Amsterdam's culture is very different from any I've experienced thus far. It's many cannabis coffee shops are just one of many characteristics which make the city so unique. I went with a group of 10 people and the first thing we did was a 3 hour "free" walking tour (tipping is basically required but no there is no real fee). Our tour guide took us everywhere!
We saw many many many canals and their bridges which consisted of swans, ducks, and other birds. The canals are bordered very closely by tall houses and
small boats - many boats were house boats where people actually live and others were small abandoned boats which were half underwater.
The houses are all fairly small in width since at one time in Amsterdam the families were taxed based on the width of their house if their house was facing the water. The houses are also not standing straight. The reason they are slightly leaning forward has to do with the fact that since they are so skinny it was hard to get couches and other furniture inside the doors and up the stairs. So they had to make the houses with pulleys at the top so everything could enter through the windows. Therefore, the houses are leaning forward so when hoisting up that big baby grand piano there are no scratch or dents made on the outside (the angle allows for this).
Below: Our tour guide took us to see one of the skinniest houses in Amsterdam.
Our tour guide also took us through the red light district, which Amsterdam is also famous for - very interesting but not my scene. Next we saw the Sex Museum and the Marijuana Museum. He informed us that anyone can purchase up to 5 grams of marijuana legally and the amount you are legally allowed to have on you is 30 grams. Very different from the States. Before leaving for Amsterdam, my host mother actually confronted me to let me know about this legality. In her extremely broken enligsh she said "Not too much drugos, only little, only little!" I was taken aback that she was ok with "drugos" at all. Below is a Disney character smoking a reefer. How rude!
Of course there is SO MUCH MORE to Amsterdam than just coffee shops, the red light district, and radical museums! Below is a picture of Meaghan and I standing on one of the many boats in the canals.
At night, all the bridges are lit up - it was absolutely gorgeous, especially since there were so many bridges! Amsterdam is basically full of water! Below is a picture of one of the bridges - sorry my camera is terrible at night!
After the 3 hour tour we visited the Anne Frank house. It was quite moving. Her room in the attic was long and narrow but had quite high ceilings. You can still see the magazine cut outs of movie stars which glued to the walls (they used plexi glass to preserve them). Anne Frank was actually born in Germany but moved with her family to Amsterdam when her parents, Otto and Edith, were offered jobs there. That same year Adolf Hitler became Fuhrer of Germany. The Netherlands were invaded by the Germans in May of 1940; 2 years later Anne received an notebook from her father which she then used as a diary. In 1944, Anne and her sister were sent to a concentration camp where they both died of typhus.
Kristine & I; right before we meet the tour guide. We're in the middle of Amsterdam. Tram cars run in and out of here along with bikes - there are separate pathways for bikes - they have the right of way so if you don't watch out you will get run over!
Everyone in Amsterdam was extremely nice. They were much friendlier than the Belgians and were more than willing to speak English with you. Above is picture of the reflection in a tower and below is some graffiti on a garage door - the saying goes that Dutch women are pretty to look at but often are hiding something.
We spent two nights in Amsterdam, on the last morning we took a boat ride through the canals.
Our group split up because some people didn't want to go on the boat ride. Amy, Meaghan, Kristine, and I BELOW. We all look pretty tired from painting the town the night before.
The ride was well worth it - it was really a different perspective on the city.
It was so different to see the bridges and boats from a different perspective.
I really enjoyed going through the different canals and seeing all the types of bridges.
Fun Fact: Amsterdam is one of the top tourist destinations in Europe. About 14% of the tourists from from USA.
We also went to the Van Gogh museum. There were so many paintings! Some of them were really gorgeous and others I did not understand what made them so unique - but that's art, it varies from person to person.
I also saw the Amsterdam Stock Exchange - the oldest stock exchange in the world! HOW COOL!!!
Awesome commentary and information...sure do love hearing it all. Love You!
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