A Day at the Beach...in February!

(posted by John)

In honor of another snowstorm that is bearing down on Minnesota today, we wanted to share our day at the beach last Sunday, February 13th.  We live approximately 20 miles from the North Sea, so the trip is short.   One unique aspect of the trip is that about the last 1/2 mile is uphill in order to get to the ocean.  Most of the Netherlands sits below sea level, which you don't realize on a day-to-day basis until you drive to the beach.  Too bad it was only about 45 degrees outside because the beach was huge and beautiful.  We can't wait to go back when it's warmer.  Also dogs are allowed off-leach so Bella will be a frequent beach goer as well! 

The signature Feriancek team "Jump"

The beach makes us happy!

After visiting the beach we went to the town of Haarlem (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haarlem) an historic town dating back to the Middle Ages. We ate dinner in Haarlem at a restaurant that had great hamburgers (Ryan's request) and was located directly on the square in the center of town.  Like so many cities in Europe, Haarlem has beautiful archetecture, great restautants, and lots of fun things to do.  That being said, all the cities we've been to so far are truly unique in their own way, which makes exploring quite enjoyable.  We look forward to having many visitors that will share some of these experiences with us.  Plenty of room at the Hotel Feriancek!  Take care, John

Matthew in Haarlem

Jen's Cute New Car

(posted by John)

Most families in Holland own only car families.  The public transportation is great, gas is expensive ($8/gallon), and cars are expensive which makes one think before purchasing a second car.  Given where my office is located (City of Breukelen if you are curious), public transportation is not a great option for me so we decided we needed a second car (my company provided us our first car).  Jen had been driving a minivan for the past 10 years which although practical for moving kids, gas prices and the size of parking spaces ruled out a minivan in Europe.  So we settled on something practical (4 doors, seats 5), cute (red), European (made by Renault), and much to Jen's delight, a stick shift!  The result is a very fuel efficient 2004 Renault Modus.  Keep you fingers crossed for us that it runs for a while!

John