Our stay in Amsterdam was packed with so many great things and beautiful pictures. But describing isn't easy and I don't even know where to start. Out until midnight and then up again at 5am, we only were in the tiny room to sleep and shower. Now at 1am it takes me an hour just to organize my thoughts enough to get started on my tiny phone.
Quintessential view of Amsterdam
Monet's view of Amsterdam - with scaffolding on the Zuiderkerk (South Church)
The weather really was perfectly beautiful during our stay but probably too hot. They are having what they call a heat wave - 3 days in a row over 25 degrees. The temperature is actually 86 and I can't complain a smidgen! Normally, according to our tour guide, the weather is rainy, windy and dark.
The bike culture is a love - hate relationship for us. It is a wonderful mode of transportation but there are more bikes than people here, and it makes walking around feel like you are taking your life in your hands. Pedestrians have little rights, particularly tourists. Supposedly if you are in a cross walk you have the right of way but I think it just causes the bicyclists and drivers to speed up. To move, you first have to look in every direction. "If you hear a bell, run like hell!" Crossing the street is like crossing a freeway!
The street in front of our hotel was a bike highway ... "If you hear a bell, run like hell!"
Everyone already knows her story. There isn't a lot to say about the Anne Frank tour other than you simply must do it and make sure you get your tickets online in advance. The museum does an excellent job describing Anne's life in the annex as you walk through each room listening to your audio device. The average visitor should allow an hour.
The Franks hid out in the back upper floors of this office building
Craig and Reene are here! Waiting for our tour to start.
When Jeremy saw on our itinerary that I had booked private tours, he grew concerned: "I like when you do it!" However following our tour with "That Dam Guide" Rob, Jeremy immediately admitted "I liked that a lot." Rob walked us around the main parts of Amsterdam for 3 hours telling us about history, architecture, and the Dutch people.
One of 1500 bridges in Amsterdam
Public urinals in Amsterdam (girls, you might want to get yourself a she-wee!)
The Dutch love their fried foods - we had to try the bitter ballen (thick gravy with bits of ground beef rolled in breading)
After resting up and dinner we took a private guided tour of the Red Light District with That Dam Guide Lee. Seeing we were a family, she immediately labeled us "badass." "The family that tours together stays together." Lee took a normally uncomfortable topic and explained it with ease - opening our eyes to the world of "sex workers." It was an enlightening two hours.
The Red Light district (inside the city center)
Lights in the Red Light District - complimenting on the sex worker's skin
You can snort cocoa at the Metropolitan Deli chocolate shop in the Red Light District
Enjoying ice cream at the Metropolitan Deli
One thing that stands out about Amsterdam is the amount of coffee shops here. To the naive traveler like me, at first I'm excited about having so many places to choose from for my early morning ritual - but thank goodness I didn't attempt it! "Coffee shop" here is code word for "cannabis" - a word they are not allowed to put in print if it is being sold. If you see it printed and sold, then the product doesn't actually contain any THC (the main mind-altering ingredient). Growing, smoking and selling cannabis is illegal in the Netherlands but as long as you follow the government's rules when you do it, you are allowed to break the law. Actually the Dutch - a blunt, organized, controlling, business people - allow you to do many socially controversial things (like smoking weed, prostitution, and euthanasia) as long as you follow their rules and they can make a profit.
