More photos

It takes awhile, but we're finally able to load the photos.

Biking in the rain

Rainy 60 degree day today. Hoping for better weather later on in the day. Thank goodness for waterproof pants and coats!

First biking day

Rode 10.5 km. today through the Amsterdam forest and along the Ijsselmeer, an inland lake near Amsterdam. The forest is a public works project done in the 1930's. In order to get government unemployment funds people were required to work for 13 weeks building a forest from what had been a swamp. It's now very beautiful, with trails, soccer fields, a lake for rowing, a petting zoo and much more. Saw our first windmill and learned that the position of the windmill arms is significant. One arm straight up means the miller is away briefly and has stopped the mill. Two arms up (x position) means he's gone for longer time. One arm up in 5 minutes before or after the 12 o'clock position signals difficulty in the immediate family or in the local area. This system was used as a warning mechanism during the Nazi occupation. After our windy but flat ride we enjoyed a fabulous Indian dinner. The cook says they'll do a different theme each day with the meals. Can't wait to see tomorrow if today was any indication. Tomorrow we head to Gouda (pronounced here as How-da, sort of spitting as you say the H). I'll tell you more about the crew of our ship on tomorrow's post. Signal strength today is weak. Will try to upload some photows for you.

On the barge -- almost

It seems the Oregon rain has followed us to Amsterdam. While the first day of our trip, in Haarlem, the weather was glorious, yesterday and today look familiar to us webfooters -- rainy and windy. We've checked in at the barge and are awaiting the rest of our fellow travellers before we set off. I took the opportunity while waiting to use the computers at the Amsterdam library to update the blog. This post should be, at least, free from all the typos I noticed in my last post. Typing on a touch-screen Dutch computer isn't fun, which accounts for all the misspellings, etc. on the last post.

Those of you in Portland will know that we got a call yesterday from home that Mom had died on Thursday. This puts a burden on us, as we feel guilty for continuig our trip, despite the urgings of friends and famiy to do so. We've bought a cell phone and have arranged to have her memorial service at 1 p.m. on 7/17 after we get back.

Here's some more learning about Europe:

1) A message of ïnsufficient funds"on the ATM doesn't really mean your bank account has been emptied out by some nefarious person. This is the message that nearly gave us heart attacks on the day we landed. We learned that it really means the amount you want to withdraw exceeds the ATM's preset limit. Whew! Would have been a really frugal trip if we couldn't use our ATMs for cash. Managed to withdraw funds in smaller amounts just fie.

2) People think I'm German but have no trouble identifying Wm. as American. Makes for interesting conversations. I can almost understand the Dutch if they speak slowly, but Wm. is totally lost.

3) Rainy days are good times to visit museums. Yesterday in the rain we visited the vanGogh (say van HHHock while simultaneously spitting if you want to say it correctly) and Rembrandt museums and took a canal boat cruise. No photos from that, as museums don't allow cameras.

4) Indonesian food is interesting. We ate a rijstafel (rice table) dinner. 13 tiny side dishes served with a big bowl of rice. Most of them spicy and indefinable but very tasty. Stems from Dutch colonial times when people stationed in Indonesia tried to outdo one another by having their cooks prepare more and fancier dishes to be served with the rice.

5) Haven't tried eating the raw herring yet but it's in the plans for later. So far have been enjoying the many types of cheese and the delicious bread.

All for now. Must get to the ship before they sail without me.

Very short post due to computer issues @ Hilton, where they want $15/day for me to use my computer. So photos have to wait til tomorrow eve. on barge. Here's what we learned so far on our trip.
1) Flying business class is way better than tourist class, but even after a gourmet meal w/ free wine & champane, neither of us couls sleep in our flat-reclined seats, so we were majorly jet_lagged on arrival.
2) Managed to stay up til 8 p.m. by visitng city of Haarlem. Saw the Grotekerk (church) with 5000-pipe organ, monument to the city dog-catcher, a cannonball in the wall and omage o the city's water engineers who kept the city dry 27 ft below sea level. THAT'S WHAT i call a multipurpose church. Learned the origin of the phrase "stinking rich." Rich folks were buried under church floors but not embalmed. So sitting in church abovethem was an experence n melling the stinking rich bodies
3) Visited Corrie ten Boom's home, where shehid hundreds of Jews n WWII before finally being betreyed & sent to a concentration camp. Very sobering remnder of what great things God can accomplish w/ willing people.
4) This.m. took a canal boat tour of Amterdam. Will visit Rijksmuseum this rainy afternoon.
5) Bikes eveywere. Will list later all the strange things we've seen eing carried by bike.
'nuf said. More tomorrow, hopefully w/ photos.

Info about the Barge

A few people have asked me for more information about the barge/bike portion of our trip. The company is Bike Barge Holland, and they're located near Seattle. If you'd like to check out their website , here's the link: www.bikebarge.com There's a portion with photos where you can see a slide show representative of the bike trip and the barge. However, since we're going after tulip season, we won't be seeing the tulips you'll see on the slide show in bloom at Keukenhof Tulip Gardens. Our route is primarily Northern Holland. Bike and Barge supplies the bikes, all food, all guide services and all entrance fees. All we have to do is show up and pedal.