Amsterdam!

Amsterdam - a city of many canals, pot, and women for hire. Can an introduction get much better than that? Our tastes for those items only revolved around the canals, which were everywhere but we stumbled across several red lights and "cafes" nearly everywhere we went. We took the short 2 hour train ride up to Amsterdam from Brussels and made our short trip by foot to the place we stayed at. Our all-in-one room consisted of everything we needed but I couldn't imagine living there long term. We stayed in a building that was over 350 years old and our room had been recently renovated - well everything except the windows which the city said had to stay single paned for the historical preservation. Needless to say that made things a bit noisier in our room.

(Ps find photos here https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0IJtdOXmJuFtyh)

After we put our bags down we got straight to sightseeing. We walked to the Bejindof which is where only single women have lived for nearly 600 years. It was also the only Roman Catholic institution to remain in Amsterdam starting in the 16th century. It has a small but nice garden inside and well maintained homes. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos inside but I snuck one anyway which you can find on my photo album. Next up we walked to the Heineken Experience - it was so cool! Even if you didn't like beer, the presentation of the museum and especially the history of its marketing is impressive. It was interesting because while it cost nearly $20 to enter, it was more of a marketing scheme to get you (the consumer) to further like the Heineken brand. Pretty unreal from a marketing standpoint but it was so effective you didn't realize what was happening until it was over. I earned my Certified Pourer license which means I've passed the strict test of properly pouring a Heineken from draft. While most people passed, there were a few that had to do it again. So I was happy to pass the first time! We had dinner at an Indian restaurant nearby and called it night after navigating our way home.

Day 2 in Amsterdam found us visiting the Van Gogh Museum which showed the evolution of his artistic style based on where he lived and who influenced him at the time. The museum was a bit disappointing in the fact that it didn't have a lot of pieces to show, but I guess that's because the famous pieces are at larger museums around the world. After the museum we went on a canal ride - which was so beautiful with all of the autumn colors hanging over the bridges and canals. The sun was shining which made for a pleasant trip whether sitting inside or standing up in the back. We next visited the Botanical Gardens. The history of the gardens is quite extensive and I believe it's been open for over 600 years. This was also the first time it rained on us. And by rain, I mean light mist for about 3-4 hours. I figured if it did that every 2 weeks I'd be okay! We visited the Maritime Museum after that which gave us a brief glimpse over the extensive sailing/importing/exporting history of the Netherlands. Lastly we visited the Anne Frank House which was where Anne Frank hid out during WWII. It was great except for the zillion other tourists that were continually piped into the house. It was a bit hard to get the feel for the house when we'd have to wait 5-7 minutes to get into the next room.  Finally we finished the day with all you can eat sushi! This was Rachel's idea but I think I got the best value!

Day 3 found us heading to the Rijksmuseum. Which housed an assortment of Dutch artwork from throughout its history. It is the most famous/visited part of Amsterdam as it recently underwent a 10 year renovation so it was still new! The best part of the day for sure was going to Zaanse Schans - it's where all the famous windmills are! We took a bus about 45 minutes out of town and we were there! We were able to walk around and go into one of the windmills. The one we visited was a saw mill that was recently refurbished a few years ago and was working while we visited. It was entertaining to watch the saw speed change based on the strength of the wind. We of course visited the clog shop and wow there were so many choices! Unfortunately I didn't buy a pair for I knew I'd have to carry them around for the next 4 weeks. We headed back into town, ate dinner, then packed everything up again. Off to Berlin in the morning - nearly 6 hours in a train!

Amsterdam - thank you for your nice people and great atmosphere!