The only way we knew we had changed countries is that our phones said " Welcome to the Netherlands". Amsterdam is a gorgeous city and the people are chill - "Love All, Accept All" is the city's motto, and I think it's a good one.
The architecture is famous, and is something to behold. Here are some of the buildings:
Above, we have the Rijksmuseum. Below, the Koninkklijk Paleis.
And quite a few views of the most famous hotel, the American Hotel.
For European flair, there is the Amstel Hotel, named for the river (and the delish beer) !!
It seemed as though there were towers and steeples and gingerbread everywhere, mostly because they are all around, no matter where you go.
The main feature of the city are the canals, built as moats when the city was founded in 1275.
It is said that there are 2 food groups in Amsterdam - salted herring and pancakes. I don't care for either one of those.
So many elaborate towers and facades on all the buildings.
The oldest part of the city is called Old Town. The large building at the end of the street is the Centraal, the station for the Metro, the trains, and all the buses.
After we checked in, we went for a stroll to get dinner and see a little bit of the city. Here are some views of the canals as we walked to our destination.
We saw a few people enjoying a horse drawn carriage ride. The temperature was in the low 70s.
Amsterdam is also famous for its flowers and tulips, but there were none left at this time of the year.
The only flowers were in the stands and on the balconies and bridges.
Our target was the local restaurant, De Ysbreeker. It's pronounced like "ice breaker."
It was founded in 1702 - a little bit ago.
We sat outside next to the canal and the bike path. People ride bikes everywhere. But they don't wear helmets. It was a little scary to see ladies with two babies on the bike and nobody with helmets.
Doc got a cheeseburger and fries.
I got a Fatoush salad.
We shared a goat cheese appetizer from Malaga, Spain.
The next day, we took a canal cruise on the Blue Boats.
There are many cruise companies. This one was recommended by the hotel. The captain looked like he fell off the pages of GQ. He was spectacular, as are most Dutch people. I did not mind asking him a bunch of directions, just to look at him.
There were a lot of weeping willows along the canals.
I will say a little more about the "crooked little houses" later.
One of the canals leads out to the North Sea.
There are also party and gambling boats. Some of the cruises are "all drinks included" .
This is what it looks like from inside the boat.
Some of the museums and music pavilions were quite modern in style. The Dutch are very proud of them - in one, you can picnic on the top, and it has a sand beach and a pool.
There were also drawbridges. I saw those in Fort Lauderdale. They raise the bridge when a larger boat needs to pass.
They have a Maritime Museum called the Scheepvaart Museum. One of the features is an ancient galleon ship.
So what about those crooked little houses? They sure were cute, but it's hard to believe they are safe - some of them were really tilted.
Look how far this one leans toward the street. The wooden shutters indicate that this is a very old house.
A lot of the older houses are gabled, and the type of gable indicates the age. The oldest are step gables, like this house built in 1590 .
As the centuries go on, the gables change to rounded, and get even more elaborate. The brickwork like this, in two different colors, indicates that this house is from the 18th century.
As the buildings get more modern, they get fancier and taller.
On our way back to the hotel, we ran into a riot - two opposing local soccer teams were playing, and the fans were chanting and generally causing a fuss in Dam Square.
As you can see, the Politie were taking it very seriously.
We watched for a few minutes, and the crowd got bigger and bigger and louder as well.
The Politie brought in a ton of forces, and also barricaded the main street, the Rokin, with paddy wagons.
We watched them don their shields and helmets, and arm themselves with clubs and guns.
The horse police looked like Robocops. Check out the armored suits.
Before we walked into the riot, we went to a district called the Jordaan. It's a nice shopping area, home of the Nine Streets. There are boutiques and cafes galore.
A very sweet old man took our picture in front of one of the cafes.
We went into a few markets - the food is displayed beautifully, and it was reasonably priced, unlike the restaurants.
The next day we went to the famous Red Light District. We actually saw the girls in the windows, offering their special services.
We had lunch at the Wonder Bar. It looked like an opium den - we sat in a booth filled with pillows that looked out onto the street.
It had a very psychedelic interior.
Here's the menu.
This is the mixed grill. It was as good as it looks.
Our assorted appetizer was called the Dutch Treat.
We wandered around an antique mall, similar to those in the Orange Circle here. I got a silver and tiger eye bracelet, which I will show you when I wear it.
The weed shops are called coffee shops. They are everywhere.
They also sell cannabis seeds. Here is Sensi Seeds, a shop of great renown.
This one is called the Magic Mushroom.
We walked to the Centraal to catch the Metro back to the Hyatt. On the way we passed Dam Square again, but this time there was no riot.
It's very peaceful when no one is shouting and lighting smoke bombs, and there aren't a million handsome Politie.
We passed this surprising little hallway. It was an alley between two streets.
Check out the beautiful mosaic ceiling.
There are no more windmills. They have been replaced by wind turbines like the ones near Palm Springs. But there is a tourist windmill, and it does not disappoint.
When the bus was almost back to our stop, we had to wait for this enormous procession of horse drawn carriages.
They ended up assembling in front of the Gassen Diamond Center. Maybe it was some kind of promotion for people who buy million dollar diamond necklaces. We did not buy one of those.
Never the less, it was really cool to see so many carriages all lined up.
The ever present Politie were there to keep it all together.
And on the day we left, the remnants of Hurricane Florence hit the Netherlands. We got out just in time, before all flights were cancelled.
I may have had to stay in this beautiful country for weeks - what a shame that would have been !!
Actually, I missed my house and Pandi and Kenni and Vinni. I was fed up with cars, buses, trains and planes by the time we landed at LAX and went through three customs checks. The jet lag wasn't that horrible - and we made it home just fine, and were greeted by our very happy dogs. This was a great vacation, and we will do it all again in the future!!
