Farewell to Amsterdam, for Now.

We are leaving the house we have called home for 11 days. We are now headed to Amsterdam Central Train Station to meet the boat crew. We will take the train to Breukelen where we get off and take a taxi to Locaboat head quarter in Loosdrecht to get on our houseboat. The next adventure begins.

Apple Tree

When we arrived in Amsterdam this apple tree outside our door was just beginning to bud. Now, as we leave it is in full bloom.

More to follow about our trip once we are settled into our new lodging, the houseboat, with Bob, Laine, Farley, Sue, Wendy and Stewart.

We are not sure what our wireless access will be so our blog postings may not be regular.

Train Ride to Haarlem

We took the train this morning to Haarlem to meet Bob and Laine for lunch. Haarlem is a much quieter city than Amsterdam.

Laine and Bob leading the way to the brewery. The brewery was located in an old church that had been turned into a brewery.

Farmers market. The fruits and vegetables were cheaper here than in the states!!

Selection of cheeses from one of the market sellers.

We went for lunch at a restaurant that was located beside the town windmill and along the canal. The restaurant is to the right of the windmill. We sat outside along the edge of the water and watched the boats travel up and down the canal and the kids and ducks playing along the water's edge.

Large boats had to wait for the draw bridge to open before they could continue traveling down the canal. The canal leads to Amsterdam.

After lunch we took the windmill tour. We learned all about the workings of a windmill. 

Views from the top of the windmill.

This round dome building is the prison, which is in the middle of Haarlam. Holland is in the process of  closing some of their prisons due to a lack of criminals!!! In 2014 Holland had more prision staff than inmates. (9,710 inmates, 9,914 prison staff)

A side canal

Stedelijk Museum- Museum of Modern Art

The main exhibition at the museum was called "The Oasis of Matisse." This is the largest exhibition of Henri Matisse (1869-1954) works in the Netherlands. His work included paintings, sculptures, works in fabric and in paper.  It was amazing the amount of work that he created over his lifetime.

This was the first museum we visited without having to wade through a large crowd of people. We enjoyed being able to walk around at our own pace and view the work at our leisure.

The following are pictures of Matisse's work.