last days In Europe

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Our last days in Europe are coming to an end. It has been very enjoyable stay apart from the weather that was not so friendly. A few visits to go and as a firtst we went to Riet and Koen we know already for years. Their daughter Conny lives next door and had done a lot of rebuilding that we had not seen. Dirk did a good job and it turned out very nice. We onlly could stay a little while you never know here with the traffic. On the way up we had a hold up at the Coen tunnel, You' stuck in the traffic and cannot go forward neither backward. Have to wait till it opens up again. Next we visited Amsterdam again. We landed in a cheese shop that sold all sorts of Dutch cheeses and chocolates. You could taste there too and we did. We landed on Rembrands plein where we enjoyed a seat on a terrace watching the people going by. The coffee and apple cake were very nice. A pity it rained again. We finished the day eating on the Damrak opposite the Grasshopper, a well known place by Kontiki travellers. Following day we visited the oldest Kollaard in Holland. A brother of liz father. Now 91 years old and in good health. Old stories and photos were on the table. Liz also met her cousin Mies and her husband Ruud. We had a sunny Saturday. That was nice we used that to visit Haarlem. We were back at the place we were married and just as happy as we were than. Made photos inside the Groote Kerk, the church that was build in 1260. We found a few very old graves inside. Also the grave of Frans Hals the famous Dutch painter. That night we had a family reunion. A dinner party in the restaurant the Molenplas. Nolly, Carla,Hans,Jola and Hugo were all there. The food was very nice and it turned out to be a good night. At the end we had to say Good Bye and hope that we sometime will meet again. It was rainy this last Sunday that we visited the oldest Steam powered pumping station in the world. that is in Halfweg. Most of Holland is under sea level and after windmills did this work the Steam engine stations were build to pump the water to the North Sea canal. The capacity is huge. The paddle wheels push out 25000 litres of water per second. The engine produces 500 horsepower to turn the paddle wheels. A very well worth visit. On the way back we photographed the big bum cows. They are meat cows and called so for they have big bums. Gerda and Dolf invited us for dinner at a very cosy restaurant called " in the vier baarsjes" We had Chateau Briand, absolutely beautiful.Gerda and Dolf had a different choice.It was cooked at the table by a guy who looked more a body builder than a chef. It was a very nice closure to the enjoyable stay we had at Gerda & Dolf. We thank them very much for what they have done . We are now leaving Europe and will tell you what happens next time. Bye for now Liz & Allan

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Comments

[Tim]

Europe
Nice pictures. I've always wanted to visit Europe and the surrounding countries but never had a chance yet. Check out my site for all of your travel needs: http://thetravelingtourist.com/