Because we were in Amsterdam for Christmas, I needed to break this visit into two posts because I just had far too many pictures for one post.
Ahh, it's feeling toasty in this hostel room.
He's been here! Santa has been here!
We spent nearly four and a half years in Grafenwoehr and they always had a stand in the PX that made these wood carvings and we always liked them, but never got one. So I got one for Todd for Christmas! They have so many different types, but we absolutely wanted one that had the Graf Tower on it. The best experience of our lives.
Poor Grant. Just about everything I ordered for him got shipped to Massachusetts for him to open when we move back there in January. So he just opened a lot of weird boxes with pictures of things inside.
His big gift from Nana - you can see he is excited!!!!
HOLY COW I GOT A PS4!
Natalie literally CRIED when she opened Nana's gift. She finally got an iPod Touch.
We finally rolled out of the hotel later in the morning, but we weren't in a hurry. The hotel is literally just off screen to the left. And this is the train station that took us into the city. Steps away!
The Christmas sun peeked out as we walked from the main train station to a place where I knew they'd be having mass in English.
Oooo but wait, THAT building is pretty!
So we got to the church - De Krijtberg, and mass was WELL underway. And not in English. It was in Latin. What? What happened? I even showed Todd what I saw on the internet! It read, "Mass in English, 12 PM." But what they really meant was that midnight mass was in English. BIG FAIL.
But this was really the true meaning of the day, whether you made it to church or not. We managed to see about half of the mass. We get an A for effort, right? We tried!
After mass, we took the kids to the Ice Village for a little lunch and some ice skating! Time for some hot dogs and some home made Dutch pea soup!
And of course, some hot mulled wine! Complete with oranges and cinnamon sticks!
Meanwhile on the rink....
Natalie declared that somewhere between Cologne and Amsterdam, she had completely forgotten how to skate, so she and Grant both used chairs. Aren't those chairs pretty?
I was surprised so many people were at the rink on Christmas Day!
Grant spotted me up on the small Skinny Bridge and waved at me! He was easy to spot with his yellow hat.
Hello down there, Natalie! This side of the rink, as you can see, is where people were working on their hockey skills.
Todd and Grant took a little selfie on the ice, but I particularly liked whatever was going on with the kid behind them. An ice dancer in the making, perhaps? Plié!
Grant also finally decided he could skate without the chair. But Daddy is right behind him, just in case.
Phew, skating is hard work! What time is it? It's HAPPY HOUR TIME!
Yup. Here we go. "Do you have WiFi here?"
We got a BEAUTIFUL Christmas sunset at the Ice Village! Just stunning!
We made our way back across the city to Amsterdam Centraal because Natalie needed a case for her iPod, so we went back to the FAME Megastore to get her that. We had a nice post-sunset photo op with the Basilica of St. Nicholas.
And this is across the canal (street?) from the Basilica - Amsterdam Centraal. Look at all of those bikes over there!
We found a great little dinner place called Piccolo Mondo. But Grant cannot figure out how to smile for a camera. Or even look at the camera for that matter.
There we go. Merry Christmas, buddy.
Walking back to Amsterdam Centraal, we saw the boats sailing to and past the visitor's center. Still plenty of people wanting to take Christmas boat rides around the Amsterdam canals.
One more panorama of Amsterdam. Every time I leave a place, I think... is this the last time I will ever go here?
The train station was empty as we took the commuter rail back to the hostel.
Riding the train back to the hotel. Not many people riding late on Christmas day.
Amsterdam wanted to leave us with something cute... and Grant and I spotted this ladybug on the side walk at the Amsterdam Sloterdijk train station next to our hotel. Thank goodness for lights!
Until next time, Amsterdam!
Good morning, Natalie! Merry Christmas!
Yep, we spent Christmas in Amsterdam. We considered staying in our house for one last Christmas, but honestly... our beautiful Auerbach house isn't much without our things. It wouldn't have felt right without a Christmas tree that had all of our ornaments on it. It wouldn't have felt right without pots and pans to make a big Christmas dinner. It wouldn't have felt right without our TV to watch It's a Wonderful Life. So we might as well travel, right? We tried to set the mood with little battery powered "candles" and the yule log on the iPad! Also, we didn't get a picture of it, but before the movers packed our stuff on December 20, I made a sour cream coffee cake that we ate for breakfast - we HAD to keep THAT tradition! It's our favorite!
Ahh, it's feeling toasty in this hostel room.
