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Published: July 18th 2017
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Geo: 52.3738, 4.89095
Bagels and Beans was our starting point for today. Toasted bagels with cream cheese and strawberry jam along with fresh squeezed orange juice and a latte was a great way to start our day. On each table there was a bowl of dark chocolates in the shape of coffee beans which were quite tasty. Another note here is that when you get a coffee or tea here you have the option of white or brown sugar cubes.
Sarphati park was our next stop. It was a pleasant green space with ponds, walking paths, and a playground. There was a large fountain in the center which was blocked off for some reason but the explanation was in Dutch. The fountain was operating but a full view was not possible. Surrounding the fountain was a huge blackboard barrier with baskets of chalk. Park visitors were invited to complete the sentence "Before I die I want to…..", which I did.
Yesterday we were advised to make the Heineken experience an early morning activity so we headed there after leaving the park. The tour began with a history of the company and the man and his family who began the business and still run it
today. The next part takes you through the materials used, the machinery , and the process to used to make the product up to the bottling process. Twice throughout the tour you are given glasses of beer. Midway the glass of beer is used to explain the purpose of the foam and the carbon dioxide process and the proper way to drink beer. At the culmination of the tour you are invited to have 2 more glasses to top off your Heineken Experience. Here we sat and talked with two men from Australia who have actually been working in Houston for 4 years. They are here for business, returning to Houston on Tuesday. Their work is almost complete in Houston,(they work for Chevron) and will be returning to Perth. Getting back to the tour, it was very informative and enjoyable. A part I forgot to mention was that we were put in a simulator and treated as if we were the product being made. We were washed, stirred, heated, and finally bottled. Very interesting!
Next on our list was the flower market. It's the world's only floating flower market with stalls set up on barges all selling tulip bulbs, begonia bulbs,
fresh flowers, cacti, and souvenirs. On the sidewalk side of the market were cheese shops, cafes and restaurants.
We walked on to Begijnhof. Beguines were pious catholic single women who did good works, like nuns, but did not want to live in a convent and therefore had not taken their vows. It is a series of buildings including a church surrounding a very tranquil courtyard. Today 93 women continue to live in this area.
At Dam Square we saw the Royal Palace, the New Church ( which didn't look new) and the monument in the square. We were also entertained by a street performer who was doing a comic, juggling, unicycle routine.
We strolled through the red light district on our way to Nieuwmarkt. In this square we saw a number of vendors selling clothing, jewelry, scarves, antiques, and souvenirs.
Other places we visited were the Rembrandt House, where he lived and worked between 1639 and 1658, the Amstel River and Skinny Bridge. In Amsterdam there are over 100 canals which were built to control the flow of the river. These canals are lined with elm and lime trees and are crossed over by a thousand bridges. The canals and river
are the home to 2000 houseboats including houseboat hotels.
This was a very full day of sightseeing. We made our way back to our home neighborhood and dinner. Upon the recommendation of our hotel owner we went to a Chinese restaurant which was very good. It was doing a tremendous take out business to local people since the owners appeared to know most of the customers. It was a finishing touch for a busy day!
Proost
Rich & Linda
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The apple of their eye
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I love the Heinekin experience pics, and can't believe you indulged Ma! I wish I had some fancy words to spout off but I will let thosevwho feel the need to impress carry on their work. Ha