The Gypsy Caravan 2023

Friday, October 24, 2025

Finding Old Photos: Netherlands Edition

Given that life is rather dull these days, let me take you on another "Finding Old Photos" journey, this time to the Netherlands. Alas, no dazzling fall colors, as in the last post. We visited in the spring. But color? Oh yes -- there was color!

Our trip to the Netherlands in 2018 was a first for both me and Rick and it was a memorable time in a lovely country. We were only there for about four days but crammed a good deal into that time -- a concert at Concertgebouw; a stop at the wonderful Rijksmuseum where we were lucky enough to see "The Night Watch" before it went out for restoration; Anne Frank's house; a visit to the UNESCO heritage sight Kinderdijk (on a gloomy day, alas); Delft; several small towns, and we were lucky to be there in Amsterdam during "Queen's Day."

 

It seemed like a good visit to share with you! 

We stayed with friends outside Amsterdam. This was the view from their garden.


Amsterdam (and all of Holland, I think!) have wonderful canals. This is one of them.


You can catch a concert at Concertgebouw almost any time of day. We were lucky to meet a couple who gave us their absent friends' tickets and took us to the donor room prior to the concert!


Queen's Day honors the ruler, then a Queen. People, buildings, everything is decked out in orange!


At Queen's Day there were loads of street games and we liked this "slot machine" with people inside holding up apples, bananas and fruit signs when you pulled the lever!


Queen's Day included a massive boat parade. This one was so filled with revelers I'm surprised it didn't sink!

I was captivated by the shutters on this Amsterdam building.


A visit to Delft turned out to be a fascinating day. I loved this interesting door.

I also loved the Delft pottery shops with their blue and white pieces. Yes, I did damage.


Another from that Delft pottery store. Dangerous place.


Kinderdijk is a UNESCO Heritage Site. The day we went was gloomy but it was fascinating.


And no, I've never seen more windmills in my life.


I was very tempted to alter the sky to blue! 


We visited the small towns of Edam and Volendam. These shoes in Edam made me smile!


This photo captured my heart. The cats reminded me of Gypsy.

I leave you with one of my favorite things about the Netherlands! When we ventured into a grocery in Amsterdam, I'd never seen such a large selection of cheese in my life and I don't think I have since. The one below was a small shop in Edam.

Wheels of Edam and Gouda cheese. 

And yes! We indulged! Thanks for coming along on this Netherlands edition of Finding Old Photos. Wonderful what I'll find next?

(If you would like to see older posts from the Netherlands trip you can find them at these links:  Queen's DayRijksmuseum  / Vermeer Center in Delft  /  Delft  /  Kinderdijk  /  Edam  /  Volendam  

Sharing with:   Love Your Creativity   

52 comments:

  1. Dear Jeanie, if this is a second comment I apologize. I also love ❤️ the photo with the cats ๐Ÿˆ
    What a lovely place. Beautiful photos and I think the Anne Frank House is near that canal?
    Thank you ๐Ÿ˜Š so much for sharing, dear friend.

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  2. I would love to travel to the Netherlands! Great post!

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  3. Happy memories of a visit to a lovely - and enlightened - country.

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  4. My favorite photos are the gloomy day windmills: wonderful. I smiled to see the wooden shoes, too. I grew up in a town very near Pella, Iowa, which is a Dutch community. They also have windmills, tulips, terrific Dutch bakeries, and a Tulip Time, with a parade. My high school band always marched in the parade, and believe me: it was a challenge to survive that experience. We marched while wearing wooden shoes!

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  5. Your first passage made me breathless already!
    Oh, but so nice with the free tickets!
    LOL, I remember a game of American Football here in Braunschweig, Germany. Eurobowl, Netherlands.
    For the first time: Security!!!
    Why???
    In soccer these two are "enemies", hooligans go at each other, but, hey, this is American Football!
    In the halftime break we all mixed, mingled and had fun!
    After only those security guys who enjoyed the game stayed. To Orange! Braunschweig won and still we ALL had fun!
    Also I love that color :-)
    Wow on the boat parade! And the architecture.
    Now I wonder. My parents got such blue-whilte dishes for their wedding - only put out on very special occasions. We have no relation... oh, wait! Platt! East Frisia has that, too!
    Oh and cheese, yum!
    Fun post! :-)
    I was there once. Lay in the grass by the ocean, reading a book. A seagull shit on my back. Brown.
    And don´t you laugh! (OK, I did myself as everybody was laughing! It was on my skin and there were showers.)