He's been here! Santa has been here!
First things first... let's dig into these stockings!
Contemplating what this gift might be.
We spent nearly four and a half years in Grafenwoehr and they always had a stand in the PX that made these wood carvings and we always liked them, but never got one. So I got one for Todd for Christmas! They have so many different types, but we absolutely wanted one that had the Graf Tower on it. The best experience of our lives.
Poor Grant. Just about everything I ordered for him got shipped to Massachusetts for him to open when we move back there in January. So he just opened a lot of weird boxes with pictures of things inside.
His big gift from Nana - you can see he is excited!!!!
HOLY COW I GOT A PS4!
Natalie literally CRIED when she opened Nana's gift. She finally got an iPod Touch.
Post Christmas destruction. And that's pretty much how she's been since she got that thing.
We finally rolled out of the hotel later in the morning, but we weren't in a hurry. The hotel is literally just off screen to the left. And this is the train station that took us into the city. Steps away!
The Christmas sun peeked out as we walked from the main train station to a place where I knew they'd be having mass in English.
Oooo but wait, THAT building is pretty!
So we got to the church - De Krijtberg, and mass was WELL underway. And not in English. It was in Latin. What? What happened? I even showed Todd what I saw on the internet! It read, "Mass in English, 12 PM." But what they really meant was that midnight mass was in English. BIG FAIL.
But this was really the true meaning of the day, whether you made it to church or not. We managed to see about half of the mass. We get an A for effort, right? We tried!
This was one of the prettiest churches I've ever been in. The color was so vibrant. A secret church was built here in 1654 - back when Catholic's were banned from practice in the Protestant Netherlands. But when that ban was lifted, construction started on this Catholic church in 1881.
After mass, we took the kids to the Ice Village for a little lunch and some ice skating! Time for some hot dogs and some home made Dutch pea soup!
And of course, some hot mulled wine! Complete with oranges and cinnamon sticks!
You know the drill... I can't skate because of my hip. So, twist my arm, I'll sit down at the bar and have a Dutch beverage! I'm glad I did, because the skies opened up and it absolutely POURED for about 5 minutes. Todd and the kids were thankfully still getting their skates on, so they didn't really have a problem with it. A little old lady came up to me as it was raining and started talking to me - she was so cute. She spoke very good English! She was very fascinated by the fact that we lived in Germany. I love meeting people in my travels!
Meanwhile on the rink....
Natalie declared that somewhere between Cologne and Amsterdam, she had completely forgotten how to skate, so she and Grant both used chairs. Aren't those chairs pretty?
Push me around, small child!
I was surprised so many people were at the rink on Christmas Day!
Grant spotted me up on the small Skinny Bridge and waved at me! He was easy to spot with his yellow hat.
Hello down there, Natalie! This side of the rink, as you can see, is where people were working on their hockey skills.
Todd and Grant took a little selfie on the ice, but I particularly liked whatever was going on with the kid behind them. An ice dancer in the making, perhaps? Plié!
Finally, Natalie felt confident enough to ice skate without the chair!
Grant also finally decided he could skate without the chair. But Daddy is right behind him, just in case.
Phew, skating is hard work! What time is it? It's HAPPY HOUR TIME!
Yup. Here we go. "Do you have WiFi here?"
We got a BEAUTIFUL Christmas sunset at the Ice Village! Just stunning!
We made our way back across the city to Amsterdam Centraal because Natalie needed a case for her iPod, so we went back to the FAME Megastore to get her that. We had a nice post-sunset photo op with the Basilica of St. Nicholas.
And this is across the canal (street?) from the Basilica - Amsterdam Centraal. Look at all of those bikes over there!
We found a great little dinner place called Piccolo Mondo. But Grant cannot figure out how to smile for a camera. Or even look at the camera for that matter.
There we go. Merry Christmas, buddy.
Walking back to Amsterdam Centraal, we saw the boats sailing to and past the visitor's center. Still plenty of people wanting to take Christmas boat rides around the Amsterdam canals.
One more panorama of Amsterdam. Every time I leave a place, I think... is this the last time I will ever go here?
The train station was empty as we took the commuter rail back to the hostel.
Riding the train back to the hotel. Not many people riding late on Christmas day.
Amsterdam wanted to leave us with something cute... and Grant and I spotted this ladybug on the side walk at the Amsterdam Sloterdijk train station next to our hotel. Thank goodness for lights!
Until next time, Amsterdam!
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