A Bit of a Family Easter in Europe

I had the awesome opportunity to spend Easter weekend in the Netherlands with my aunt and uncle. It was wonderful for both of us to spend the holiday with family.

We spent a day in Amsterdam just to see the city. If I had to describe the city with three words, they would be: architecture, canals, and bikes! I did not realize that Amsterdam had such beautiful architecture. Everything was built up impressively tall along the canals, and impressively large in other areas. The city itself was prettier than I realized. It was also cool to see the canals running through such a busy city! I’ve never seen anything like it. The sidewalks were barely big enough for single file lines to pass in opposite directions. And then, there were the bikes. The first thing I saw outside of the train station was the “parking lot,” an area packed full of probably 300-400 bikes! I’ve never seen so many bikes in one place in my life. The city is so accustomed to them that I believe it would be faster to get from one end of the city to the other on bike rather than by car. The city was busy and crowded, but it was a sunny day and love to see new places, so I really enjoyed it. We spent some time in the Rijks Museum where I saw, among many talented Dutch artists, a Monet, three Van Gophs, including a self-portrait, and Rembrandt’s impressively huge “The Night Watchmen.” We walked by Anne Frank’s house, and I took some pictures outside, but, it being Easter weekend, the line to enter was over two hours long. I passed on that opportunity, but I really enjoyed the things I did get to see.

After Amsterdam, we drove into the country to a little town in Friesland called Beers. It has one church, a little one-room schoolhouse, and a bit of horse industry. Besides that, the entire tiny village is homes and farmland. This was the village my grandmother’s father lived in until he was 12-years-old. He immigrated to the United States with his family in the year 1900. And now, over 100 years later, his granddaughter and great-granddaughter visited the village he grew up in. It was quite the experience to see where he lived and went to school so long ago. What an unforgettable way to spend my Easter weekend with my aunt.