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  6. You fit a great deal into those few days! What a great trip!

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  7. You remind me that I used to have a number of students with Dutch names in Sarnia. Soil there is very boggy, and the Dutch seemed to know what to do with it. At least, I think that is part of the reason.

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  8. A best friend was Dutch groing up..lives in the Netherlands.. she visited a few yrs ago.Itwas lovely.I developed a great fondness for speculaas.gouda and salty balcl licorice as a young girl because of her family:) Dad was a Captain KLM mom a flight attendant.Fab family.

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  9. Mooi.

    That means beautiful in Dutch! ๐Ÿ˜

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  10. I was teasing Steve about his so American way of cramming experiences and sights in you no time at all. And here you come saying hold my wooden shoes!

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  11. ...Jeanie, thanks for this lovely tour. I've only been to the airport on my way to Germany!

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  12. I've never (yet) made it to the Netherlands, but it's on my list. I really enjoyed these photos. It looks amazing. And you did many things I would want to do too, so that makes looking at these photos even more fun. Not that I want your life to be dull lately, but thanks for finding the time to share these. Happy weekend to you also. hugs-Erika

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  13. Love the windmill pictures, they are so different than the ones we have here.

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  14. The 1st Canal pictures is beautiful. Makes me wanna paint. It looks like a pretty country. I enjoy the pictures. Thanks for sharing your memories.

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  15. Great photos! We've been to Amsterdam but I haven't been outside it at all, so seeing Delft and Kinderdijk was interesting. We need to go back and explore more!

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  16. It's fun to remember travels. Thanks for a glimpse of the Netherlands. I have visited some of those places too and they are quite wonderful.

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  17. Wonderful photos...they brought back memories of my first visit to Europe and the Netherlands. Karen (Back Road Journal)

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  18. What a great set of photos! On this side of the state there is a heavy influence of Dutch culture complete with a windmill, tulip farms and wooden shoes. Cheese is one thing I wouldn't have guessed would be iconic in the Netherlands. Travel is good for the soul, even if we only travel vicariously through the photos of friends. Thanks.

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  19. Truly enjoyable post ๐Ÿฅฐ

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  20. Oh I loved seeing these photos! It looks like a wonderful trip.

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  21. I love the idea of sharing old photos- these are beautiful and look like so much fun. I enjoyed seeing them. I have never really been to Amsterdam (only a stopover in the airport). It's on my list.

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  22. I love your windmill photos. I know we once took a boat ride to see the dikes and windmills — I had to search my blog to remember which trip we were there. It was in 2022, and we also were there on a very foggy day.

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  23. oh Jeanie I love these photos! I would love to visit Amsterdam one day. how wonderful. thank you so much for sharing. :)

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  24. This looks like a great trip, and great photos, too -- you certainly made the most of your four days! The swan on the canal reminded me of the years we lived in a suburb of The Hague where on our daily walks we always fed the swans. And the windmills against the moody sky? That's exactly how I remember them!

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  25. Great pix! I,ve been to the NL twice ~ loved it both times! I especially liked your pic of the shutters.
    Hugs ~
    bobbie

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  26. what a great post to share today!! i save all my pictures in folders on my computer. even if i never share them here again, i always enjoy going through them. so nice to see the bright spring flowers today!!

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  27. My goodness these photos are fun to look through. The mills on the water, could be in print!!! Stunning.

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  28. P.S. In addition to visiting the Rijksmuseum, something I've always wanted to do in Amsterdam is attend its annual Prinsengrachtconcert where the orchestra performs from a pontoon in front of the Hotel Pulitzer and many of the audience attend in boats, crowding the canals. Maybe worth a second trip to Amsterdam?

