Day 1 & 2: AMSTERDAM

Devin and I completely fell in love with Amsterdam. The style and the architecture are ones you don't find in the US. Transportation is by bikes. They are everywhere! Which makes it nearly impossible to drive.  

My favorite thing about Europe was the history. There are so many amazing cathedrals and castles (which will come later in the trip).  

The next few pictures are of the row houses that were downtown. Devin's favorite part.

The Diary of  Anne Frank is the 2nd  (Bible the 1st) most published book in the world. The tour included the Opekta warehouse and offices and the Achterhuis. Some personal relics still remain. Movie star photographs glued to the wall by Anne and a section of wallpaper where the girls marked their growth.

The wooden shoe has been worn throughout Europe since The Dark Ages. (News to me I thought only the Dutch wore them)! People still wear them in Holland because of the swampy ground. 

This machine is used to carves out the shoes from a chunk of wood. 

We also visited the towns of Boxtel and Best. This is where my fathers family is from.

In 1808 a woman gave birth to a baby boy. Following the birth she took the baby to a ditch where she attempted to bury it. Shortly after a man was walking by when he heard, "a distinct sound from a ditch." After following the sounds he found a little foot sticking out of the dirt. The mother fled and was never found but it has recently been discovered who she was. The father is still unknown and the baby was raised by other families. He was given the name Petrus van der Sloot, (the first VanderSloot). The word Sloot means from the ditch. This is the gravesite of his sons wife. 

That is only the very short version of part of the story. There are so many important little details and segments that go into it. 

These are more pictures of homes and sites throughout Best and Boxtel