Holland

Friday, of course, Anthony had to spend the day working so the kids and I visited Amsterdam's ARTIS zoo. I have loved zoos since I was a child and have visited them all over the world. This zoo is unique in the fact that it is located in the center of the city, not very big--only about two city blocks but very well planned. Buildings line the perimeter that hold the aquarium, planetarium, museum, etc and the "yards" and additional buildings are scattered throughout the interior. It is also a very old zoo and the architecture is from that period. We had a beautiful day, the zoo nearly to ourselves and the kids enjoyed getting to run free for a change. (We always hold onto them so tight in these cities).


Check out the unique little stroller we rented. It only lasted a couple of hours and then we checked it back in but the kids got a kick out of taking turns.

I have never been to a zoo where we could get SO close to the animals. If we had allowed, many could have reached out and bitten us.

Check out this litte monkey...

This is what Europeans call a Longhorn...

We had lunch at their brand new cafeteria--very fun.

After dad got through working for the day we went out and had dinner, enjoyed seeing the Amsterdam nightlife and headed back to the hotel for a good night sleep.

I knew that Bella had been working on an ear infection earlier in the week with all her congestion but she blew out her tube on this morning and the draining started in earnest. We tried to keep her ear covered while outside and got her to the doctor on Monday. (Check next post for results.)