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  29. Oh Jeanie what a wonderful time you must have had. I would love to go there...such interesting sites...the wind mills, the delft pottery and I loved the cute wooden shoes with bulbs. Thanks for sharing and have a great day.
    Kari @ Me and My Captain

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  30. We've been to the Netherlands for a few days many years ago too.
    I like the pictures, all look great, but the picture with the 2 cats should be framed and displayed. It's just so beautiful, a snippet of real life. I love it.

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  31. Hello Jeanie,
    Wonderful photos of Amsterdam! It was a great look back, happy travel memories. Hubby and I had to cancel a trip to Amsterdam when he got sick. It is nice to see Amsterdam through your eyes. Have a great day and happy week ahead.

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  32. What a lovely post and photos Jeannie. It is a beautiful city. I visited years ago, and we went to Keukenhof when the tulips were blooming, what a spectacular sight.

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  33. Fascinating for sure! I would have thought that boat would have sunk for sure myself too. Love all of those windmills, the shutters and those delft candles. Janice

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  34. Love the photos! Some of my relatives are from Holland. I have a small delft collection. The photo of the cats with the man and newspapers is amazing.

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  35. Wow! These are some brilliant photos. I had to laugh at all of the people in the boat. I really love the street with all of the shutters open. Those candles are amazing. All in all a very lovely group of photos.

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  36. Lovely photos, reminds me of our trip to Amsterdam some years ago.

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  37. This was such a fun post to read, especially since you covered so much more than just Amsterdam! I'd never heard of the "slot machine" street game with people inside that is such a wonderfully unique Queen's Day detail that truly captures the celebratory spirit.

    Speaking of the gloomy day at Kinderdijk... honestly, the grey sky gives the windmill photos such a dramatic, classic Dutch atmosphere. I think it makes them look even more authentic. It's easy to want a sunny day, but the shadows and reflections you caught are actually quite beautiful.

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  38. Delicious photos, what a great trip and love the colors! Sandi

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  39. I love those candles! I would have bought a lot of hem!

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  40. I enjoyed all the windmills and the Dutch shoes. But all the people in that boat! Yikes!
    Great trip with lots of memories! Thanks for sharing!

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  41. Thanks for sharing Amsterdam with us. I love all their canals and windmills.

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  42. The Netherlands is a beautiful country. We hosted a student from the Netherlands for a full year of high school. We remain family to this day. We have spent a good bit of time in Amsterdam and the surrounding areas, and it's absolutely a beautiful country. Thanks for sharing all your beautiful photos with us. Brings back good memories.

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  43. This is a dream trip for me! I am fascinated by the Netherlands. Poor Wyatt has had to endure lots of different unit studies centered around them. And I say endure but he enjoyed them. Lol. I love the photo of the man and the cats and the dog! That could be in a magazine or a gallery!

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  44. So beautiful! I could do damage in that delf store also.
    Cathy

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  45. What an amazing trip. Love the photos where you captured some of the little things about the country...especially the guy reading the paper with the dog and twin cats! A trip to remember. :)

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  46. What a lovely visit to Amsterdam, Jeanie. I love seeing the windmills, canals, and the wooden shoes! I have only been there briefly, not long enough to really sightsee! Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos!

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  47. Lovely look back! I only passed through Holland by bus in February 1970 and was struck by the cleanliness. My sister’s son married his half-Dutch fiancรฉe in Amsterdam, and their 2 children were also born there.

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  48. Wonderful photographs. Love those canals. We have been to Amsterdam twice but both were very short trips.. one was just a layover.

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  49. I was lucky enough to visit Amsterdam (and a couple other towns) 3 years in a row when my daughter lived there. It was one of my favourite cities, very relaxed and lively at the same time. I love cheese so we also ate a lot of it. Blue pottery is a favourite too, but we also have a lot of blue pottery in Portugal. I remember that building with the big red shutters and have a similar photo. Thanks for sharing Jeanie. The photo with the cats and dog is lovely ๐Ÿ˜

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  50. Isn't the royal family of Netherland sur-name Orange?

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