Cologne and Amsterdam

Katherine had to give a talk at a Nabis conference in Amsterdam in October, and the kids had a two week school break. So we turned it into a family trip, first stopping in Cologne for two days.

The highlight in Cologne of course is its amazing cathedral, started in 1248 and finished only in 1880. Despite massive bombardment in World War II, which otherwise leveled the old city, the cathedral still stood. The train station is built right next to it.

After a visit to the zoo, we took a gondola ride across the Rhine, with an amazing view of the cityscape.

Very Narrow House

The next stop was Amsterdam, where we stayed in a nice family-run hotel near the major museums. We saw the Rijksmuseum's greatest hits and the Van Gogh Museum right off the bat. We also took a low key boat tour of the canals.

Seven Bridges of Amsterdam

Along the way, Nora continually sang the first line of Jacques Brel's "Dans le Port d'Amsterdam" (click for video--not necessarily family friendly, but hey, it's about sailors at port...). We rented bikes and braved the crazy Dutch bikers. Nora got the front half of a tandem bike, which involved optional pedaling and dinging the bell at pedestrians and other bikers. Nora and Mike went to the Hollandsche Manege, an old classic riding school right in the middle of a developed district.

Meanwhile, Katherine and Oliver took a self-guided bike and walking tour of the picturesque Jordaan district (no ladies in windows to be seen).

While Katherine was at her conference, the rest of us visited the impressive National Maritime Museum, which included a complete replica of a 1748 East Indiaman.

Afterwards we toured some newly developed areas with interesting modern architecture (plus a few older items).