Haarlem, Netherlands

Our first destination of the day was Harrlem, Netherlands.  We went there to visit the Hiding Place, but had fun doing a few other things as well.

Seth was very kind and allowed me to use his head as an arm rest to steady my hand so that I could take pictures out the window!!  As you can see though, I wasn't quick enough and only got the "H" of Haarlem.  Oh well...

I found another big version of it as we were walking around.  

I just thought this was a pretty house and grounds

Thankfully it was a little warmer this weekend than when we went to France. :)

It was still cold though and we were delighted to find a coffee shop!!

I think it was the best latte I've had since we've been in Europe!

"Pause for the camera!"

A little story before going on... :)

When we were at the coffee shop, a gentleman came up to mommy and they had, what we thought was an interesting conversation.

The gentleman came over and said (talking about us) "Definitely American.  I would say Christian.  And probably from the midwest."  Mommy replied that he was right on all three accounts!  We thought that it was funny that having never met or talked to us before, he guessed those details so thoroughly!!  He was very nice though and went on to talk to us a little of the city and recommend an old church that he thought we should see before leaving.  He said he thought is was the most beautiful one in all of Europe!

I think more people ride bikes than they do drive cars in Holland

There were bikes everywhere and all different kinds too!!

They even had cute little baby carriers

I know this picture isn't great (it was taken out the back window of our van), but I saw a couple of the two seater bikes where the girls ride "side saddle".  I hadn't seen any like that before! :)

We thought this was a unique little vehicle

We went to a Dutch outdoor market!

It was a lot of fun!!

(and the fruit, bread, and cheese we got there was delicious!!)

There were even fresh (I'm assuming) eggs.

Getting some cheese

Shopping

All of us kids

And this is the church!!  It is amazing to see all the different architectures of churches/cathedrals over here.  We didn't walk inside this one (we were needing to get to our next destination!), but it was nice to see from the outside.

Crossing the river.  It's fun to see all the different canals and such.

Next post... The Hiding Place!