must-sees of paris

we spent many hours touring the louvres's most famous pieces. mahala was impressed with the crowds at the mona lisa- but she did see it! and then we saw notre dame cathedral and finally rode the escalators at the pompidou center to view paris from up high.

sunrise to sunset in france

our first full day in paris was a full one! mahala wanted to see the sun rise at the eiffel tower so we woke up early, grabbed some chocolate croissants and jumped on the metro. and we made it! it was a beautiful morning. then we boarded the train for a 30 minute ride to versailles, palace of the kings and queens of france.

brussels, belgium

we made a quick stop in brussels on train ride to paris. many chocolate shops and fries greeted us. we walked around the historic areas including the main square, a famous heritage site, with many ornate buildings.

ghent, belgium

our first train ride took us to belgium to the small town of ghent. it is a university town and the vegetarian capital of europe, 30 minutes north of brussels. very walkable and extremely scenic with many towers and ornate flemish buildings. we walked into town from our air bnb apartment. we had one drizzly morning but it passed after 30 minutes or so. we toured the castle of the counts, climbed the belfry for views of the city and saw a famous painting in one of the many cathedrals. we enjoyed traditional waffles and fries - the best we've ever had!

when in holland...

...must see windmills! we took a day trip by bus to zaanse schans to see an old mill town. the wind mills still operate to show tourists the traditional methods of making oil and sawing wood. a beautiful sunny day out in the country was a relaxing change from bustling amsterdam.

first stop amsterdam

we landed in amsterdam at 9:30 am and did our best to stay up the whole day. we went on a boat ride to tour the many canals and then checked into our air bnb apartment. we then became familiar with the trams and headed to dam square and to wander the streets of the city. we also toured the anne frank house and the van gogh museum. we have never seen so many bikes as we did in amsterdam, home to the largest bike parking lot in the world!

quinn's moving on to 7th grade