Wow, Reflections is beautiful!

It looks like you enjoyed a nice day with the family. Your grandsons are adorable. Love them eating their apples.

@CarrieAnn40: about 2.5 hours by car from Amsterdam, difficult to reach by public transport

Those are really lovely photos. Cute kids, too. :-)

I just discovered your photos. They're GREAT! It looks like you had a wonderful time and perfect weather. I really liked the sky and clouds. I had to Google Earth the park to see where it was located, and get an idea of the area you were exploring. BJ would like to know how long the boat batteries last.

Robyn :)>-

Hi Robyn, the batteries last a day. At least on the boats we rented. Someone took our boat straight out again, so they must do more than 8 hours on a charge.
They provide oars just in case :).

If you fancy giving one a go in Amsterdam have a look at boaty.com, bootjehureninamsterdam.com, canalmotorboats.com or mokumbootverhuur.nl.

Oh and I just read about holyboot.com which has them to go through Waterland, above Amsterdam. That sounds interesting.

Thanks, Barbara, for the links. I wish I had known about these a couple years ago, when BJ & I brought 13 of our friends together in Amsterdam, particularly the boat rental in Holysloot, which looks like you can access via the GVB bus! Most of our group get together regularly to canoe/kayak the rivers and streams in PA, and they wanted to do something on the water. We all did the St. Nicholas Boat Club ride, and some of them took the hydrofoil out to the coast, but the Holyboot boat rental in the Waterland area would have been perfect for an outing.

Another reason to return to Amsterdam some day.

Robyn :)>-

<<I hope you like the photos, and that I encourage some of you to escape Amsterdam occasionally.>>

We were never really city type tourists, and I think we spent a day maybe two in Amsterdam. Our two week trip began on a Tuesday in mid April, 2009 and we stayed in a wonderful apartment in Zandvoort that overlooked the sand dunes national park.

Wednesday we went to see the tulips at Keukenhof and walked our feet off. What gorgeous display of bulbs in bloom.

Thursday we took the steam train from Hoorn to Medemblik. A scenic, relaxing, and easy on the foot blisters ride.

Friday was spent in Old Delft and Den Haag visiting museums and churches. Saturday we stopped in Lilystad and picked up several items at the market and then continued on to Urk which w a charming village. We also bought smoked eels there.

Sunday we took the train to Haarlem and then a bus to Katwijk where we took a three hour boat trip on canals and lakes. Beautiful scenery and lots of windmills.

Monday we were in Amsterdam where we also took a boat ride on the canals, very nice. Went to museums but I had a severe back pain and that cut our visit short. The next day was spent in Haarlem where we visited more museums and enjoyed the city. Pretty and not crowded.

Wednesday brought us to Leiden, again very enjoyable and stopped in Haarlem for dinner on the way back to Zandvoort.
Thursday we went to Zaanze Schans to see the old mills and homes that had been preserved. A lovely spot.

Friday were in Vollendam where we bought more smoked eels. We then took the ferry across to Marken where we walked quite a bit as it was quaint and scenic.

Saturday we went to Enkhuisen and visited the outdoor museum where the old buildings from the area were saved from destruction and reconstructed to typify an old Dutch fishing village. Very enjoyable, compact, and not a lot of walking.
We stopped at the information center where a woman googled the name Haje, DW mother's maiden name, and found many instances in Holland. DW wondered if the Haje family could originally be Dutch and not Deutsch.

Sunday back to Haarlem to see the floral floats from the flower parade. They were magnificent.

Monday was raining so we cleaned the apartment and packed. That evening we went into town and had a delicious farewell dinner at Meijershof Restaurant. Tuesday morning Herr Grote drove us to the station where we got the train to the airport. It had been a wonderful two weeks and all the local foods were delicious.

Hetismij, I didn't mean to hijack your post. My intention was to just list the places we visited outside Amsterdam.

The Weerribben area is also great in the winter when it freezes hard enough. When all the little canals and lakes are frozen, it is great to go iceskating there.

The small canalmotorboats.com as mentioned by hetismij2 is an interesting option if you travel to Amsterdam as a couple or a small group. If your travel in a bigger group you might want to try www.sloephurenamsterdam.biz or www.boot-amsterdam.com. If you do not want to spend any money you can also cross the IJ waters behind central station on one of the bigger ferries. The crossing is for free and the view of Amsterdam is very nice. Another idea would be to rent a boat on the river Vecht which runs just outside of Amsterdam. The river and its scenery is incredible and it is very much worth trying. We booked a boat trip with our 5 kids for a day and it turned into one of the nicest days ever. You can for instance rent a small classic boat from www.boothurenvecht.net If you go out the Vecht, also check out the Auguste restaurant in Maarssen and the Nijenrode castle on the Vecht river banks. You can visit these places by boat.

One can also try to join some of the locals who often go boating. In the past there used to be the St Nicolas Boat cruise, but that no longer exists. These days one could try Boat Like a Local with www.boomchicago.nl/you-come-to-us/ or one could join a group of young social group that invite strangers, tourists and expats to come boating every Thursday afternoon if the weather permits in order to get to know each other. They use the large open boat that belongs to www.tandarts.com

Another little Amsterdam boating company that is worth while checking out is www.sloep-amsterdam.com (run by ladies only!)

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