Amster-DAMN That Was a Good Time

Our 3 days in Amsterdam had to be our most relaxing trip so far in Europe (except for the whole almost missing the flight back home thing). Amsterdam is a lot like Venice, except the canals are wider, the streets are cleaner, and the city doesn't exist just for tourists.

Here's a picture of the canal streets during the day:


and at night:


We arrived in Amsterdam in the early morning and spent the good part of the day roaming around the city, perusing the shops and tulip markets, and Waverly fulfilling her dream of wearing over-sized Dutch wooden shoes.



We made our way towards the Heineken Brewery, and to be clear, it's not an actual brewery. It was one back in the day but has since moved elsewhere. Now, it's more like an interactive museum and more appropriately named, the "Heineken Experience." Nevertheless, it was a fun time and the 10 Euro admission fee got us 3 free beers and a souvenir bottle opener. And also, just so you know, nothing is better than ice cold Heineken from the tap, straight out of the brewery... err... museum... err... experience, or whatever they want to call it.

After dinner, we made our way back to our hotel and wouldn't you know, we happened to stumble across the Red Light District. And of course, the Amsterdam Chinatown was located right next to it, leading me to wonder... "why does every Chinatown in the world have to be located in a shady area?"

The Red Light District is always a bit shocking (this is my second trip to Amsterdam). At first you ask yourself if you really are seeing what you are seeing; blocks and blocks of half-naked girls behind glass doors, each one looking at you provocatively as you pass them by. Then after a while, you eventually become desensitized to the prostitutes, and not to mention the smell of marijuana on the street and the drug dealers who whisper "coca" and "ecstasy" to you as you pass them by.



Initially I felt somewhat sleazy taking Waverly there, but then realized it's just another tourist destination, filled with women, couples, and regular people that are just as curious as we are.

Our next day in Amsterdam started with a trip to the Ann Frank House, which was very moving and well done. Here is the front of the house:



Next up was the Van Gogh Museum, which had to be one of the best museums I've ever been to and much more interesting than your typical European museum -- 'cause really, how many paintings of Jesus and Mary can one really take? And although the museum was missing some of Van Gogh's most famous pieces, notably Starry Night, we were able to see other great works like Bedroom in Arles, Wheat Field with Crows, and numerous self portraits.