We decided to have a pretty laid-back Sunday. It was very windy again and we set off mid-morning to Beatrixpark, which is a close walk. Beatrixpark is a lovely place with many water features, a dog park, and a playground. In the summer, there is a kiddie pool open to the public. Liliane played for a bit and then we went to the picturesque duck pond that is surrounded by a low-slung picket fence. Dan had theorized that our loaf of week-old French bread would be perfect for the ducks. It ended up being so petrified that he could only break it into a few large pieces. He threw the pieces in and a giant duck tried to claim one of them. However, it could not pick any of the crumbs from it and it lost interest. Some other ducks got near the bread, but did not approach it. As we left, all the pieces were still floating in the pond.
We went downtown to Dam Square in the afternoon. I stopped at McDonald's to use their pay bathrooms and noticed they have a great kid place on the third floor along with a baby-changing bathroom. It never fails to surprise me by how kid-friendly Amsterdam is. Liliane has been given crayons, colored pencils, and coloring pages at places as varied as the Argentinian steakhouse, immigration, and the town hall. Dam Square was rather lively and there were some buskers there. I love buskers and have a secret wish to join them for a day.
