Amsterdam
We had an early flight out of Amsterdam back to the US so we decided to fly there from Helsinki the day before and spend the night so we wouldn’t be so rushed the next day and to check out the city. We tried checking into the hotel but got there a couple hours early and our room wasn’t ready. So we left most of our stuff with the front desk and went out to catch a free tour of the city. I’ve never taken a tour of a city, and well, never really been anywhere where I should have either. The tour turned out to be really good minus the fact that Jeff and I each had a 40+ Pound camera bag on for the 3 hour walk.
Amsterdam has lots and lots and lots of bikes, over 1 million they say. They also have canals and a lot of time bikes end up in canals. Our guide had a story about seeing someone throw a bike into the canal and afterwards realizing it was his own. They also have these public 4 sided urinals. Not something you see everyday…
The tour also took us by the house where Anne Frank and here family hid from the Nazis. There was a museum we were going to go to that took a tour through the home but the line was wrapped around the next block.
The streets are really busy, and there were a couple times we almost got ran over by a moped or a biker. Luckily it wasn’t a horse. There’s more! click the button below
Some birds in Dam Square that didnt seem to fear anything. They just walked around looking for food.
Amsterdam has lots and lots of graffiti and street art. I think we walked by this 3 or 4 times before noticing it. Looks like a big Lichtenstein up on the side of the building. Managed to contribute a little to the sticker scene..
Check out the bottom right, look familiar? There are now about 20 bears all over Amsterdam. This was one of Amsterdams many Coffee Shops. We stopped out front of this one and the guidegave us a little explanation of their history.
This is one of the more famous Coffee Shops. The movie “Oceans 12″ did some shooting there and all the big stars came to the shop. Apparently they played that scene on repeat for quite a while after the movie was released
The streets are much like those in Helsinki, narrow and cobblestone, full of shops and resturaunts. We had some traditional dutch food for diner. Sausage, bacon, meatballs, potatoes, and gravy. Much better than Hesburger or Mcdonalds.
I’d really love to go back and spend a little more time here.Maybe in the summer when its not raining and we don’t have to carry a big backpack everywhere. It would be fun to get on some bikes and cruise around the city.