Amsterdam 5/5/2010

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Today we started out driving through North Holland heading to Amsterdam. Our first stop was to take pictures of a lovely windmill. It was a kind of dreary day...very overcast..but the blue of the sky kept peeking through. It was interesting to note that some windmills are used for power and others are used to maintain a safe water level near the dikes. This particular windmill was also the residence of the manager or caretaker. We just wondered how it might feel to live in a windmill...pretty neat!

We learned we you enter a city in the Netherlands that you will see a city sign much like at home, but when you leave a city you will see the same sign with a red line through it....letting you know you are no longer in the city limits....see the pics.

We arrived in Amserdam and boarded a canal boat for a guided tour through the city. It was very interesting but in order to get better pictures I went on the deck, therefore I missed much of the commentary. I took pictures of the Anne Frank House (which we visited but no photography was allowed inside) and the most narrow row house in all of Amsterdam (number 7 house). It was a holiday in Amsterdam so while the city was virtually empty when we arrived it soon filled with people...there were so many it was hard to get back to the meeting place.

While waiting for the bus I noticed a little girl feeding the pigeons. Tons of birds were flyint around her and she was not afraid (thought of you Lynn). She was laughing, letting birds climb all over her, holding them in her hand....it was crazy.

Once we boarded the bus we headed for Delft, the city of the famous pottery. We learned that most of the delft pottery we see in stores is made in Taiwan and is fake. There are only three places that make genuine Delft today and we visited one of them. It was very interesting and can take up to 10 days to make each piece of pottery. It was too pricey for me so if you get and delft from me it is probably the fake kind.

We had a lovely dinner at our hotel this evening and enjoyed meeting more of our traveling companions. What a nice group of people of all ages. Tomorrow we leave here and head out to a different hotel and different area of the Netherlands. Hope you enjoy the pics.

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Photos

ESSO
Couldn't resist...when do you ever see this?

Windmill
Loved this setting

Number 7
Most narrow row house in Amsterdam

Houseboats
They are everywhere...you can buy a cheap one for $400,000.00

Canal
The ride in beautiful

Bicycles Everywhere
This city filled up with people and bicycles....

The Birds
She had fun feeding the birds!

Not Amsterdam
Leaving the city limits