Early Adventures: Matt and Kate visit

January felt long. We have been so spoiled with all our travel, a whole month at home felt strange. It did't help that the days are short and it is cold out. Luckily, we had visitors to look forward to. Matt, Brandon's brother, and his girlfriend Kate took a week off of work and came over to visit us in Amsterdam. We also planned for a couple day trip to Madrid while they were here. We had such an amazing week and made so many great memories.

They arrived on Friday morning the 3rd of February. We met them at the airport and took them back to our apartment. In an attempt to avoid jet lag we set out to explore and show them around the city. What I have not mentioned is that it was the coldest it had been in Holland this winter and had started to snow that morning. It proceeded to snow the rest of the day. It made for beautiful scenery and photos but we were freezing!

Saturday, we continues to show them around Amsterdam and introduced them to some friends of ours and took them out to a club that evening to experience some of the nightlife.

Sunday, we took the bus to Zaans Schaans. This is the first place Brandon and I went to when we arrived in Holland. It was great to see it in the spring and then again covered with snow and ice.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Brandon and I squeezed some work in while Matt and Kate went out and braved the cold to do some shopping and see the museums. As the week went on, with below freezing temperatures, the canals began to freeze. This seemed to be what the Dutch waited for all year. People were constantly out skating and hanging out on the ice, I even saw some photos of cafes putting some tables out and serving people on the ice!