Great pictures! Thanks for sharing.

Stacey, I truly enjoyed visiting Amsterdam through your pictures. Lovely and interesting, also, I am fascinated by the bike riding there and other places. More pictures if you have them, please.

Really nice pictures.

In regard to the inner workings of a windmill, did they explain how it automatically faces the sails into the wind? The mill can be left on its own for a number of hours and it will continue to follow the wind and keep pumping. That's a good piece of automation that was invented a few centuries ago.

Wonderful pictures! Thank you for sharing.

Looks like you had a fabulous trip! Did you see the Keukenhof and maybe the tulips blooming?

Thanks for posting the pictures.

Thanks for sharing. Reminds me why I love visiting Europe.

Thank you to everyone for your kind comments.

Jemdandy - truthfully, I only listened with half an ear to the windmill explanation, not being interested in mechanics. Their workings are certainly very ingenious to have accomplished all that they did. I did ask where the timber came from for building the windmills, and was told it was oak that had been brought from Russia many years ago.

Socks - our tours to Keukenhof were cancelled, because the tulips had finished blooming. It was explained to us that the summer was 1 month ahead of schedule. We did see tulips, but in pots and gardens, etc. One home in Volendam had a tiny front yard completely filled with tulips in shades of pink - absolutely beautiful. In fact, one of the things I loved about rural Holland were the lovely gardens, in some cases, very tiny.

Love them!! I really hope to visit the Netherlands one day!

Lovely pictures--thanks! My daughter and her family would really get into that Dutch cycling lifestyle. I'm trying to imagine finding my bicycle among thousands. I have enough trouble remembering where my car is in the supermarket parking lot. :-)

"Art is Therapy" is written in English. Any idea why? Cool red nail polish, Stacey! What's on your shirt? A Husky? A Malamute?

Looks like you had a very nice trip and came home with with good photos and memories.

Your picture in the bus triggered a question I'd like to ask you. I've noticed in Europe that Canadians, perhaps more than other nationalities, seem to like have clothing or other articles (backpacks or hats) that communicate their nationality. Like with a patch of a maple leaf flag or words that say "Canada".

Am I noticing something that really isn't there or is is it true?

Alisande - I am not sure why "art is therapy" is written in English, but perhaps it's a language that can be understood by the many tourists coming to the museum. I believe the logo on my shirt is a wolf, but could be a husky. The cycling culture in Holland is very much a fabric of the country and woe betide the person who stands on a bike lane - ask me how I know! LOL

Snidley - Besides the tiny Canadian flag pins worn by two other people on our tour (41 people in total), mine was the only Canadian logo that I noticed during our trip. And I only wore the shirt for a single day. So if there were other Canadians around, they weren't advertising it! In our tour group, there were 4 Canadians, 5 Australians and the rest from the U.S. It was a very congenial and considerate group of people, and in fact many went out of their way to be as accommodating as possible. This was fortunate, because as a group you're together almost 24/7 for two weeks and the enjoyment of the trip is enhanced when the group is friendly.

Lovely pictures; I enjoyed them. Everything looks so clean and well-kept. That's a trip I would love to take.

Sounds and looks like a wonderful trip! Thank you for sharing!

If there were 4 Canadians in your group and 2 of them wore flag pins, that's consistent with what I've often observed, a greater display of nationality than others do. I have a suspicion but I'm still not sure why it is.

You're fortunate to have found yourselves in a friendly and considerate group in any event.

What's the name of the tour company? I love your pics. I have been told that Amsterdam is easy to find your way around and many people speak English, so an old lady on her own might be okay.

When I was in Brazil I was always perplexed by the number of billboards,etc written in English. IN fact, many of the malls are called Shopping.

Dedtired - the tour company is Globus, and our trip was a multi-country tour, named European Charm. There were a few glitches along the way with hotels, etc., but our tour director was wonderful. He is Dutch, but multilingual. As soon as we crossed the border into another country, he immediately switched to German, Italian or French when communicating with residents of those countries. We thought he was very organized, gave ample information and had a very professional attitude throughout. He is very knowledgeable and spoke to us at great length on the bus about the cities and countries we were seeing. And he was very humorous! He really enhanced the trip for us.

There were two women travelling on their own on our tour, and I can easily imagine a single person feeling safe in Amsterdam especially if they walked around in the busier areas and took the usual precautions of an individual in a big city.

Very nice, thanks for sharing!

Love The pictures! Any more?
Eileen

Thanks for the great photos, showing old and new.

Today, most cosmopolitan Europeans speak English.

I see the same tall, skinny buildings still line the canals. My mother and I were booked into a little hotel in one of those houses in 1955. The non-English-speaking clerk took our registration (and passports) and bundled us into a tiny open-cage elevator that was about two feet square. She sent the cage creaking up to the top floor. She then grabbed our luggage and ran up the stairs around the elevator shaft -- reaching the top before we did -- to escort us into our room. She wasn't even out of breath!

