Bikes, boats and boobs

---

With an introduction like that, we could only be in Amsterdam. And yes, there is plenty of all three! We absolutely loved Amsterdam, although only tried two of the three main options of the city - we decided that hiring bikes was not going to be the romantic option it sounds like. To be honest, the traffic was quite an effort to get through, crossing the road involved looking first for pedestrians, then bikes, then cars, then trams... and once you made it to the middle, the pattern started again, look for trams, then cars, then bikes, then pedestrians. Phewf!

We had originally thought that it was time for us to have a quiet and relaxed couple of days... which quickly turned into us being out all night and then sleeping late - but when in Amsterdam 😊

Of course, arriving in the city at 6pm, our first stop was the hotel which we knew was going to be "funky" but we were still surprised! The room was about 2m wide and about 6m deep... the bed stretched across the whole back of the room under the window in a 2m by 2m square. There was no bathroom as such, only "pods". One for the shower and one for the toilet. Inside these pods were coloured lights, which of course you could choose your mood lighting, from reds to greens and blues. Very funky!

So after we had taken photos of the room, and oohed and aahed at the craziness (and wondered how long til the novelty would wear off and we would be frustrated by the lack of space) we headed off for our first Amsterdam evening.

We were so taken with the pretty canals all through the city that we found a lovely little restaurant with tables stretching down the canal, with the sun setting in the background and "boat watched" for an hour or so. It was hilarious. It appears that there are very limited restrictions on boating that are enforced as the crowds ranged from admittedly very rich and posh boats to party boats overflowing with people and alcohol, with the skippers balancing beers and the steering, to a little dinghy with three guys and so many cases of beer that the boat was barely above water level and tipping very precariously!

And then once dinner was over we started the romantic walk down the canals to the red light district... well, when in Amsterdam... although, it is interesting how desensitised we have become, as while we apparently found the "best" show to go to in town perhaps it was staged towards the tourists too heavily, as from a set of 7 acts, there were really only 3 that were entertaining as such. Of course, they were the ones that required audience participation and the poor 17 yr old boys that were brought up to the stage had no idea what they were in for - hilarious! But watching the audience made for a interesting view as well... from young couples like us to contiki tours, to groups of young guys, to old men arriving on their own...

But walking through the district after the show was definitely eye opening. There were women in various arrays of undress, copious amounts of makeup and fake eyelashes, standing behind glass doors, attempting to entice passers by. Although, while there were plenty there that were openly enticing there were many that were sitting looking completely bored, glaring at people on the streets or talking on phones and generally ignoring everything going on outside.

That was our only encounter with the red light district during the three days as we found there was a multitude of history and art going on in the city. We spent our last day in the Van Gogh museum and the Rembrandt museum which were both fantastic. To see all the paintings and sketches that have never come to Australia and to the progress of the work was amazing. Add to that, we learnt that Van Gogh had only painted for 10 years before he died, but still managed to turn out so many amazing works.

We also made time to visit Anne Frank's house to see the place in which she and her family hid for 4 years during the war. There were 8 people living in a back annex on the 3rd floor of a jam factory, staying silent during the day, making sure all the curtains were closed, never being able to go outside. Her father was the only one of the 8 to survive the war, as they were found by the Germans months before the liberation and moved to camps. When the museum was established in the 1960s he came back to the site and said that the furniture was not to be replaced in the house, it was to remain empty with only photos and stories throughout. It was heart wrenching and quite hard to stay composed (and we had to take a quiet minute hiding in the corner to try to stay composed at one stage) reading the stories and knowing that this was only one of millions of stories that were lived during the war.

While it may be seen as a good thing that there was always such a long line of tourists lining up to go inside, it was hard though to not get the feeling that somehow the essence of the house and its past has been removed with the ticket office, the crowd controllers telling people to keep moving, and of course the now standard "exit through the gift shop".

It was a quiet evening for us after that.

And then on to Germany, to Berlin, to continue more of our history tour...

Love to all xxoo

PS just to keep up with us as we travel (not just when we get a chance to blog) here are our movements for the next week or so...

tonight (3 Aug) Poznan, Poland
4th 5th Aug Olsztyn, Poland
6th 7th Aug Warsaw
8th 9th Krakow
10th overnight train to Prague... we think... maybe... 😊

---

Photos

Cool buildings
They all have winches on the roof to hoist furniture up through the windows as the stairs are too narrow...

Cool old pub
It has been in the family for over 150 years and has not been dusted for about 100... dont worry the bar tender assured us that all the cigarette smoke from years ago is holding the dust together so you wont breathe it in :)

Comments

[Boobman]

You LIED!!!!!!
Saw the bikes and boats - but NO BOOBS. . . . unless you're referring to the pic of Joel next to the cars ;-)

[LeeAnne]

Thank You
Dear Steph and Joel, Thanks so much for your wonderful updates, through your pictures and stories we are all enjoying your adventure, it makes the world seem so much closer. Take care xxx