IMPORTED FROM OUR TRAVEL BLOG: Brad, Karin (and Ryan) Do Europe ‘06

…as written by Karin

We have a bit more internet time today because we found the Library in Rijssen. It is only 50 Euro cents for 15 minutes which was quite a bit cheaper that the 50 Euro cents for 5 minutes in the hotels we were staying at!!

The drive from Berlin to Koln (Cologne) was an experience but we made it safely. With such high speeds there is hardly any room for error.

The cathedral itself was magnificient. It’s hard to imagine how people in the past were able to build such a huge place. The number of workers that would have been necessary to build the place would have been thousands.

The drive to the Netherlands was much calmer and we’ve managed to stop at some smaller centers. On the day we went to Amsterdam we also stopped at Gouda (prenounced — Houda — we were corrected by Brad’s relatives later!).

Amsterdam was very busy. I don’t think I’ve seen quite so many people out in the streets ever. The crowds were like a mass exodus from a Oilers game!! It was neat to visit, but I think I prefer the smaller centers in the Netherlands (a much more authentic experience).

Our stay with Brad’s relatives in Leeuwarden was awesome. They were very welcoming and we had lots of laughs. Ryan couldn’t get over the size of their fridge — (our typical bar fridge size) and I noticed that their kitchen also lacked a traditional oven. This is quite typical here. There house had very steep steps and made efficient use of space. After some very informative tours of churches, terps and dijks we left on Monday morning for our camping experince

It’s hard to belive we have less than a week to go!!