It's Called Reintegration

     Reintegration officially means to restore unity. However, in the military life it is referred to as the period of time immediately following a deployment. Restoring the unity within in the family, for the military member it is adjusting back to the normal life, one that isn't constantly focused on the missions they spent every waking hour concentrating on for the duration of his or her deployment. For the family of the military member, reintegration involves understanding and openness as you develop habits/specific order while the service member is away and it is an adjustment to have them back home again. Anyway, with Sam's job they are given ten days off, referred to as post mission crew rest, following a deployment. During this time most people take advantage of living abroad and take a trip for much needed family time together. The first weekend of April my friend, Laura and I had the privilege to join our friends Zack and Jill on their PMCR trip to Amsterdam and though Laura and I joked that we were the ugly step children following mom and dad around, while Zack said he felt like the fourth wheel, we all had a blast.

I love Amsterdam

Reintegration at its finest!

Amsterdam really is a beautiful city with canals and cool buildings everywhere. These buildings are the back of the Red Light district.

    My chariot arrived to pick me up on Friday night, it was like magic... I stood at the end of our driveway, near the high street in Chippenham, and boom two lovely people picked me up and took me to their mansion where I slept in the most amazing bed ever, I am talking like the best nights sleep I have ever experienced, it was like sleeping on clouds. In fact, Zack and Jill just might be finding a couple of Holbrook's in their guest bed quite frequently. We left for the airport at 4am and made it there by 5, everything was running smoothly until we got to security and discovered that Laura's ticket was for the exact same flight but it left the next day. You know it is going to be a memorable trip when something goes wrong before you even board the plane. Zack, Jill and I headed on to Amsterdam while Laura worked out her flight. The lady at the ticket counter told Laura she wouldn't make our flight, which was baloney she would've made it, but she had to buy an entirely new ticket and spend the day at the airport, poor girl!

Zack and Jill at the central train station 

More of the city

Floating flower market

Jill was very excited to find these Dutch shoes

A church

     As for me and "the parents" we arrived in Amsterdam, which is a beautiful and buzzing city, where everyone speaks English, and we headed straight for our hostel. I have never stayed in a hostel before, or seen the movie, but I felt very safe there and it was cheap! You either had to have a key or be buzzed in to even get into the building. The room had four bunk beds and a bathroom, it basically felt like summer camp. We walked around the city of Amsterdam, right past a park that apparently it is legal to have sex in openly, oh Amsterdam. Jill, the best travel agent in the world, found a cool market that we visited and had lunch. We looked around the shops, laughed with all the vendors (who even sang), and ate delicious hummus. After lunch at the market we stopped at a local cafe (which in the Netherlands means pub or bar) and had Heineken's. The next thing on our itinerary was to visit the Van Gogh museum. Unfortunately, it was temporarily closed, so we opted to take a nap at the hostel instead, which was very refreshing. After our nap it was time to head back to the central train station to meet Laura. Jill and I were so excited to see her that we jumped for joy!

Some of the lovely chocolate sculptors at the market...yes they are what you think they are

If you need ideas or decorations for a bachelor/bachelorette party just go to Amsterdam

Some of our amazing lunch at the market

Our first Heineken's

Jill loves Heineken

Nap time...one of the reasons that the Zieglers make for good traveling companions for the Holbrook's, they like to nap after being up since 3am. Except they both, like Sam, can fall asleep in like five seconds flat, it took me a bit longer, it must be a military thing.

Yay! Laura made it!!!

