I first visited The Netherlands in 2013 for work. I will spare you many of the details, but I will say that it was an incredible trip that left an impression on me. I was moved by the way the people loved Canada and welcomed me. I have very fond memories of my time in Nijmegen and Arnhem.

When we made plans to take the kids to Europe and begin their education with Canada’s involvement in the First and Second World Wars we knew we would need more than a couple of days in The Netherlands, so we planned to spend a week. We wanted to have some down time, and also have time to visit the smaller cities as well as Amsterdam.

We had a great week. We visited Nijmegen and walked through the old town square, went to a market and bought some freshly made stroopwafles (amazing). We spent time in Arnhem learning about Operation Market Garden from the Second World War – Watch “A Bridge Too Far” if you want an American view of this piece of history. We were fortunate to visit the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery where 2,338 soldiers are buried, and we were also very fortunate to get tickets to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. I was surprised to see just how interested the kids were during this tour. They were captivated the entire time.

While in Amsterdam we strolled through the city, along the canals, and along the edge of the Red Light District (which the kids started to call ‘the crazy streets’). Luckily for us we didn’t get into any deep conversations about why many of the women were dressed in ‘halloween costumes’.

Before moving on to Germany we spent an entire day just outside of Amsterdam in De Zaanse Schans. It is a small town that has several operational windmills, and a historic village where they make spices, copper and other items the old fashioned way. Honestly, as amazing as the Anne Frank House was, this area was the highlight of The Netherlands for me. We spent over two hours in a saw mill…wind mill….(not sure how to say that). Check out the video below to see how it works. Keep an eye out in the video and you will see some of the workers wearing the old wooden shoes. They really got into it!!

I can’t imagine the amount of time it would take to mill the lumber for an entire house.

Finally, in terms of our overall impression/experience, it was excellent. We received a warm welcome wherever we went. The people were lovely. I will say that while I was impressed with the number of people who use a bicycle, I am glad to no longer be driving there. At home when driving in the city you have to keep an eye out for pedestrians on the sidewalk, and cars on the street. In many places in The Netherlands they have a third area that you have to watch when turning – the dedicated bike lane. I never really got used to this. I’m sure the locals feel that the streets are just a little bit safer now that we’ve moved on.

Shawn