We really liked Amsterdam and the areas around it that we visited. Definitely on our list of possible places to emigrate to if this Trump thing keeps going.
With so many canals and roads, there are a lot of really cool bridges.
We were there after tulip growing season, smack dab in the middle of tulip-selling season. There was an open-air market with dozens of shops like this.
Netherlanders love their parks. Stay out of the way of all wheeled vehicles!
A crazy group of Segwayers. One had just crashed in front of us.
You've always wanted a photo of John peeing? Amsterdam's answer to public urination, at least for males.
We never went into the maritime museum, but they had a cool ship outside.
The NEMO science museum. We heard there was beer and a nice view at the top, so we walked all the way up to be told they were closing and we weren't allowed in. We toured it another day - take your kids.
A religious cloister neighborhood. People are allowed to walk through, as long as they are polite. The houses are hundreds of years old.
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| The Netherlands answer to nichos that Spanish Catholic churches have. |
The "new" church. It is now an exhibition space. We saw the church and the United Press photo of the year finalists at the same time.
We never figured out why there was this golden prison cell thing inside the church.
Look very closely. This sculpture was integrated into the sidewalk near the red light district.
How very Amsterdam - church on one side of the street and sex shops on the other!
We couldn't tell what they were when they were really "open." Something related to LGTBQ.
This is a typical parking lot in Amsterdam. They say there are more people than bicycles, but I didn't see that many people.
Our first glimpse of Muiderslot castle. Little did we know it was a bank holiday so they were not opening for another 2 hours. Pentecost Monday I think.
The lock in Muiderslot. We watched a lot of boats lock through while we waited for the castle to open.
It being a bank holiday, they were short on staff, so we pitched in.
However, we refused to "armor-up."
This is odd - The patterns in the bricks appeared when I resized the picture. The castle from the outside. Nice moat.
Yeah - not a phallic thing at all.
Rush hour in Amsterdam!
Goat high-rises
This windmill was a paint mill. The pigments are crushed by the heavy wheels rolling over them.
Windmills and a canal. You can't get more Dutch than that.
We suspect these were Netherlanders because this was such a crazy thing to do.
Our favorite brewery in the area. Well, it was started by monks. Brew tanks in the background.
Yet another weird thing. This chicken adopted John while he was eating lunch. Hopped up on the back of the chair, settled in, and went to sleep.
Supposedly Netherlanders consider bitterballen a delicacy. We choked down three and ordered a pizza to go with our beer at this busy street cafe.
Why not grow food at a Botanic garden?
I guess you have to come visit to see the original photo in full-def. The triangle area is full of unicorn reliefs.
Eleni in the red light district, with 2 suitable vehicles. The church is in the background. Nobody propositioned either of us.
Yes! You can still see windmills in Holland (north of Amsterdam). Several were moved to one place to make a little windmill town. Very tourist-oriented but still cool.
Gears in a windmil
Eleni never smiles for the camera, unless she has ice cream. This windmill was in a different town. It was/is used to pump water from a lower land elevation to a higher one. The Netherlands are mostly below sea-level, so pumping water is a big deal. They don't rely on windmills any more, but this one shows how it used to work.
The Netherlands equivalent of "shingles." Little sculptures integrated into the front walls of buildings to say what their original purpose was.
The water on the other side of the Atlantic is filthy and cold. But John still had to dip his feet in just to say . . .
Just a nice little garden outside a museum
The exterior of the Rijksmuseum with pretty flowers in the foreground.
