Look both ways before you cross the road... twice

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We parked on the outskirts of Amsterdam, at an apartment complex that was not the complex that we were staying at. Our host told us that we could park in this complex for free, so we took her word on it and jumped on the bus to Oosterparkstraat. The apartment was located very close to the bus stop and was also very close to a tram stop. Our host seemed to be renting out her apartment by using airbnb users as temporary roommates. Our room was pretty cozy but the bed was very comfortable. The host had included a homemade pamphlet with recommended thing to do, places visit, and where to eat. Lise took a nap when we got there and I researched what we should be doing that evening.
After Lise woke up we walked to the Rijksmuseum and took the obligatory picture of the "I amsterdam" sign. Lise then saw one of her old classmates from Oglethorpe University on the street. They both recognized each other and were happily surprised. She simultaneously guided us to the red light district and caught up with Lise. She told us that a place called Febo made the best croquettes (kinda like a meaty dutch egg roll) so we visited one on our way. It's a "snack bar" which is full of heated vending machines that you can order from. We passed by some roads that smelled strongly of marijuana on the way to the red light district.
The red light district of Amsterdam is pretty famous, primarily because prostitution is legalized here. It was admittedly very odd to see ladies advertising themselves in skimpy outfits in small windows. They came in all shapes and sizes. Red lights were used in the windows to indicate that inside the windows were women, and blue lights were used to indicate that they were.... not women. We found out from a secondhand source that these ladies pay 100 euros a day (or night) to rent out one of these windows. The ladies also typically charge 50 euros for a 15 minute period, although i'm sure some are more expensive and some less. Thus, they need to schedule at least 3 clients in order to make a profit. Or 1 or 2 clients that book more than 15 minute periods. There were sex museums, sex shops, even live sex shows available.
After visiting the red light district we strolled around some of the Amsterdam canals, doing our best to avoid the bike traffic. Some cars were parallel parked alongside canals that didn't have any kind of barrier to prevent them from falling in. The houses were all very pretty, although many of them seemed to jut out at odd angles. Houses in the city are very narrow, and the staircases are very very steep. Amsterdam is one of the most diverse cities i've ever seen. Within a 50 M radius, you can go to a church, a "coffee shop" to buy weed, the stock exchange building, a brothel, restaurants, and residential areas. We had a dinner destination in mind that we had seen positive reviews for on Tripadvisor. After asking for directions yet again (thank god 90% of Dutch speak english), we found the place called Winkel 43.
Lise ordered an appetizer of dutch cheese with mustard, and I got an order of croquettes, both of which are typical dutch dishes. We ordered two dutch beers to go along with these. For the main course, Lise ordered a quinoa salad and I got some teriyaki chicken which wasn't very good. They put on a soccer game via projector- the semifinals of the UEFA champions league, Barcelona vs. Bayern Munich. We ordered a Dutch apple tart to eat while we watched the first half of the game, which was relatively uneventful (Barcelona scored 3 goals to 0 in the second half). After dinner, we headed back to the airbnb room for some well deserved rest.

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Photos

Van Gogh Museum
Didn't have time to visit these museums unfortunately. Maybe on another trip.

Snack Bar
We shared a typical dutch beef croquette

Seat on the train
I thought it was cool that the seat designated for elderly/handicapped/pregnant people had elderly/handicapped/pregnant people on it

Dutch Apple Tart
The football (soccer) game was going on in the background.