We ventured out of Amsterdam proper one day, and our destination was Haarlem. It's a bit of a suburb of Amsterdam, but maybe I am just calling it that because it is probably as far as if I got in the car and drove to the ranch. So -- it's most likely another city in the Nederlands. Everything is so very close.
I've never been to the Harlem in the United States that first comes to mind, but I suspect it isn't much like this.
This city also has canals everywhere, and we crossed this bridge that was so cute and old, but updated. That's how everything is. Very old, but brought up to today's needs. Well, not everything. It is all just so beautiful, old, and scenic, that you are tolerant and respectful of someone and how they choose to do things in their home country.
Sorry to go on and on about the beauty, but I would just like to politely say that where I live, it doesn't look like this. Remember this spot....
The Nederlands is home base for IKEA. Or their offices are here, or something. Oh. My. Gosh. I think we were fortunate enough to go to the mother of all IKEA's. Definitely, the other IKEAs will have to be investigated for awesomeness, but this one was unbelievable. None of us were interested in the Swedish meatballs in the restaurant. It wasn't lunch or dinner time, but the word on the street of the ingredients for those is questionable for a girl married to a farmer/rancher. Something about horse?
We did take the train back to Amsterdam Centraal, which is right near our hotel. There we grabbed a quick bite, and it was one of those snack supper nights. We are all still finding our local drinks of choice, but we had them with a hot plate of local appetizers and a cold plate of them, as well.
Gant loved the salami. Les was out. I tried it, then I was out.
This was the little plate of hots. We quite liked most all of them, and for this night, it was just enough. We are learning, and our guide is such a good navigator. In a few days I might venture out by myself...
