We were up at 5:45 am this morning to get the kids up and out the door to catch a bus to Rotterdam for their International basketball tournament today. The bus brought them home at 9 pm tonight, and they are heading back again tomorrow morning bright and early!!

Luckily Rotterdam is only an hour or so by car away from our home, so we were able to see many of the games. Having 2 kids in two different age divisions, helped to spread out the games so that we got to see 4 matches. I loved seeing them play and talking with the other parents, and was exhausted by all the loud whistles, bouncing balls and fluorescent lights. I’m getting old!!

While they went on to watch more games and to attend a mandatory social event, Jeff and I went to explore Gouda before heading back home.

Here are some pictures from this quaint little town that we hope to visit again soon.

I love red doors and this one is from 1620!!

Cool architectural details on the buildings that help maintain the old structures.

Love the canal houses and their reflections on the water. So pretty despite the cold, grey skies.

These markers are in front of homes and are all over the town and show you where Jewish people used to live. It tells you when they were born and when they were taken by the Nazis to concentration camps and when they died. You can’t help but cry and feel for them and their families and the injustice that happened to them. One part of town had single white roses with a paper name tag tied to each individual rose and laid on top of the markers. There were also small white rocks placed on top, which is a Jewish memorial tradition to let people know they are thinking of them. They used to be used to weigh down letters that loved ones would leave on the grave markers. I hope I captured this memory properly as I learned about this when we visited the Luxembourg cemetery.

Gouda town church in front of a canal with a goose floating by. So peaceful.

Angelic door art, with canal houses in the paint reflection.

Colorful shutters and art on the side of the town hall in the town square.

A working windmill in town. So cool to see and hear.

Another view of the town hall that was built in the 15th century.

Beautiful Gouda cats in the window.

Jeff and I had a great time just strolling through Gouda for an hour and a half. We saw so much walking alone. We found a really cool beer shop that was open for Jeff. He was stoked to find such a great variety of hard to find picks, and the owner was so friendly. We will definitely come back to explore more of Gouda another day.

Thank goodness we chose to stop before just going home after the games, because we were both really tired. I’m thankful that we pushed on and took the time instead of being “lazy.”

To end the night, before gathering all the kids, we stopped at a new trattoria in Amstelveen for dinner. What a small world… The owner is from Palermo, Italy, where my Grandmother was born and where my parents just visited. We had such a great time with them and made new friends. At the end of a delicious, spontaneous dinner, they brought us complimentary, frosty cold limoncello shots.

Life is good.

I hope you had a beautiful day!

Goodnight.