3-9 September 2011

Saturday we went shopping and found this cute little windmill with a pond and some ducks. This is in the town of Oegstgeest, which is right next to our town and where our office elders live.

There was an antique market, too. Soon the weather will be too cold for outdoor markets. We'll miss them. We bought a blue and white porcelain mug/stein thing to use as a vase. We also ran into the Brubakers there (they LOVE antique markets!).

We drove to the Port of Rotterdam with Elder and Sister Anderson. They live in Rotterdam and agreed to be our guides. Rotterdam was destroyed by Germany during World War II and as a result it was rebuilt into a very modern city. Much of the architecture is quite unusual. This is the Euromast Bridge and is a dramatic landmark.
This weekend was a special celebration called World Port Harbor Day, so it was especially busy with boat traffic and people.

We took a harbor cruise on a boat like this.

The fire boats were out demonstrating their capability to put large quantities of water into the air.

We cruised through this harbor that is the largest dredged harbor in the world.

As we cruised back to the departure point the Euromast Bridge came into view, with the Rotterdam skyline. This bridge is an unusual and beautiful engineering feat, and a point of pride for the city of Rotterdam.

Another view. I think this is the largest span in the world using this engineering style.

One more view.

As we were cruising we saw this amphibious bus. It drives from the land into the water and then cruises thorough the water to a boat landing.

In the distance the bus is exiting the water.

Elder and Sister Anderson as we visited the Holland America ship "Rotterdam". It used to be a cruise ship, but now has been converted to a hotel and restaurants to market cruises. Sister Anderson has been a real help with advice on aging parents as her job before her mission was helping people with their parents. She's been a real blessing.

This afternoon we met Andy Thomas at the Den Haag (The Hague) temple. We did initiatories with him and had then walked into a cute part of town to an Italian restaurant for dinner. He speaks in the Antwerpen Ward Sunday (we'll be there) and enters the MTC in Preston, England next Thursday, 14 months after he was baptized. We had a wonderful visit with him and will hate to say good-bye.