Holland- Keukenhof, Amsterdam & Kinderdijk

I have been wanting to scratch Holland off my "European Bucket List" since we moved out here and I also wanted to see the famous tulips and windmills! We were able to squeeze in a last minute trip to the Netherlands and I was so excited!

I found this amazing place to rent on Airbnb in the town of Zwaanshoek. It was in a good central location to sites we wanted to visit and was a very spacious home. Bonus, it was on a farm and Rand enjoyed seeing the cows, horses and sheep!

the cute entryway to our rental

We left the KMC area on Sunday around 2pm and arrived at our rental around 7pm. We made sure to fill up one last time in Germany at an Esso in Aachen. 

Day 1
The next morning around 9am, we headed over to Keukenhof. I prebooked and bought our tickets prior to our trip online along with our parking pass. We spent about 2 hours walking around the park and visiting the petting zoo. 

Rand smelling the tulips

 After lunch we went to the Clara Maria Cheese and Clog Farm. I have read wonderful reviews by numerous military families in the area and we were not disappointed. We arrived just at the end of a huge bus tour and were greeted by the owner's son. He did a whole demonstration about clog (shoe) making and even gave it to my son for free!!!  I highly recommend it; it's FREE and they let you taste cheese as well and explain it all. At the end of the tour, we were invited to go into the barn and meet the cows and chickens. Rand had a blast seeing cows up close and personal. 

checking out the clog

Day 2
Since we were very close to Amsterdam, we took the P+R into the city. To be honest, this was probably one of the worst places we have been. The city is dirty in every sense. The only thing we were willing to go do and see were the churches (which were all closed down) and the Anne Frank House, which books up months in advance. After grabbing an early lunch at the Pancake Bakery near the Anne Frank house, we took a boat tour. We went on a tour through Blue Boat Company and really enjoyed our ride through the city. 

Day 3
After checking out of our apartment, we headed to Kinderdijk to see the beautiful UNESCO World Heritage site. It was a little over an hour away from our rental but decided to stop on our way home. I pre-booked our tickets online (10% off with buying online) along with buying a map of the grounds. Parking costs a few euros but you can save your money if you just park on the street and walk over. We started off our tour by checking out the museum and movie. We walked back over to the main pathway and headed off to see the windmills. 

Kinderdijk was a beautiful place and we enjoyed touring one of them to see what life is like in a windmill.

After running around the windmills, we grabbed a bite to eat nearby at Grand Cafe de Klok.

Our next stop on the way home was "Reading Between the Lines"