Snidely -- I bet your bet is the same as mine about why some Canadians wear their flag abroad. ("We are not Americans.")

Yes, chisue, exactly.

I lived for several years in the area stacey visited (I wasn't connected with the US government or military, I was out among "the people"). As far as anyone's nationality is concerned, honestly no one much cares. When you first step off a tourist bus in Amsterdam, or Paris, or some little town somewhere or anywhere else, the people you see may be the first Dutch (or German, French person, or whatever) you've ever seen, but to them you're American #400 (or Canadian #50 or Brit # 150) for that week, just as in past weeks and there will be more of the same in the coming weeks. When you visit somewhere, you're not the first of your kind nor the last.

My "social circle" where I lived was an interesting mix of locals and people from all over. National origin was a source of interesting discussions concerning politics, culture, etc, but was otherwise irrelevant to modern Europeans.

Europe has become very multinational since WW2, mostly because of the EU. Most understand that every country has good and bad people, and will judge you as an individual.

Thanks for the info, Stacy. What a great trip!

I find it distressing to read of any suggestion that I may have worn Canadian identification on my trip so that I would not be mistaken for an American. Such a thought is distasteful to me and very far from the truth. In fact, just in symbol only I was uniting with the Dutch people on Liberation Day, May 5, and their ties with Canada. Canadian troops were among the first of the Allies to liberate Holland and the Queen of the Netherlands was given sanctuary in Canada. She gave birth in our capital city, Ottawa, during the war. In order for her offspring to be considered a Netherlands citizen, a portion of the hospital was deemed Netherlands territory. In thanks, to this day the government of the Netherlands sends tulips to Ottawa each spring.

I am seriously considering not posting any more photos lest any other uncomfortable (to me) discussions may occur.

Please continue to share your experiences and photos, they're loved by all. I'm sorry, no offense was intended.

I first heard the flag story years ago from Canadian tourists in Europe and I have heard it several more times. Canada is a lovely country with lovely people (I just returned home from a 10 day visit, one of many I've made). I was repeating what I was told by Canadians, not originating a slur.

But on another score, remember that both the people who most benefited from the Allied war effort as well as those who served in the military are mostly long gone. No one is waiting for buses of Allied military descendents to disembark so that gratitude can be expressed. Today there was a ceremony and the French President offered humble thanks for everything that was done. That's what governments and public officials do. The daily reality is that people just get on with their lives without reference to what happened so many years ago that many don't think of it more than once a year when reminded by a TV or newspaper story. Most even seeing that would never give it any further thought.

This post was edited by snidely on Fri, Jun 6, 14 at 16:54

Thank you for your comments, Snidley, and I appreciate your apology. Every Canadian must speak for themselves but, as I had mentioned, on a personal level I appreciated the friendship and kindness of the Americans that we traveled with, and in no way would I want to "distance" myself from them. Yes, as a country we feel overshadowed at times (being a smaller entity), but we have much to be grateful for in having the U.S. as a neighbor.

From what we saw in the Netherlands, it is true that it appears that most people have moved on from the experiences of the war. When we were in Amsterdam on Liberation Day, people carried on as usual, with only formal ceremonies being planned for later in the day.

really enjoyed the photos!! Thanks for sharing!

I really enjoyed your photos. They remind me of our trip there several years ago. I really like the bicycle parking ramp that you showed, there must have been thousands of bikes on it. Just recently I tried stitching the pictures I took of the ramp together to make a panorama to show the entire structure.

You're welcome, Liz. More photos on the way ...

Wonderful photo, Bob, thank you for posting it.

Stacey -- Snidely and I were not 'pointing' at you!

Canadians wanted to distinguish themselves from "The Ugly American" tourists who descended on a war-ravaged Europe after WWII. We strode around with our well-fed bodies and perfect teeth, and we did a lot of complaining about all the things that were *inferior* to the comforts we enjoyed at home. The image may have faded, but it was valid for a long time -- with good reason.

Canadians were more welcome, but the average European had a hard time distinguishing between North Americans. Some friction was avoided by Canadians who wore some insignia that showed they were NOT Americans.

Looking forward to more Travels With Stacey!

Such fun to see these! I've not had the good fortune to visit Europe (yet,) but love living it through your delightful pictures. Thanks so much for posting, Stacey.

Chisue - thank you for your comments and clarification. I'm pleased to hear that I wasn't being "pointed at," but I have to confess that I was startled because I've never heard of this situation before (living under a rock all these years LOL!) Thank you for providing a new perspective to me, and yes, back to the fun stuff - travel!

This post was edited by stacey_mb on Sat, Jun 7, 14 at 17:34