Day 36 - Amsterdam
Our flight left a little late at 7:40am, so we got in at 9:30. A little time to wander the mall at Shiphol airport. After the mall/airport, we went to weterringstraat, a neighborhood north of the harbor. It was everything that I expected of Amsterdam, the canals, the buildings, the people on bikes and the smell that is synonymous with Amsterdam. We passed Cafes and "coffeeshops" daring each other to go in.
We went to our room, checked in, had a nap then went out for Thai food at Bird, the best Thai restaurant in Amsterdam. Located right in the edge of the redlight district, has the sights right in front of you while you eat. After Bird, we walked around the town a little more, then headed off back to the room about 12am.
Day 37 -
We slept in til 11, then went to Anne Frank house. It took us 2 hours waiting in line before we got into the building. Reading excerpts from her diary as we looked into restored rooms, made you both laugh and cry. The family plus 4 others lived in that 500 sq ft home for 3 years, until someone betrayed them and they were shipped to Auschwitz. Only the father lived. With the Anne Frank house done, we decided to do a canal cruise. In an hour we drank back some Heinekens and meandered the canals of Amsterdam, completely encircling the town. We learned that the houses are so small that they have to move everything into the windows. Every place has a bell tower where a pulley is connected and the furniture is hauled up. We learned a lot about the town, by just cruising and listening to the captain's stories. Some warehouses penetrate up to 30 metres below the street, they close off the slough to the canals nightly to clean the waters and Amsterdam has a housing shortage, that's why the have all the houseboats.
Fun fact: the Dutch eat everything with a knife and fork, even hamburgers!
The canal cruise and Heinekens whetted the palate for more booze and food. So, off to Burger Meester we went!! 100% Organic burgers freshly made and brought out to you, eventhough the shake was great, it cost almost as much as a burger did. We scarfed down our burgers and bought some beer and wine to do some pre drinking before we explored the red light district. We drank some liquid courage and headed off. Holy crap, the best window shopping in the world! We spent a few hours poppin in and out of a few bars and then it was closing time! They close up the red light district at 1am, and the funniest thing is seeing the girls, who were advertising their assets moments before, leaving "work" in their street clothes. It was time for more food!! A little sauced by this point, we bought some shoarma and trudged home.
Day 38
Last day of vacation. :(
We woke up and went out for coffee, then walked to the Van Goh museum. It contains over 200 original paintings, 300 sketches and 700 letters of correspondence between himself and his brother. The highlight was the "Potato Eaters", his only attempt at painting a masterpiece. Some surprises included a few Gaugan pieces and a few Monet pieces. We walked around, and just took in the markets, squares and shops. We went out for coffee to refuel and ate some pannenkoeks then continued on back to the apartment. We had to eat our last meal at a Surinamese restaurant called Kam Yin and we walked the redlight district for the last time...on this trip.
I just like to say that out of all of our travels (Mexico, USA, Belize, Turkey, Greece, Czech Republic, Amsterdam was the only place where we didn't feel like dumb tourists. Everyone was super friendly, as long as you were friendly and no one gave a crap what you looked like, who you were etc. Everyone in Amsterdam is concerned with their own lives, not yours. Oh yeah, and everyone in Amsterdam is beautiful and fit, you'd have to be to ride your bike everywhere!!
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