Amsterdam - Day 4

Today is my last full day in Amsterdam and I feel as though I've seen as much of the canal areas of the city as I can without just re-tracing my steps over and over again, so I decided I was going to walk to a point away from the center area to a cool bridge called the Python Bridge that was also on my list of must sees while I was here.

I'd seen photos of it before my trip and it was just cool enough and unique enough that I wanted to see it with my own eyes, and walk across it a
couple of times.  So I did some quick research on Google to get the address and took off.  The only bad thing about heading here was that there wasn't going to be much to see on the way there or back, and it was going to take up a few hours.... but I was okay with that.

I thought I could wander around on the way back and see if I could find some more modern architecture that would yield itself to some cool photos.

I finally made it to the Python Bridge and it was pretty cool looking, and in an area I never would have imagined from the photos I'd seen before.  It sat at the end of a canal that was bordered by apartment buildings on both sides and was much more residential than I expected.  It would be a very cool area to live.

I just remembered that I forgot to mention one kind of interesting thing I found while walking the canals yesterday, was that I found a number of very cool looking little drawbridges that I'd never seen the likes of before.

It only makes sense that bigger boats need a way to get through there as well. The interesting thing was the number of different kinds of bridges, some draw bridge like at home, some small bridges that twist open, and some that almost looked like they were build from a Lego kit or something and could be opened by hand by anyone with the need. I'm sure that's not how they work, but they sure were small.

Something else I forgot to mention was that on Sunday I also found this cool bar near my hotel that showed NFL football, and they just so happened to be showing the Seahawks game!  So to get my
fix of Football, I headed there just before the game started, got something to drink and then had a couple of Americans sit at my table with me.  Turns out they were from Seattle!  What a small
world.  They only stayed until half-time and had to get back to their hotel since they were here for work unlike me.  During the second half of the game I overheard 3 British kids talking about football and trying to figure out some of the rules and they called me over to join them to ask for help.  It was a great time sitting there and hearing what they thought about the game, comparing it to Rugby, talking about violence outside of the game and players being suspended and
hearing their take on it all.  People on the road tend to be so friendly and I'd talked to more than my fair share of really nice people while here for sure.

So that was mainly my day today.  I decided I wanted something a little different for dinner after all that walking and hit an Irish bar around the corner from my hotel and had Cottage Pie for
dinner.  It hit the spot for sure  :)

Amsterdam - Day 3

So I woke up to a very nice but chilly Fall day out there and decided that before I do anything else, I needed to get the number one must see item marked off my list before I let too much more time go by.  I read The Diary of Anne Frank for the first time in 7th grade I think and it was one of those books you read, and you just never forget.  I'd tried to picture what her life must have been like during those years of hiding and always tried to picture what the house was like that they were in.When I decided to add Amsterdam to my list of cities to visit on this trip, I just knew I had to make sure I visited the Anne Frank House, if I did nothing else. There is a museum built next to the house now (well, not really even a house but a office building), that looked kind of deceiving when I first walked up, but the really long line let me know I found the right address.

Even though the line went around the block, there was no way I was skipping this, so I just got in line and waited.  It was funny but to keep everyone entertained, they actually provide free WiFi in line so you can surf the Internet on your phone while you wait.  I used the time to catch up on Facebook and browse all the photos everyone has been posting from their trips.  The wait wasn't too bad really, maybe 45 minutes and then it was into the building. The first thing that took me by surprise was the size of the rooms and the building itself. I guess I'd always pictured something smaller every time I read the book.

You slowly work your way through each of the rooms in the office building, with notes and photos on the walls here and there telling you what each office space was and who sat where and it explains their part in helping the Frank family hide out. And then you get to the movable bookcase which was almost exactly as I'd imagined, even if the rest of the house wasn't.  Needless to say, after having just been to Auschwitz, it hit me even harder finally visiting here, knowing the fear they must have felt and the horror that was ahead of them.

