Amsterdam Day 2

On Thursday (the 6th), we got a lot of walking on. After a french toast breakfast, we were off to see the Ten Boom Home and were able to have a tour of the house. The tour guide lead us to the living room where to shared the Ten Boom's story. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable about the Ten Boom home and their history. The grandfather owned the watch repair business and when he died, the house and business was passed on to the Ten Boom family and Corrie, Betsie and their father lived above the shop. The family truly wanted to help everyone who needed the help during World War II. This Christian family were able to help many Jews and others who were having problems with the Nazi law. The Ten Boom house had a 'hiding place' in Corrie's bedroom which was at the top of the home. It was neat to finally see the place after researching and learning a lot about it. Both Corrie's father and sister died during the war but Corrie was able to survive after terrible experiences in the concentation camp. After the war, she was able to travel the world sharing God's love and forgiveness. Now, the Ten Boom still has a clock shop on the first level and the home is a musuem.

After lunch and a break, we took a train ride back to Amsterdam and then to a windmill. We learned all of about the process of windmills. There were differnt uses for windmills, not just for pumping out water. In the past, windmills were used to signal a wedding or if it was going the way, it signaled a death in the town. We were also able to climb all the way to the top of the windmill and saw an amazing view of the town.

The last big part of our day was a boat tour of the Amsterdam canals around the city. The tour guide said that there are about 1,200 different bridges in Amsterdam. The water is half salf and half fresh water also known as 'sweet' water. I personally really enjoyed the boat trip. It was so nice to relax and look at all of the cool and pretty sites from the boat view. Today was a good day in Europe but there is nothing like a good nights sleep after a busy day.

-Becky :)