I retract any statement I have made over the past few weeks about being tired. I don't think I ever experienced true tiredness until this morning. It has been our second 5:00 am day in a row. We got up that early to make it to the Aalsmeer flower auction in Amsterdam. This is the biggest flower auction in the entire world. Within an hour, millions of flowers trade hands and are shipped out to be sold throughout the world. You enter the facility and walk along a cat walk above the warehouse floor where all the flowers are sitting on big crates, waiting to be displayed in front to the buyers. In some ways, it looks like a colorful jungle. The auction itself takes place at the end of the cat walk. Each of the buyers sits at a desk in what looks like an auditorium while each crate of flowers is wheeled past. A large clock sits on the wall that shows the price. They conduct their business in a "Dutch" auction style. This means that the price starts high and then drops. This seemed kind of counterintuitive to me, but Paul explained that sellers prefer this style of auction because it requires buyers to act more quickly, and often sells items at a higher price. A large window separates the public from the auction floor. I don't think I have ever seen as many flowers in my life as I did today.
After the flower auction, we stopped in the little town of Delft. I had never heard of Delft before, but apparently it is the place where all of the blue pottery is made. This is the most picturesque, idyllic town I have ever visited. The town square looks like something that would have come straight out of a movie. We arrived so early that most things were closed. This meant we had the experience of watching the town literally come to life as merchants and shoppers arrived to go about their day. The pinnacle was reached when I heard a man playing the accordion in the street. I knew then I had arrived in the romanticized European village my mind so often and easily creates. The normal town is located only a few blocks outside the village square. While it still has its own unique style, it is simply not the same. The magic stays within the square. There I got to have a fresh strop waffle. This is one of the traditional pastries of Holland that reminds me more of cookie sandwich with caramel filling than a waffle. It is one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted. Eating a real strop waffle was one of the few things I wanted to do before leaving Holland.
The highlight of my day was our temple trip in The Hague. The temple there is one of the smallest I have ever seen. Nevertheless, it is one of the most beautiful. It is located in a little suburb of The Hague which thankfully has no resemblance to Amsterdam. The whole structure cannot cover more than one city block. Because of zoning laws, the Church only owns the building itself and none of the land around it. I think we were probably the biggest group they have seen in a long while. As we entered the Temple, each person was given a pair of blue booties to cover their feet. The baptismal font is located directly behind the desk. It kind of surprised me when I walked in and saw it there. There were only enough seats for about six people around the font. The brethren in the group served as the Temple workers and performed all the functions in the baptistry. I started as a witness at the font, and then did confirmations. As I was in the Temple, I was amazed at the faith of the Dutch saints. They have the smallest temple I have ever seen, yet they are more grateful for the temple than anyone I have ever met. This is because they understand the importance of the Temple. Some people would complain about the inconvenience of having such a small temple, but not the Dutch. It was a marvelous experience to do the work for the Dutch in their own land. It feels different from doing it back at home. I was the last one to be baptized, and I got to do more names than all the rest. I had an extreme feeling of peace come over me while I was in the font.
After the Temple, we took the bus to Brussels. Patrick took us on a detour to see one of the biggest tourist attractions in Brussels: The Atonium. This is something that was made for the world exposition several years ago. Basically, it is a big metallic structure in the shape of an atom. It is pretty cool. When we actually got into the city, I was not really impressed, until we got to the town square. This is considered to be the most beautiful town square in all of Europe (maybe all the world). The square is cobblestone and has gorgeous buildings on all four sides. Everyone just sits in the middle of the square with their friends and enjoys life. While we were there, I tried some Belgian chocolate and a Belgian waffle. The Belgian chocolate was the most marvelous things I have ever tasted. The waffle was also delicious, but they only gave me a tiny fork to eat it. It was almost comical. The other thing we saw was the most photographed statue in the world: a statue of a little boy peeing into a fountain. The statue was a lot smaller than I expected, but provided a good laugh. After seeing most of the touristy things in Brussels, I took time just to sit and watch people on the square. I absolutely love doing that and just soaking in the culture. I think I could sit and watch people all night long. The sun stays out much longer here and I think that contributes to the active nightlife. Italy beat Germany in a really important soccer game and there was a lot of celebrating in the square. Belgium, for whatever reason, is very pro-Italy. People were driving around honking their horns and yelling and screaming for joy. Even after we got back to the hotel, we could hear partying for several hours.
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