Cleveland Rocks!

Bill and I just returned from a little getaway to Cleveland. We had such a great time together. We don't often go without at least one or both of the kids in tow so this was especially nice for an old married couple like us. Both Grace and Dan were busy and chose not to go so Dan played babysitter. He and Grace got along just fine. They actually do like one another! MOST of the time! Oh, and they kept the pets alive and well which is an added plus! *smirk*

We stayed in a hotel downtown and wow! It was absolutely gorgeous! I love that Cleveland has preserved their older buildings and this hotel is in one such place. Housed in the old Cleveland National Bank building, it has been rehabbed without losing one whit of it's delicious charm!

Our room was huge! The ceilings were 15 feet tall and we had a small sitting area with the TV, a kitchenette and a large bath. The refinished hardwood floors were beautiful!

Isn't this lobby something?

The ceilings were nothing short of glorious!

Oh did I do a happy dance when I saw these old elevators. This made me so happy!

And yes! I am a geek! *smile*

Just some incredibly beautiful architecture in the downtown area...

Many beautiful churches...

...and Official City buildings.

And their downtown parks are numerous and what wonderful art work...

Then down to the lakeshore...

...where you will find the "Dawg Pound"...

...and a little place called The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!

No photos allowed beyond the lobby area but believe me...

...the museum is fabulous! We had the best time just looking and listening and reading...

and yup. We got to be there for the big Springsteen event...the opening of the "From Asbury Park to the Promised Land" exhibit. It was incredible.

And your tour is not yet over! Tomorrow I will share with you our visit to the "A Christmas Story" House and Museum, as well as take you along while we dine at a restaurant we saw on "Diners, Dive Ins and Dives" with Guy Fieri. Oh what a great time we had at Geraci's!

More on those tomorrow...

Wishing all of you a sweet, sweet week.

Much love!

Springtime in Amsterdam

Our family visited Amsterdam in early April, 2005. It was a dream of mine to see the city and visit the Anne Frank Huis. I never dreamed I would one day share that experience with my own daughter. Although she had only been with us for a few short months, she was intrigued, interested and remembers it all clearly. Although Daniel and Bill were moved by this place, for girls, for women, it just always seemed so easy to put ourselves in Anne's place. It was so for me. I read and re-read the diary so many times throughout my youth and still, even now, re-read it once every year.

West Kerk Church

The Oude Kerk ("Old Church") is Amsterdam’s oldest parish church, consecrated in 1306. Rembrandt was a frequent visitor to the church and his children were all christened here.

I just love the juxtaposition of the old and new in this photo...so like Amsterdam itself.

The city seems to thrive on its mix of old and new and, despite hordes of tourists, still manages to feel quintessentially Dutch. The old crooked houses, the cobbled streets, the tree-lined canals and the generous parks all contribute to the atmosphere. Bicycles still seem to be the most popular mode of travel. The people are friendly, open and almost everyone we met spoke tremendous English.

One of the best reasons to visit Amsterdam is for the gezelligheid, a term variously translated as friendliness, or informality.

The Rijksmuseum.... Amsterdam's answer to the Louvre! The Rijksmuseum offers a stunning feast for art lovers, with 17th-century masterpieces, silverware, Delft pottery and icons of Dutch history.

Van Gogh Museum Art lovers will be amazed to see the vast number of treasures the Van Gogh Museum, which holds many of the artist's most famous works, holds. Five hundred drawings, 200 paintings and over 700 letters make up the collection. Any visit to this museum brings the genius and vision of this tortured artist to life. From the dour lumpen-life of The Potato Eaters to the bright, childlike colors of The Yellow House in Arles and the sombre beauty of Starry Night, the Van Gogh museum has curated the strongest ever showing of the artist's works.

Anne Frank Huis More than 80,000 people a year cram into Amsterdam's most famous canal house.

Anne Frank Huis and Museum. That is West Kerk Church near by....the bells were chiming as we entered the house. The bells Anne heard daily...

Anne Frank received a diary for her 13th birthday, three weeks before she went into hiding, and the attic in which she wrote that diary is the focus of this moving, often upsetting place. By July 1942 the Germans were tightening the noose around the neck of Amsterdam's Jewish population and Anne (13) and her sister Margot (16), along with their parents, went into hiding in the family's business premises. They survived there, hidden in the attic, until betrayed to the Germans in August 1944. No one knows positively who betrayed them. The Franks were among the last Jews to be deported. Anne died in the Bergen concentration camp a few weeks before liberation. Otto, Anne's father, was the only surviving family member.

The bookcase which hid the steep staircase up to the living quarters.

Thank you for sharing a little trip memory with me today....

Have a sweet weekend dear friends! I can not tell you what

your kindnesses have meant to me!

Hugs,

Susie Q