Amsterdam Day 2: Nemo

On Day 2 we decided to visit the NEMO Science Center.  It was a decent walk down the canals and past the train station.  More beautiful views along the way.

Amsterdam commuting is all about the bicycle  Everyone rides bikes.  It doesn't matter what age you are or how cold it is outside.  At the train station rather than have a car park there is a bike park, filled to the brim with bicycles.  Such a healthy approach and it makes for a much quieter, charming city.

The Science Center is the big green building that looks like a ship.  It's actually cased in copper which now has a patina.  To get there you have to cross the bridge over the channel.

The kids standing at a water feature in front of NEMO with a great backdrop of the city behind them.

Insider there were lots of different interactive exhibits.  K making electricity by turning the handle and lighting up small bulbs.

The kids and J at a gravity exhibit.  If they both weigh the same, why does one travel faster?

This one was super cool.  The chair was on a turntable and when the kids held a spinning wheel, the whole chair spun too.

And a pulley system demonstration where the kids sat on chairs and climbed the ropes to lift themselves up.

That night we went out for a traditional dutch meal at Moeders which translates to "Mothers". The place was decorated in wall to wall photos of different people's mothers.  We arrived to find two coloring books and a bag of colored pencils on the table.  I love how European restaurants accommodate children. The kids had sausages while J and I shared a Dutch Ricedish which was a selection of diffeent traditional dutch dishes including Hotchpotch (potatoes and spinach smashed together with a meatball and sausage on top), Sudderviees (stewed beef), Hachee (hashed meat), baked potatoes, boiled potatoes, red cabbage, applesauce and poached pears.  It was all delicious and we were stuffed by the time we left.

Even thought it was cold, we welcomed the 20 min walk back to the apartment to work some of it off.  To see more photos from our trip to Amsterdam, click here.