After a 60 minute jaunt across the North Sea: the canal-lined streets of Amsterdam!
Sights from our boat tour the first day: a typical double-leaf wooden drawbridge on the Amstel river
The Horstman sisters enjoying the cruise
Super-ornate bridge piers...in the 18th century, money ain't a thang.
Modern.
Old.
There were bikes EVERYWHERE
A really, really beautiful city
The super-narrow houses (owners were taxed on width) use these crane hooks to bring furniture up into the windows, since the stairs are too narrow.
Anne Frank, a Jew who hid with her family from the Nazis for 2 years
Church outside Anne Frank House
This place is high-class...even the lights get crowns
Sun shot
The "feel of the streets". That blurry biker shows movement--this is really a great shot here people.
An aerial photo of the north-west section of Amsterdam with the hiding place highlighted
This is the bookcase that hid the door to a secret back section of the Anne's father's office--the hiding place
Andrew, on the canal, serious as always.
The houses are all built on wooden piles and some of them lean comically endangering public safety in a whimsical, almost cartoonish way.
Amsterdam is a surprisingly quiet, beautiful city.
More bikers
The church at night
Morning: day 2, out front of our hotel
A much needed fix...
Deep. This is a 3D statue series of a (2D) Rembrant painting.
These statues were actually pretty tough.
The famous floating flower market, where local farmers would pull their boats over and sell their colorful crops
Even the cacti looked great!
a typical "stepped" gabion
Back on the water under our own power, we rented this "water bike" for the afternoon
Another great view of the narrow buildings from the canal
Nick applying his "1/3" rule of photography
um...group shot with slightly different background.
Fancy gabions and ornate, colorful shutters were two common features
The 7 bridges...you can see straight down this canal through seven identical masonry bridges
Charming!
Nice gabion
Andrew lookin' good
The happy couple, just down the street (canal?) from our hotel
A strange tiled ourdoor "couch" seemed placed there just for a photo-op
Looking natural
Enough tom-foolery: where to next?
Classic single leaf bridge we crossed daily leaving our hotel
Breakfast out front of this charming bakery
Who is Amsterdam?
Andrew and Megan hide out in the "m"
Andrew, who according to the picture, simply is.
Cool museum garden
Best street sign in Amsterdam. Apparently this is classified a "crazy musical instrument zone."
Charming street
More sky-hooks
Architecture
More Architecture
This guy was great, he played his trumpet as a duet with the church bells ringing near by. It went on so long and matched so well you wondered if there was really a guy up in the church playing along with him.
This Motivational Dutch quote was somewhat lost on us.
Circus Pirates! Masters of Jumping!! Our only regret of the trip was that we left Amsterdam without seeing this show.
Lauren with beer on the brain in the Heineken Brewery
Relaxing with free beer #1
This mid-tour drink break was a good idea, since with all the talk about how great their beer is, you get kind of thirsty
Nick and his camera
Megan and Andrew in this authentic Dutch backgound
I guess you could watch global adds for Heineken in these pods, but it looked like some brain-washing spaceship. These people are going to be hooked for life.
Chilling at the end with free beers 2, 3...and yes, 4 as well. For 11 Euros it was phenomenal value-for-money
A tasteful shot of Nick after all the free beers.
How did it all come to this?
We got dinner outside after our tour next to a fierce match of giant-outdoor-chess. This bearded wise man looks like he still has a few tricks up his sleeve....
Nick playing with flash and a quick shutter speed
Art?? Probably not.
Good times in front of the museum
Group shot on the water, our last night
twilight on the canals
Saying goodbye to our charming little street the last morning
Breakfast before we head out of town. Megan working on her "hands-free" trick.
The boys in travel mode--remember you have to look friendly, but tough.
Atmospheric train station shot
Windmills!!!
a pair of pairs
Some charming Dutch houses near the windmill "farm", about 20 minutes North of the city
Megan and Andrew and a great photo-op
Nick chatting up a local
These windmills were saved from destruction and moved here in the 60s to serve as working mills (and as a tourist boost)
View from inside one of the mills, which grinds pigments for dyes
The massive wooden gears and shafts powered by sails
The thatched exterior of the mill and huge blades
Andrew in awe
The blades have actual canvas sails that can be adjusted based on the speed of the wind. The windmills reminded us of sailing ships in lots of ways
Outside detail
The whirring main shaft of the mill
Postcard Shot
Nick and Andrew using a traditional cheese sled.
Sweet 18x zoom in action!
Our lunch of traditional dutch pancakes
Last stop: the clog workshop
Andrew hiding in the super-clog
If it snowed more in Holland this would be a great sled...
Some fancy wooden dress shoes
They really took the wooden shoe genre to it's limit here.
Really neat--clog workshop in action
Boring out the inside of the shoes
Nick in wood-shoed comfort
When you've got giant wooden shoes on you feet, the world is a less-threatening place.
The Horstman girls, standing tough.
I think the wooden-shoe car would be a real parade highlight
The trip finale: 4 Yanks in a Clog
