Amsterdam

Brunch at Illa & Heinz's House with Sandi.

 Illa in the Kitchen.

  Tessa and Illa in the living room working on computer problems.

 Visiting with cousin Julia in Mannheim with Sandi, then after coffee and cake at a local restaurant, we were off to Duesberg where Sandi and Stefan have a house. We did some sightseeing around Dusseldorf, & went shopping at the Chinese complex, & spent the night in Duesberg. The next day, we drove on to Amsterdam Netherlands.

 A famous architect built this apartment complex and office building in Dusseldorf Germany.

 So many interesting buildings in Dusseldorf!

 The same architect built all 3 of the buildings in the photo below.  They were located right on the Rhine, where we had a lovely dinner under those black umbrellas.

 Sandi in the city center of Dusseldorf Germany.

 The house where Heinrich Heine was born.  This has interest to us, because our German family name is Heine.

 Above is Tessa at Sandi's house in Duesberg, and another very cool building. Below is our first look at Holland, all of the trees were shaped in very interesting forms!

We stopped in a small town for lunch somewhere in Holland.

Hmmmm what to order...

 We didn't realize that we were all ordering some version of french fries!

 So many people were coming for the ice cream that we all decide to try it.  We agreed it was the best ice cream we had ever tasted!

 I *love* the fact that the gas pumps supply plastic gloves for you to use when pumping the gas!!

 Approaching Amsterdam, we stated seeing great views, like this bridge we went over.

 More fascinating buildings along the way.

 We finally arrive at the Movenpick hotel, where we stayed for 2 nights while we experienced amazing Amsterdam.

 There are 600,000 bicycles in Amsterdam and the city is built for bicycling and public transportation, NOT for cars.

 Cassie found a kitty!

 Oh the canals...

 We didn't realize it but "Coffeeshop" is a euphemism for one of the places where one can buy marijuana. 

 Above are views of Amsterdam from our hotel rooms, below, Cassie taking some quiet time to read.

On public transportation on the way to the Vincent van Gogh Museum. It was a fun way to see the city sights too!

The musuem was several stories high, with a permanant collection of over 200 paintings.  If you are not a van Gogh fan, you will want to skip the next several photos, as they are from the museum.  We were awestruck.

A panoramic view of some of the floors of the museum.

van Gogh's last complete painting, and Susan's favorite of the collection. He committed suicide shortly after finishing this paintings, and in a letter to his brother wrote that he felt as if his life was a total failure.

van Gogh's final and unfinished painting, Cassie's favorite of the museum. 

We loved ordering peppermint tea, and having this come to the table!

Bicycle garages, some were 4 stories high!

We took a water tour of the canal system in Amsterdam. There are so many amazing old and new sights along the way.

The National Center for Science and Technology building, built in 1997 and shaped like a piano!

From this view, one can see straight through to 7 of the canal bridges.

Canal scenes and a house dating back to 1684!

Beautiful and colorful old church.

Second night at the Movenpick hotel

Below are some night time scenes,. We had a very late dinner after walking through the famous Red Light District.

Some more interesting sights before heading back to Germany.

Our final Cassie sleeping in the car photo!!

Back at Illa and Heinz's house, we celebrated Alex's 23rd Birthday, Happy Birthday Alex! With Max & Kimba, Aunt Illa, Uncle Heinz, Michelle & Alex, Stefan, Tessa, Cassie & Sandi.

I had bought Alex the German version of Headbandz, and we played for hours!

The 2 brothers Max and Alex, at dinner, with Alex & Michelle's little Kimba.

Alex's birthday dinner with cousin Yvonne, Aunt Illa, lovely Michelle, cousins Max & Alex, Paul, Tessa, Cassie, cousin Sandi, Susan & Uncle Heinz, Stefan and Rupert.

 Then we went to an outdoor cafe' for on last late night toast!

Eating out is always a lovely way to get together, here with Michelle, Alex, and Stefan. 

Birthday celebration at Sandi and Stefans house!

Illa and Sandi share Kimba love.