Day 7

Day 7 is back to Amsterdam for a more traditional tour of the city and its history in reference to its architecture and its people. The kids were able to spend a couple of more minutes...did I hear one you say “Oy Vey?”. A few of them still had to pick up some items for loved ones so I am sure that you will appreciate the effort.

After about an hour we reconvene at the meeting place and pick up two new passengers, Robert the official EF Tour photographer and Paul our local Amsterdam guide who is actually from the city of Voorthuizen, where we will be later today.



There are many amazing things about a canal city and until you go to one you just don’t know! Here is one very interesting piece of information about the history of the “XXX” symbol that is so often associated with explicit sex or pornographic materials. The symbols themselves really don’t have anything to do with sex; they are symbols that are found on the coats of arms of the city of Amsterdam.

The crosses have a religious origin as Saint Andrew is said to have been martyred on such a cross. Other people say the 3 crosses stand for the dangers of ancient Amsterdam which were fire, floods and the Black Death, while another story substituted the Black Death with famine. Regardless of the origin of the diagonal crosses or “x’s”, depending on how you perceive them, over a period of time because of Amsterdam’s liberal views and openness about sex they became associated by the “XXX” symbol.

After touring through much of the city of Amsterdam that we were unable to see by foot the previous day we were making our way outside of the main city center. A couple of further interesting facts to make about the city are the buildings, the dyke and damn system, and the newest addition to the city a subway system.
Due to the soft nature of the ground, remember it is all swamp or better yet a large body of water, it is very difficult to build on the land. The first problem was to get land instead of water, hence the use of the windmills. The windmills no longer operate in the city to remove the water by pumping it out through the canals as it is all run through a series of computer based pumping stations.

Many of the oldest homes in the main center of the city are built on either artificial islands or stilts. Therefore because of the unstable nature of both, these homes are referred to as “dancing homes.” They are dancing because they move or sway from time to time. They do not move on a whim but over time the home shifts from side to side. I will some photos from the kids and show you what I mean tomorrow evening.

The newest and most controversial piece of Amsterdam we found out today was the subway system which is still under construction. By the sound of our guide, much of the general population of the city are not in support of the move, but it seems to go going on ahead. You can imagine a city that has pumped out all of its water over the last few hundred years and has very unstable land, is now constructing an underground transportation system. Don’t like the feel of it personally!

From there we went to a traditional cheese farm where both cheese and wooden clogs are made. We had a quick tour of the cheese making area and of course some tasting...scrumptious! I dare say that some of you are getting some cheese for a gift and will also have some stinky cheese smelling clothes to wash when your kids get home. We then moved to the clog making area and were able to see and test a few pairs out...this was a really cool experience for sure...check out the video.



Although our day is not over, the tour is. We wish our guide Paul well wishes and thank him for a great excursion. Now onto Voorthuizen and the tattoo! Unfortunately the drive took longer than the scheduled 1:15 minutes due to heavy Friday afternoon traffic, oh well more time for most of us to power nap to get ready for another long day! Oh yeah I forgot to mention that the tour guide said the average temperature in the Netherlands at this time of year is around 16-18 degrees. Today it is windy, rainy and 7.....”oy vey!!”



We finally arrive in the beautiful town of Voorthuizen. We are just in time for dinner because of the traffic, but I suspect that most others are in the same predicament. Tonight’s meal is on the tattoo grounds and is a buffet. Yep, a buffet for 800 students, teachers and chaperones. Unfortunately, neither Sam nor I did get to have supper.

We have had our first mishap of the tour as the catering company did not label the food being served and Sam tasted a small bit of a sauce on his kabob. Our luck it was peanut based and Sam has a severe allergy to peanuts. After a couple of seconds I asked Sam how he was, he assured me he barely tasted the food: however, better safe than sorry as he did admit to feeling a bit weird and tingling sensations in his lips and throat. Enough of that get out the epi-pen....ya I know not a good scene!

Anyways, to make a long story short and positive, Sam is doing great. The right move was the administering of the epinephrine and getting him to the hospital...so yes if you watched the tattoo video, Sam and I are assuming that is what it looked like because neither one of us were there! The medical system is fast, efficient and they were very helpful. The nurses loved the fact that we were Canadian. Although she will never read this, special thanks goes out to Renatta, who were here last shift because she was suffering from B.O.B. Syndrome(Baby on Board), who was helpful in all ways from making phone calls for me, to waiting on Sam hand and foot. To the Mundy’s, your boy is doing great and I truly apologize for what has happened, it was good to talk to you today Susan.

On a side note, you all can be rest assured that EF Tours is there to work with your kids. Max Mercier, one of EFs key reps, was there with us at the hospital and was immediately getting all insurance information in place and taking care of any logistics with the hospital and such. That gave me time to spend with Sam and make sure he was doing fine, which he is for sure! Sorry to scare people....but in the end, everything turned out ok and it is just another reminder of how important it is to be aware of people around us with severe allergies! Take care all and chat tomorrow, our last day as we head to the Royal Palace in Appledoorn and then directly to Arnhem military cemetery. A great way to end our tour. See you soon!!!

dc( doctor chizzy)