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Europe » Netherlands » North Holland » Amsterdam
August 19th 2011
Published: August 21st 2011
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Street Scene with TramStreet Scene with TramStreet Scene with Tram

Trams are everywhere and easy to use. At 5 Euros, not cheap (soak tourists) unless you get a pass.
Hi all!

Sadly, our trip to Amsterdam is coming to a close. We can scratch Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House, the red Light District, a canal cruise, and a lot of walking around off our Amsterdam To Do list. We also took a tour of the Heineken Brewery Experience but for those of you going to Amsterdam, skip this pay-for-a-commercial waste of time. Heineken beer is good, but after Peter's personal sampling study throughout Europe, he is leaning toward the Pils from Germany.

We skipped the cannibis tour, they actually have that one, and we understand it is popular with the young folks. Actually, all of Amsterdam is popular with young folks by the looks of things. They have tours for almost every taste, some bordering on the strange, like those requiring wearing masks.

Finally, we toured the Royal Palace of Amsterdam near the center part of the city, a war monument, in the section called the Dam. It is a remnant of the "Golden Age" of Amsterdam from the 1600's but Holland Queen Beatrix still uses it.

Our last day, Saturday, the streets literally filled with tourists, and we were kinda glad to be
Canal and HousesCanal and HousesCanal and Houses

Many of the houses date back to 1600's.
going back. Besides dodging the ubiquitous Trams, bicycles, and cars, tourists were everwhere.

The number of restaurants and variety of food is incredible in Amsterdam. Every country is represented by restaurants from Argentinian (there were a lot of them) to Zimbabwe. The variety mirrors the history of tourism and immigration. Everyone seems to have to eat walkiing around. There was one Starbucks near our hotel and it had free wifi. Broodgie sandwiches are the most visible Dutch eating fare, but so are the Dutch pancake houses, where we had our most dissapointing breakfast. Every block had ice cream and pastry shops that for some reason seemed to cluster around the pot shops.

Like the rest of Europe, we were annoyed by smokers. That is the main thing we miss about the USA.

Bicycles, we have concluded, are the primary mode of transportation and even have their own parking lot filled to the gills with bicycles of every stripe, near the Centraal Station. We even took a picture of it.

Our most memorable moments would have to be the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum. Click on the pictures to view them all.


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Rjikes MuseumRjikes Museum
Rjikes Museum

Who can spell Rjikes?
Wall to Wall TuristsWall to Wall Turists
Wall to Wall Turists

Pouring in to Amsterdam.
Red Light DistrictRed Light District
Red Light District

The girls in the windows didn't like their picture being taken, so we didn't.
Cannibis HausCannibis Haus
Cannibis Haus

Appropriately slightly leaning.
Bachelor PartyBachelor Party
Bachelor Party

Noticed the Guy in the Wig and Wooden Shoes.


21st August 2011

Tour
Certainly enjoying your comments and pics of your travels. We are sure you are having a great time!

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