On Tuesday, April 13 of 2010, we - Sarah and Anna - departed on an adventure of a life time. Delta flight 242 carried us and our 20 pound carry-on bags across the Atlantic Ocean and landed us at the Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam of the Netherlands - continent: Europe.

Our plan? To backpack by train across Holland, Belgium, France, Switzerland and Italy in two weeks. They say it's crazy, but we had to find out for ourselves. We had about 2,370 dollars each to spend - some in euros, but our goal was to not come home broke. So we intended to do what we wanted to do, but be thrifty about it. We had the first 6 nights of rooms booked, then we'd play it by ear.

Day one began with no sleep, an eternally long plane ride and an entrance into the unknown...



First mission: figure out the transportation system and the buses...

We made it to Haarlem without much difficulty. The people are friendly and willing to help. I'm sure we looked pathetic, tired and lost. It was a little confusing, but after waiting for the wrong bus at line 4, we waited for the right bus at line 4, and finally made it to what we thought was the right bus stop, which was actually the wrong bus stop. That made our walk a little longer to reach Paula's B&B, but we did find it and, WOW!, it felt good to lose our backpacks and get freshened up!


first bus ride and figuring things out...


...it's Haarlem!



...looking for our B&B.

Ah! We found it!

...one of Haarlem's beautiful canals.

...overly exhausted but enjoying the town...

All I wanted to do was to crawl into one of Paula's amazingly soft beds and take a nap, but we had to stay awake until at least 8 o'clock, so we hit the town. We walked and walked and walked. That was the first day of many that we walked and walked and walked. :)

There are bikes everywhere!

Everyone rode bikes from toddling children to wobbly old men. It was lovely! Cobble stone streets everywhere and beautiful old buildings!

St. Bavo Church

We walked, oh, I think I already mentioned that, and just took in the sights, sounds and smells -that sometimes were not so pleasant.

... toured the incredible Molen de Adrian mill.

...enjoyed the colors and architecture.

...toured the Corrie Ten Boom home.

Just to be in her exact same home, still with a watch shop in front, and to see the fake walls that hid so many people was amazing!

Ah, finally a break and a bite to eat.

And some people watching -so entertaining! :D

We feel and are treated like locals here. People even speak Dutch to us in passing. I guess we don't look American. It's fun, but sad that we can't understand them.

Can I go to sleep yet?

We did get these buses figured out! They are a great way to get around.

My soft, and cuddly friend that I found in our own private sitting room.

BED...finally...wow!

And thankful hearts that God is with us where ever we are, and so many people at home are praying for us.

Also, loved finding and reading notes from Sage and Tera! Thank you! :)