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Croatia: The Forest Week IP

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I chaperoned a student research trip in Croatia with Operation Wallacea !  J and I took eight DP1 students (11th grade) to Croatia for two weeks. Over these two weeks, students would participate in research projects, providing baseline population data for organisms outside Krka National Park and in the No Take (fish) Zone around Silba Island.  First week is in the Krka National Park! Day 1 Schiphol to Spit *The Flight went well, students were great. Short flight: just two hours from Amsterdam.  *We didn't find the gift shop until too late! The Spit Airport has no tchotchky shops. How un-American. (This became an inside joke as students looks for souvenirs.) * Road trip! We drove two hours through chaparral with limestone buildings and walls. It felt like Spain and Arizona had a baby.  * Operation Wallace hostel near Krka National Park! Crew is very friendly. Hostel is bare concrete but comfortable. It is very hot (35⁰C) and heat injur
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Sea Life Scheveningen

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Today we took the kids to the Hague to visit the Sea Life Aquarium. It's a bit of a trip from Amstelveen, on public transit, but our Amsterdam aquarium has been closed for repair the whole time we've lived here. And our Tante Barb is in town, so, we went.  We got there just in time for the Shark and Ray feeding, and the boys got a nice seat next to a sleepy spotted dogfish cuddled up behind a cannon!  The very next room is for kids, with coloring tables and a cool projected aquarium to turn your drawing into a swimming fish! I do kinda wish these rooms weren't at the beginning of the attraction, because it's always pulling teeth getting kids out of these places. BUT it did have a machine for us to get caffeine.  The caiman wasn't out (sad pout) but the kids liked the Amazon room. The Piranha tank had thick while mist rolling off it and the opposite wall had a beautiful 4 foot high waterfall. It was cool. 
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2023May29 Het Amsterdamse Bos

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Het Amsterdamzse Bos literally means The Amsterdam Forest (though most of it is on Amstelveen). It is a National Forest , built in the 1930s by an unemployment relief project started after the Great War. The last tree was planted in the 1970s. It's three times the size of Central Park in New York City, and contains small animal parks, playgrounds, sport clubs, memorials, and an outdoor theater!  29 May 2023 - Tree Treasure Hunt for Biodiversity Week We signed up to walk the Experience Path with a guide. He gave us Boxes to collect tree treasures! He showed us leaves of all different shapes and we collected as many different shapes as we could! Then, like squirrels, we scampered across fallen logs! We stopped to listen to the birds. Trees are home and food for birds. We picked up sticks that would help us build good nests.  We found bushes covered in caterpillar silk!  Some caterpillars hung out by themselves, 
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Aviodrome, Lelystad NL

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The Aviodrome is a nifty aviation museum. My 5 year old liked it, though his favorite part was the indoor playground. My 3 year old was too short out too young for most everything. The museum section was too long for both of them, though I liked it. So my oldest has his "pilot's" license for my scavenger hunt efforts lol.  Kid Highlights : Indoor playground (big-3 and up). 4d movie (didn't try the 3yo in there). Outdoor trampoline (3yo too small). Flight simulation. Rowing-planes and cars! Nemo caught some air! Adult Highlights : English translation in maybe half the museum. The Spitfire exhibit was awesome (a lil scary for 5 and under). Lovely Air Post section in the 1:1 Schiphol Airport model.  Could be better : the Snack and Drink voucher I got online covers an appelflap and coffee. Coffee cannot be swapped for something kids can drink. And English translatio
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De Groote Museum

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 De Groote Museum (The Great Museum) is centered around the concept that everything is connected . It's part of the Artis Royal Zoo complex (like Micropia) but has a separate entrance and fee (included in the Museum Card).  The museum was closed for 75 years (not a typo!) and reopened in 2022. It used to be the  'Main Building' or 'Zoological Museum' for Artis. You can read more about it's scientific use at their website ! ARTIS honorary member and professor of Anatomy Willem Vrolik (1801-1863) gave lectures on the autopsies he performed on animals that had died in the zoo. He published the very first scientific description of various animal species. After the autopsy, the animals were prepared and ended up in the museum. At that time, ARTIS mainly wanted to collect and understand nature, in order to promote knowledge in an accessible way. The main hall has a nice area for rest (and maybe yoga). Everything needs rest! There's a soundscape that plays throug
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2023 May - Escher in the Palace

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When growing up, I was obsessed with the movie Labyrinth. It probably is the root for a lot of things I love: owls, Escher, fantasy, and Goblin King's, of course. I searched and searched for a puzzle of the poster in Sarah's room. My Grandmother found one and brought it to her annual beach retreat, and invited me, my sister, and my mom. It would be the last time we would all be together. I have the puzzle hanging in my home, and now I've been able to see the real one.  As 2023 is the 125th anniversary of Escher’s birth and to celebrate, works from his teacher Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita were shown, too. I like his work too (I like woodcut style anything)!  But I was thrilled to be able to see the Metamorphoses , Ascending and Descending , and Waterfall . Some were new to me, like Paradise and 5th Day of Creation .  The insane detail on works like Scarabs and Inside St. Peters is amazing. The latter literally made me dizzy (it's a view from an
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