There were a couple of places in the house that were sadder than others, but I won't spoil it for anyone that plans to visit on their own one day.  Let me just say, it's worth the visit and the wait in line.

I left there feeling a bit melancholy again and decided the best way to clear my head was to just walk and take photos as much as possible the rest of the day.  Amsterdam is made up of a number of canals that are circular and run in parallel to each other so I started walking one of the outer canals and walked it end to end, before moving in one canal closer to the city center, and walking back the other way.... working my way back and forth until I made it back to my hotel.  It took me close to 6 or 7 hours but was a lot of fun seeing as much as possible, and I could feel my artistic side kind of wake up as the day wore on.

Amsterdam has the feeling of a city that painters must love and I decided to process a few of my photos with that kind of look in mind.  Some of the better ones I've posted to Facebook already, and since I think the only people reading this are also friends on Facebook, I'll put a couple of others here.... even though they aren't nearly as good.

All in all, it was a great day, long, introspective, and motivating as well. I think I walked 15 miles and it was time to hit the sack!

Amsterdam - Day 1 and 2

Well the plan was to spend a full day in Berlin after getting back from Poland, but along the way I found out one of the Brats and her cousin / BFF were going to be in Amsterdam while I was traveling to Poland, and I'd just miss them if I didn't head to Amsterdam Sunday. We talked about me coming a day early so that they could show me around and I really wanted to hang out with them at least one night in Amsterdam before they had to leave. My train got in around 6:00 pm and they met me at the train station. We went and stowed my bag away and then hit the streets, walking around the

Museum district and hearing all the stories of what they'd seen and did the 4 days they were there. I also heard the story about how a pick pocket tried to still her Passport and money and how she caught him in the act, demanded he give it all back, and the kid did... before running away.  I was impressed!

After a lot of walking around, we found a cool little restaurant for some dinner and ate and talked for a couple of hours.  It was nice to have a night to wind down after all the traveling in the last two days, and was great to be able to laugh again after the prison camp visits of yesterday.  They had to be at the train semi-early so we called it
an early night but I told them I would head to the station with them in the morning and help get their bags on the train and say our goodbyes there.

Day 2 in Amsterdam was a really wet one.  It was the first rain of the entire trip so I couldn't complain. I mean the weather had been fantastic and almost perfect up until that point.  Not bad for November!  After saying goodbye at the train station, I was no on the section of my trip where I was all alone.  I had no schedule to keep, no places to be and decided that since it was raining I would use this opportunity to just walk and see as much of the city as I could since I couldn't really take too many photos today.

It was a good time to explore and try to find interesting things to photograph over the next couple of days. I walked from one end of the old part of the city to the other, looking in shops, watching people, almost being run over by the crazy cyclists who are everywhere in this city.  I know there are cities in America where they claim to have a lot of bike riders, but there isn't a city anywhere that has as many as they do in Amsterdam!

Bikes were everywhere... people riding them, parked and chained up on every bridge, sidewalk, building and even in their own parking garages.  It was something else to watch the Dutch flying up and down every street on their bikes... turning in and out of their own miniature version of rush hour, no crashing into each other or pedestrians I could see.  It was impressive to watch!

So my first full day in Amsterdam was mostly just a lot of walking and getting rained on.  The only other interesting part of the day was the walk through the Red Light District.  It's one of those places you always hear about and I think every tourist in town walks through there one some point in time on their trip.  It was much more fun watching the tourists walking around than anything... There were people of every age group, nationality, couples, groups of friends ... and they all mostly laughed and giggled as they walked up and down the streets looking at the girls in the window.

Oh, before I forget about the cyclists, one kind of crazy thing I saw over and over again, were women in full dresses and heals, women with 1-2 kids on the bike, people texting while riding, people lugging large items like flat panel TVs, pretty much anything we see people doing in cars in the States... they do here on their bikes.

Well that's it for the recap on my first day and a half in Amsterdam.  The weather is supposed to be nicer tomorrow so I'm hoping to get out and shoot photos all day!