Title: My Trip to the Netherlands
1My Trip to the Netherlands
2For spring break, I went to the Netherlands.
3First, I flew a long time on an airplane.
4Then I rode a train into Amsterdam.
5The houses and shops there look so different from
where I live.
6The streets are narrow, and lots of people ride
bicycles and trams.
7A long time ago, they built canals in Amsterdam
because they used boats to transport goods.
8People built their houses and shops right near
the canals so the boats could bring things to
them.
9Some people live in house boats on the canals.
10Now, many of the boats are for tourists.
11There are a lot of museums in Amsterdam.
12Here is a museum in a beautiful building you can
ride a bicycle under.
13Ann Frank was a Jewish girl who hid from the
Nazis with her family in this house. It is now a
museum, too.
14Many farmers grow flowers in the Netherlands.
They are famous for tulips.
15When we were there, it was too early for tulips
to bloom, but we saw crocuses.
16In Amsterdam, there were floating greenhouses on
the canals for the flowers.
17I loved the flower market. It was cold that day,
but the flowers were bright and beautiful.
18There were flowers of every color and type that
grew from bulbs.
19Another thing the Netherlands is famous for is
Delftware. It is a blue and white pottery made
there.
20One day, we went to visit a miniature city called
Madurodam.
21It had streets, houses, and churches, but they
were all very small.
22Lots of families with children like to visit this
miniature version of the Netherlands.
23We rode a train out to a small city that had some
windmills.
24A long time ago, people who lived in the
Netherlands used wind to power mills.
25They used the wind mills to turn wheels to grind
grain, cut lumber, and make a lot of other things.
26Inside the windmill are wheels and gears that
turn to do work.
27This windmill ground minerals to make paint and
dyes.
28Later, people invented machines that used coal
and oil for power. The windmills stopped being
used.
29Now the windmills are preserved by historic
societies so we can see how people once lived.
30People from the Netherlands used to wear shoes
called clogs carved out of wood.
31They had as many different kinds of clogs as we
have shoes.
32When the week was over, it was time to go home.
I had a great time visiting the Netherlands, I
had never been so far away from home before.
33The End.
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