Amsterdam- WOW! 3-17-2009

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Day 6 - Tuesday "Happy St Patrick's Day"

Sorry all for the delay in writing. Travel, programs and the cost of the internet is a big drag.

Tuesday- great but short night in Brussels. Yes, we saw the peeing boy and all we could do in 8 hours. We got to the 9:30 am program with no trouble. The program lasted 2 hours and I got to meet Clarissa Unger, the Kansas intern working here at the US Mission. I met her through her travelblog. Reading her blog, she is a good writer and loves her assignment at the US Mission. Read her blog about her travels and her assignment at The US Mission to the EU at .

Off we go to Tilburg. The 3 pm program at Interpolis was great. This was a great program and our host were very hospitable, even serving us treats. See the DrakeSmart website for details. Thank you Jeff for setting up this program.

We arrived in Amsterdam at 7 pm. A quick change and the group split up to find food and see what we could see at night. We have Angela, Shelley, Donna, Susan in our group. Off we go for food.

So what do you eat in Amsterdam? Since this is a culture mixed city, we ate Indonesian at this great restaurant. The owner was super nice and we took this picture of him. He was recovering from a stroke.

Off to find the "Red Light District" and on the way there, we had fun. The people are very friendly. Instead of saying the Red Light District, I asked for the "Entertainment District". This nice looking guy gave us directions and after he told us, wow, did not remember anything he said. That will be something I found out during the trip. I ask but not listening fully. I'll write more about this tomorrow. All I can say is "this place is amazing".

Did we get lost getting back to the hotel? Yes, and after asking a few times, we got back about midnight. And looking at the map, boy did we walk out of our way. We walked by the wax museum two or three times. And there I saw President Obama. Back to the hotel and a few tries at the internet. Going slowly.


Day 7 - Wednesday

Long day in Amsterdam. Program at The Western Gas Factory from 8 am to 12 pm and Dr. Meyer kept as long as he could. It's now noon and we have 12 hours to explore the city. What trouble could we get into? Donna, Susan, Marti and Laurie went off to see the city. Carole is hanging with the professors for the rest of the day.

First, H&M store for socks. Our dogs are killing us and good socks are a must. Donna bought a couple of pairs. Second, Anne Frank's house. A must to see. I waited in the cafe since I have seen the house. Ate a great cheese sandwich for 2 euros and a cup of coffee. Rachel Ray would be proud of me, lunch under 4 euros. We ran into a group of DrakeSmart students there.

Next, we walked to the flower market and found this cute pancake house. Pancakes in Amsterdam, how wonderful and they are more like crepes. Coffee and crepes, we are having a good time.

Now off to find this church on the top floor of an Amsterdam house (5 -7 stories high). We did not find it, but found another beautiful church in a courtyard. This was a gem. The Begijnhof Courtyard is one of the oldest inner courts in the Amsterdam and it houses the English Reformed Church. This was absolutely beautiful. Read more about it here: .

Off now to the Diamond Factory. What we set off for and what we found were two different things. We actually found the Gassan Diamond Factory and not a storefront store. This was a huge and interesting place. We met this young guy who reminded me of Joran VanDerSletuh from the Natalie Hollaway story. I asked him if he knew him, said he did not know him personally but thought he was a criminal and the word is he is in Thailand. Anyways, nice tour and Laurie bought a little "something something" for herself.

Back to the hotel and change-up of our group. Donna, Laurie, Carole, Susan and I went off to find the Sex Museum. We had a good time getting there. Lot's of people. And there we find it. The admission was 3 euros and let me tell you this was 3 euros well spent. How very funny this place is.

Last, the "red light district". This is a big WOW! How this is done is unbelievable, ladies in the window is quite a sight. Sorry, no pictures of the district. Last item, food. We ate at a great steakhouse and ran into another DrakeSmart group.

Off to the hotel and pack for our long drive to Berlin. It's past 12 and I had a great time in Amsterdam.

Sorry for the misspelling, my brains and this keyboard is not working at 5 am.
With a 10 hour drive, we will have some stories tomorrow.

LongStory Short,
Ann

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Photos

Amsterdam 1
Amsterdam City At Night

Amsterdam 3
Dinner in Amsterdam with Donna, Susan, Angela, Shelley and Ann

Amsterdam 5
Ann, Donna, Susan, Laurie in the Flower District

Amsterdam 2
Amsterdam and Canal at Daybreak