     Once Laura arrived it was time to eat dinner and head to our first tour of the weekend. We started a walking tour through the red light district. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Amsterdam, the red light district is where prostitution is legal. We had a two hour walking tour, which was very eye opening. After the tour we had pizza at 10pm, I knew immediately that this group of people is a perfect match for me to travel with, because they all like to eat like me and the put up with my hydrate or die, leading me to have to pee quite often. On Sunday we started the day at the Anne Frank house. We tried to buy tickers online, but the website was fickle and wouldn't let our trip coordinator book any, so we stood in line for about an hour. Luckily, my travel buddies were so entertaining that the hour passed quickly. The Anne Frank house is the actual place that Anne Frank and her family used as their hiding place during WWII, it was a unique experience and I really enjoyed touring the house, especially reading all the exerts from the diary, a museum I actually liked. We went to a floating flower market, which was a very overwhelming market that floats on the canal. We tried a Chinese restaurant that I am pretty sure served cat, because they had a cat inside the restaurant. After lunch we headed to the Heineken Brewery and took a tour. It was so much fun, minus the twenty minutes that I lost my phone, which practically gave my sister a heart attack, but at least the Heineken beer was actually yummy. After the tour we ate a delicious crape, which I learned is only a pancake, and took a canal tour with Laura's brother and his wife who are stationed in France and visiting Amsterdam for the weekend, what a small world!

Amsterdam at night

Floating flower market

Canal tour

Super awesome birthday cake

Anne Frank

Heineken Beer

All the ingredients that go into a Heineken

Inside the brewery

More of the brewery

Jill is ready to make beer

So is Laura

Heineken Horses

Zack and Jill making a music video

Heineken Experience

Blurry picture...due to their dancing...the last picture before I lost my phone

Our free Heineken's

So excited for my two free Heineken's

Laura, Jill and Zack...fun people on a snack break! Another reason they are good traveling buddies...they like to eat

More eating...trying the fries

Canal tour

Laura is excited about the canal tour

Zack and Jill are also stocked for this tour

Canal tour

I love fountains! They always make me happy!

Beautiful Amsterdam

    
     On Monday, after our delicious hostel breakfast, we took a bus to the Keukenhof Gardens. Holland is known for their tulips and the first weekend in April is suppose to be the best time to visit the tulips. Unfortunately, The Netherlands, like England, experienced a long winter and there weren't as many flowers. We had a great time walking through the tulips, which are my favorite flowers, but it made Laura and I miss our husbands even more. Once we arrived back to Amsterdam we tried "homemade ice cream" which tasted like whip cream, which was not as satisfying so we continued our search for treats and found gelato...yum! Again I say, these people passed my travel buddies test because they like to eat! We also found a really old pub and enjoyed the experience of trying local liquors and chatting it up with the pub owner before heading to the airport. Our last meal in Amsterdam, the city of beautiful canals and lots of bicycles, was McDonald's, yum!

Tulips

I love tulips

Usually there are flowers in full bloom here!

I felt like my mom taking so many pictures of flowers

The gardens

More fountains

Ride that bike Laura

Tulips and the fountain

Some of the tulips in bloom...Usually there are many more

Now an insane amount of flower pictures will follow....

And some fountains too

Oh and maybe Zack dancing in some clogs

The girls with the flowers

Hi Jill

Windmill

Trying to be artistic

Huge tulips

I love tulips

My hostel breakfast...yum!

Love these girls

Fountain!

I want all of them

The president of Russia was visiting Amsterdam on Monday, so police were everywhere

     I had a great time with Laura, Jill and Zack, they are super fun and it was a great trip to mark my halfway point through this deployment though the rumor is my hubby is coming home early so it was more than just the halfway mark and at the end of the trip my legs were sore from all the walking and my stomach was sore from laughing so much! Also, to clarify, since I know the thought has crossed some more than one persons mind, I did not partake in any of the legalized things that Amsterdam has to offer. Though I know it isn't against the law there, I do not have any desire to ever have it in my body, especially because it smells horrible, so good work mom...you raised a good girl and an innocent one too and you don't have to worry about me traveling in Europe, even without Sam! Though, if this whole getting a job thing continues to be a flop I just might have to commute to Amsterdam to make a quick thousand Euro's a night, haha just kidding. Fun fact though, the Red Light District in Amsterdam is around a church so you have the church on one side and prostitutes standing in the window, talking on their cell phones, on the other side. In conclusion, Amsterdam and Holland is a great place to visit and it has something for everyone so I highly recommend it, plus since they mostly speak English it is super easy to get around.

My favorite picture of the whole trip! I laugh every time I see it! I cannot put into words how blessed I am to have met people that I can completely be myself around and fun travel buddies!

Thanks for reading!

Amanda