Our trip to Western Holland
We started off early at 2.15am from the school, saying goodbye to our parents with bleary eyes, and wondering what the day would bring. It wasn’t long before we were laughing, joking and snacking our way to Krakow airport, where we boarded our flight and watched the ground falling away from us with excited cries of delight. Then the air hostess told us they could hear us from the flight cabin…
As the sun rose, we saw a flat and very green country from out the window - Holland! The trains were very tall, yellow and super fast, we were definitely impressed. The people seem so friendly and happy here, even though the weather is grey and a bit miserable. And they all speak such excellent English…
When we arrived in Amsterdam, we got even more excited when we got to the hotel and found our rooms. So much fun to be had with friends - downstairs we had arcade machines, a snooker table, even a mini supermarket with self-service! Then we went out to the NEMO Museum, where we had the best time on the five-storey interactive science exhibits. They showed us a chain-reaction experiment which had all sorts of gizmos and gadgets in a long chain, going up three floors. We cheered when it set off a rocket at the end!
The next day, we headed off for the Corpus Science Museum in Leiden, where we took a journey into the human body. The place was incredible, with all parts of our body shown in detail, as if we were walking through it! The walls, the floors, even the smells and sounds. It was wonderful to discover such new information, and see what happens inside our organs up close. Unforgettable!
Next we went to the Leiden Naturalis Science Museum, where we explored biology, evolution and natural history in a beautifully ornate modern building that towered another five floors! We handled ancient fossils, animal skins and plumage in workshops, met the remains of a Homo erectus woman, saw huge skeletons of dinosaurs, and marvelled at strange and rare gemstones from deep within the Earth.
The next day we went to Madurodam, a fun miniature exhibit with interactive stations. We saw all the sites of Holland in tiny versions, from the castles to the airport, and then saw a show that told the story of the Dutch settlers in America. Did you know that New York used to be called New Amsterdam? We didn’t!
Later that day we went to the pier at Den Haag, and walked up it to see the long, sandy beach. It was a bit chilly, but we still had fun. Before too long we were back in Amsterdam having a well earned rest with pizza and movies. The next day it was up again with a quick breakfast, and back to the airport in Eindhoven to catch the plane home again. What a ride!
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