DutchInLaw

Sometimes I feel like writing a blog post about the fun and interesting things that come our way while living in Holland. Sometimes I just feel like dropping a ton of photos into a post so there's at least some sort of recap. (Also sometimes (most of the time) I take so many hundreds of photos that my computer fills up and gets upset at me, which means I really need to get better about clearing them out.) So, here you are. Alsjeblieft .  This is hagelslag (literally, hail-strike), the chocolate sprinkles that Dutch people put on bread. But this particularly kind is so fancy, it's called HAGEL-SWAG. I can't even.  Soft summer evenings with bike paths up the dike. Beautiful but annoying to bike up.  Sometimes we do school outside. Because, why not? Pippin continues creating with pattern blocks. His six-year old explanations of what he has made are not brief, but they are entertaining.  Our blueberry bushes give us about a handful a week.  Friends come over for playdates and

Because sometimes the photos and videos fill up my computer faster than I can think what to do with them. Photos from a trip to Rotterdam last August, when the weather was typically Dutch - rainy for a few hours, then glorious sunshine after that.  The metro is the easiest way to get to and from downtown Rotterdam - no parking fees, no crowded streets. A quick swipe of an OV chip card, and you're on your way. One solution to car parking shortages downtown: buy a tiny car and park it sideways. Trams (above-ground public transport) have the right of way and ring their bells in warning.   The city architecture is a mix of new, old, and very old, but there's always somewhere to lean a bike while you run errands or check out the shops.                                The Koopgoot (literally 'Shopping Gutter') is an open sort of tunnel that cuts through downtown and is full of shops of all kinds and sizes. Smells from Bath and Body Works mix with the smells of the sausage vend