zaanse Schanse which is a grouping of mills and museums interspersed with (very) old houses that people still live in (I guess they'd call that a living museum - they argue ... read more