Amsterdam day 2

Another busy day :) We visited the children's science center, NEMO, first thing. A great hands on museum, which had some interesting areas I hadn't seen in the ones stateside...for example, it had an assembly line, where kids could work all the different areas and see how the individual pieces worked together. It also had a whole floor dedicated to sex education and another to psychology. We then went to the Jewish History Museum and its associated childrens museum, which was in a in a complex of four former Ashkenazi synagogues. After that we enjoyed the botanical gardens, which has a great setup that lines up the plants according to evolutionary lines. You can follow the plants from ancestor up.

We then went to the Rembrandt museum, which was my favorite. It is in his home, and has been furnished as naturally as possible. His works, and those of his teachers and students, line the walls. And in his studio, contemporary artist work using the paints he would have; we saw how to make the paints from the minerals as Rembrandt did. Very nice.

We wandered around a flee market, and made our way to the Olde Kirk. Over 5 centuries the architecture has been added to, and it is Amsterdams ooldest monument. Rembrandts wife, Saskia is also buried there (instead of having a cemetary, all of the people are buried under the church floors).

We saw so much...but it was not at all rushed. We had time to wander the streets, sit and enjoy the sun on the canals...it was a great trip!

Amsterdam day 1

We were very productive during our time in Amsterdam. If anyone else comes, I recommend getting an I Amsterdam pass...it is a pass that gives you free access to alot of the toursity spots, free foods, discounts, etc. It saved us quite a lot...but would only be valuable if you plan to pack as much in as we did!

We went to the Diamant Museum (and saw skulls imbedded with diamonds...and lots of tacky but expensive jewelry). The Van Gogh museum was very nice, and it encorporated other artist exhibits nicely. There were some very beautiful Redon paintings (the Budha and figure sitting under a tree I was very drawn to), and a great picasso exhibit downstairs. The Rijk museum is in a beautiful and massive building, but it is very small and cramped inside.

After all this productive museum going, we then took a cruise through the canals. Highly recommended :) We then went to the Foam photography museum, which is very hipster. The first exhibit is random photos of a horse ass, or a girl eating an apple, while a child voices spells curse words over a speaker. And then there is a large exhibit that is supposed to be more real than reality, but most the images look very posed.

To get a better touch of reality, we then visited the Anne Frank House. It is amazing...Otto Frank requested that the annex remain unfurnished, so it is an empty space, with just remnants of the tenants...like the photos Anne posted to decorate her room. The original diaries were also there.

And to finish the day we wandered the red light district and coffee shops. It is so open; women have boxes on the main streets, where they can advertise their goods. Men travel in flocks...it seems they need to get up the courage, then they break away from the main group and bolt into one of the girls windows. They also negotiate terms on the street, before the curtains are drawn.

Marc visit!

Marc came and visited!!!! I think he brought spring with him...the day he arrived, you could smell spring in the air, and it is the first time I saw tulips springing up :) They are coming out all over now!

We spent the night in Pieterburen, and on Sunday Marc shadowed one of the vets at the center. It was perfect timing...we have a very rare case at the center. It is an adult common seal (usually we only see pups) who has a large but superficial wound. It appears to have caused sepsis, and exhibited some neurological problems. So Marc saw lots of goodies....placing an IV line into the spinal sinuses, neuro evaluations, and the like. The seal was in terrible shape, but is responding very well now to treatment.

And Sunday night we went on our adventure to Amsterdam :)

Baby seal overdose

So many baby seal photos so little time!

I have slacked and haven't been posting all the cute baby seal photos...so time for an overdose!

Germany- Day 2

I spent most of the day helping out at the wildlife rehab center, taking care of the quarentine patients. Roosters, hedgehogs, a few wild cats, and lots and lots of rabbits. I also visited her other facilities on the island...a boarding facility for pets, a wild cat sanctuary where stray cats are fed, sheltered, and vaccinated, a ranch for the healthy agricultural animals (and i bottle fed baby goats, melts your heart), and a seal education center. Right now, it is illegal to rescue seals that are stranded/ill. If a seal is found on the beach, signs are posted to call hunters who decide if the seal lives or dies. The seal center is an education outpost teaching why it is important to rehab seals, and explaining the work done in Pieterburen and how it could be brought to the island. The end of the day we drove around the island, watched sunset over the ocean, and walked through the old villages and churches. Some of the buildings date back to the early 1600's and are in great shape. We went into the largest church on the island at night, there was only one candle, very spooky.

Overall it was a wonderful trip!!! The island reminded me very much of florida...a different sense of time seems to exist on islands no matter where in the world you are. Very touristy to.

Germany - Day 1

I went on a surprise visit to Germany the past few days. One of the employees here, who only comes in a few days a month, is a vet who runs several animal care facilities on the German island Fohr. We drove up early monday morning, and took time to visit a delicious bakery. We took a ferry to the island, and visited her veterinary practice and wildlife rehab center. The winter is slower, and mostly cats and rabbits, but she is also caring for several agricultural animals as well as wild birds and hedgehogs. The wild hedgehogs are massive compared to those in the states (they reach about 1 kg). The word for hedghog in German is igel (pronounced "eagle"). They have a safe place for some of the wild hedgehogs to hibernate at the center, and they kept telling me they had eagles sleeping under tarps. It was very confusing until they realised they used the german word for hedgehog. We then hit the beach and played with her dogs (Jodi loves to swim :) ). She also has two horses, and we went horseback riding through the main city (first time bareback, I loved it! You have a much better connection that way). Absolutely wonderful!