At the end of July a couple of friends of ours visited from the States. They were our last scheduled visitors from the States. We found our visit to be somewhat nostalgic because so many places we visited we kept thinking (and saying out loud!) that it was probably the last time we would see this or that......
We had such a great time with them! The first day they were here we just stayed in Haarlem. We know how exhausting that flight can be....and with jet lag on top of that we thought it best to stay in town.
The following day Linda, Nan and I went to Amsterdam where we visited the Rijksmuseum, the flower market and Dam Square.
The following day we went to one of my favorite places....Zaanse Schans! I said my good-byes to Ingrid.....where she works with pewter, a skill handed down from her grandfather, to her father, to her...and she is now teaching her children.
We had a nice lunch at 'de Vijf Broers' restaurant:
then walked across the bridge into town:
oooooops......the drawbridge was up for a passing large boat!
we went to the sawmill:
and the clog shop:
back in Haarlem:
Dinner at Napoli's! Yum!
The following day Andrew had the day off, so we headed up to Friesland. We went to the towns of Maakum and Hindeloopen.
Sunday, August 3rd, we took Nan and Linda to de Haar Castle. It is such a beautiful place to visit!
On the last day of their visit we decided to stay in Haarlem.
We went by the quilt shop.....but, unfortunately, they were closed:
We went to Tromp for some cheese!
We sat and had coffee and did some people watching!
Later on, after Andrew got home, we went down to the Grote Markt and had some dinner at Brinkmann's. It was such a nice evening, we were able to sit on the patio...
Our view from the restaurant:
More people watching (a couple on a date!)!
Oh, another couple on a date!
On our way home we passed by one of my favorite sculptures in town:
and one last stop at Garrone's for gelato!
