My Trip to the Netherlands

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My Trip to the Netherlands
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For spring break, I went to the Netherlands.
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First, I flew a long time on an airplane.
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Then I rode a train into Amsterdam.
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The houses and shops there look so different from
where I live.
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The streets are narrow, and lots of people ride
bicycles and trams.
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A long time ago, they built canals in Amsterdam
because they used boats to transport goods.
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People built their houses and shops right near
the canals so the boats could bring things to
them.
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Some people live in house boats on the canals.
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Now, many of the boats are for tourists.
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There are a lot of museums in Amsterdam.
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Here is a museum in a beautiful building you can
ride a bicycle under.
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Ann Frank was a Jewish girl who hid from the
Nazis with her family in this house. It is now a
museum, too.
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Many farmers grow flowers in the Netherlands.
They are famous for tulips.
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When we were there, it was too early for tulips
to bloom, but we saw crocuses.
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In Amsterdam, there were floating greenhouses on
the canals for the flowers.
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I loved the flower market. It was cold that day,
but the flowers were bright and beautiful.
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There were flowers of every color and type that
grew from bulbs.
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Another thing the Netherlands is famous for is
Delftware. It is a blue and white pottery made
there.
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One day, we went to visit a miniature city called
Madurodam.
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It had streets, houses, and churches, but they
were all very small.
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Lots of families with children like to visit this
miniature version of the Netherlands.
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We rode a train out to a small city that had some
windmills.
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A long time ago, people who lived in the
Netherlands used wind to power mills.
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They used the wind mills to turn wheels to grind
grain, cut lumber, and make a lot of other things.
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Inside the windmill are wheels and gears that
turn to do work.
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This windmill ground minerals to make paint and
dyes.
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Later, people invented machines that used coal
and oil for power. The windmills stopped being
used.
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Now the windmills are preserved by historic
societies so we can see how people once lived.
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People from the Netherlands used to wear shoes
called clogs carved out of wood.
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They had as many different kinds of clogs as we
have shoes.
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When 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.
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The End.
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