Arrival Day

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Arrival Day.

Following our arrival in Amsterdam, we rented a vehicle and drove to Annemarie's friend's house in Rotterdam. It was about a half hour drive past cow pastures and farms. Meeting Annemarie's friend Monique and visiting for a short period of time, I was socially allowed to head for a nearby bed for a nap, after not yet sleeping. That also gave Annemarie time to visit with her friend one on one, well, I'm sure the kids didn't quite allow that, but she didn't have me trying to figure out what they were saying the whole time. After a little nap, we headed out to see the famous windmills in the town of . They were quite impressive in size, and even more amazing was the gear system they used to turn the strong wind into tools for making different items from paint, to peanut oil, to even utilizing the wind to generate energy for their saw mill. The area were the windmills were located was also a small historic village setting that included a cheese making store, chocolate factory, small animal farm, and the largest collection of clogs you could ever imaging. At one point, we climbed to a platform where the huge blade of the windmill was swooshing by, with only a small gate between us and imminent danger. From there, we headed to ... in search of the famous raw Herring. This was a really cool little seaside town with a lot of little outdoor restaurants, stores and vendors. We quickly made our way to the portable seafood vendor by the water and ordered 2 Herrings to complete the traditional snack. Tipping our head back, cameras rolling, Annemarie and I simultaneously chomped down the fish. I have to admit, it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. The onions eaten with the fish definitely masked some of the fishiness. We next took the kid to eat, and Sean discovered a burger is really just meatloaf on a bun. After the long night travel, then our daytrip out, we were exhausted and now prepared to accept the local time 6 hours later than at home. Staying awake seems to be the best way to avoid the jet lag. Tomorrow the plan is to head to downtown Amsterdam and explore the city.

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