A Day at School

Miss Becky greets the students as they fly in over a 20 minute period

All settled in for opening exercises

o-o-p-s...a change in plans! The classroom Mom's have Becky called out and they move in with a surprise birthday party for her

Queen for a Day

Thanking the class for the lovely gift of pictures and photographs and a gift certificate. Tomorrow is UAE Day at the school so Rick will attend also ( he stayed in bed to-day). We'll be leaving on the camping trip from school so no more blogging until we return next Tuesday.

Arrive Dubai

Becky and Rick after a very late airport pick-up

Trevor checks out the new camping stove...which we brought in our suitcases - no room left in theirs last August

A quick look around Miss Becky's classroom before the troops arrive.

last few pics of Amsterdam

typical housing all over Amsterdam

georgous hydrangeas...sure would be nice to have this colour all year

poffertjes.....mini pancakes smothered in icing sugar

A girl's best friend...DIAMONDS

Diamonds certainly are a temptation of beauty. Amsterdam's history as one of the most important centres of diamond production and drade dates back to the 17 th century.

getting the gloves off to try one.....NOT!

The Royal 201 means there are 201 facets on the diamond , letting in massive amounts of light.

This wheel is coated with "diamond paste" for cutting...diamonds can only be cut by another diamond.

Diamond sizes ranging from .05 of a carat to 2.00 carats

Oude Kerk Organ

4,000 pipes!

almost 500 years old !

details, details details

more details....

magnificent wooden vaulted ceilings, some of which have been painted with scenes

Oude Kerk ( Old Church )

The easiest way to show the entire Gothic structure of this 14 th century basilica, was to take a picture of a cardboard model

You guessed it!...tombs make up the floor of the entire church

You can go on line to search the toombs..just in case you have some Dutch ancestry

To-day, the church is now the centre of cultural activities ranging from exhibitionc, concerts, dinner parties, receptions, etc.

A VERY NARROW spiral staircase in this "oldest" church in Amsterdam

Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh, Concert Hall

This is the pond in front of the Rijksmuseum, featuring the I amsterdam sign...a promotion to get tourists to purchase an all inclusive visitors card - well worth it!

This is the largest museum in the Netherlands, not only in size but also in # of employees (400), budget and the size of its collections. Pictures are not allowed so you'll just have to imagine Rembrandt's famous "Night Watch"

Again, no photos allowed but this museum houses the world's largest collection of Vincent van Gogh paintings and letters. A very interesting man to say the least!

On the same square (plein) as the above two museums, is this magnificent Concert Hall...

appropriately topped.

Nick's Stag

Meet Nick !!!! Nick is getting married in December...

Nick and 25 of his buddies took the 45 minute flight from Brighton England to Amsterdam for his 48 hour STAG !

They each have their own I.D. number on their jump suits and as thier # is called up, thye have to give Nick a challenge. The challenge we got to witness was Nicj trying to get a bicycle from a local and ride it 200 yards. Not too many people were jumping at the chance to hand over their bike, but finally a young female was convinced. If Nick completes all his challenges, he doesn't have to drink - Right!

They asked us to take a group photo for the wedding album - scarry

Imagine running across this group on your canal boat ride...they really were a lot of fun

More Canal Scenes

late afternoon, Lou on one of the 1,281 bridges, Rick drinking beer and taking pictures ...

The most intricate hook we've seen in the city

This is a typical Merchant's home/warehouse along the canal. They can be recognized by the window shutters as the Merchants stored their goods in their own homes - usually the top two floors...hence the hooks.

Great way to dry the laundry!

Floating BRICK house!

Grachts ( Canals )

7 bridges in a row....

a wide view of only one of the canals in Amsterdam. The Amstel River is the only natural waterway in the city - all other canals were man-made as expansion took place.

One of the 2,500 houseboats along the canals. No more are permitted. They all have running water and electricity. During the 1980's, gas was installed where possible.

The Sea Palace....largest floating Chinese restaurant in Europe

The Canals are 2 - 3 metres deep, 1,200 bridges ( 500 of which are from the 17 th century) and cover 100 kilometres. There were 16 sea locks which prevented the rise and fall of the sea tides

I'm in the 5 %

According to Rick, I'm in the 5 % of Amsterdan women who doesn't have boots!

P.S. in "Bikes by the numbers"....scroll down as there are actually 5 pictures.