Amsterdam

Amsterdam is a great city once you finally get there. It is supposed to be a four and a half hour drive and it ended up being almost six hours as we hit terrible traffic in The Netherlands. We were simply exhausted and starving once we arrived and needed to be fed and watered immediately. Luckily there was a Mexican restaurant down the street from our hotel (which was awesome BTW) that provided us with good food and margaritas to kick off our adventure. Here we are eating outside as the weather was fantastic!

As many of you have read Mexican food is a joke in Deutschland as are the margaritas...not in The Netherlands...can you see happiness all over my face as I drink my drink?!

Following the feast we started off with a canal tour of the city and the harbor. As we waited we saw some cool stuff...like a parking garage just for bikes next to the train station right on the harbor. See...

There are bikes everywhere and you need to be aware of them as I was not on Saturday and nearly got hit...thank God the Dutch are swift on the brakes! Here TJ and and are on the boat tour, and yes it was very sunny even at six in the evening!

And Mike and Jenny...

From the tour we (I really mean TJ) were able to get some good pictures of the city and its harbor. Take a look at Amsterdam from the harbor!

And some canal views of the streets and buildings in black and white...

And in color!

The bridges are really pretty when you look down a canal and see bridge after bridge all the way down, although these pictures aren't nearly as pretty as seeing it in person.

After the canal tour we explored the city on foot. Of course our main objective was to find the red light district as I needed to see it for myself. It took us a while to find it and actually we sort of stumbled upon it by accident...but you sure know you are there once you find it! No pictures are allowed to be taken there and it is strictly enforced. Police patrol the canal on the main drag, and there are plain clothes security right on the street. It was a busy street as it is a tourist trap...some are there for prostitutes and drugs and others like me just want to see it. It was busy and kind of overrated.
On the way to the RLD we took the best picture of TJ sporting his new capri pants in front of a great sign that may have depicted how he was feeling.

We went shopping the night before Mike came because TJ wanted to be "Euro" when he picked him up at the airport. The pants were a part of the original get up and TJ decided to wear them again. I actually think he looks cute in them!
The next picture was taken right outside the RLD on a foot bridge over one of many canals.

Jenny and I enjoyed a late dinner and a couple drinks while the boys hit the town together. We went out with them the other nights, but were a little too tired to hang with these old HS buddies. It was a great first day, but I like the next couple better as we did more tours and hot more sites. More tomorrow on Anne Frank, Van Gogh, and Heineken!
Auf Wiedersehen!