Hollis goes to Holland! - Amsterdam: Day One

Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Holland
March 29 - April 1, 2013

Easter Weekend
Day One

For Easter this year we decided to take the train to another country.  We've seen a lot of cities recently, so wanted to see something more scenic.  We chose Amsterdam because it was a little of both.  A city with beautiful canals, but also a short drive to the tulip flower fields.

Our first day we spent walking over 6 miles exploring as much of the city as possible.  We'd wander from street to street, not really caring where we ended up.  Our second day was spent at Keukenhof, the gardens and flower fields, and our third day, we visited the Artis Zoo.

As always... pictures are worth a thousand words.

Here's our first day in Amsterdam exploring the city -  all of these shots were from the same day.  Hollis was a real trooper!

All aboard our ICE train to Amsterdam!

1st Class Cabin... oh yeah!

 Learning how to "Cheers"

We've arrived in Amsterdam and I've already scoped out my first half naked man!

 Day one was spent exploring the city by foot... what a day!

 Fruit stand

 That's one smelly clog!

The Flower Market!  They had all kinds of seeds, bulbs, everything you could possibly want or imagine.  It was inspiring.  I wanted to start a garden immediately!

 Walls of flower seed packets

 Cheese shops are popular here - see the wheels of cheese?

 Rembrandt Square

 This guy skewered me!

Beautiful architecture every where you look.  The canals were really cool.

 Me...

 Stopped for a late lunch - just like the plate said... we had a good day!

 Choices, choices...

 It looks like the buildings rise right out of the water.

RED LIGHT DISTRICT!!!  Rob is standing in front of Moulin Rouge, which should not be confused with the MR in Paris.

 In front of The Banana Bar. 

 RLD

Yep... prostitues.  They are legal here.  They are like live mannequin dolls in the windows taunting passersby.

 Girls in window to Rob's left across the canal.

 Dam Square had a carnival going on.

Bicycles just parked anywhere and everywhere.  There are more bicycles than people in this city!

 

Took a cruise on one of the canal boats... Rob is stealing most of Rob's ice cream!

 Houseboats are common to live on here.

 Many of the houses have such narrow stairs that they use hook and pulleys to get the furniture to upper levels via windows.  You see these on most of the houses here.

This man was the highlight of our day.  He played music along the canal, and then lifted a wooden clog up to collect tips.  He was so good!

 Playing his music by the backside of the flower market.

Stopped for a Mexican dinner on our way home!

Rob is not actually peeing, but demonstrating the public men's urinal on the streets.  During the day, they actually lower back into the ground.  They were installed because men kept peeing on the buildings at night.  Men... LOL. 

Back to our hotel... what a day!