May 19:

If you have never been to the Netherlands, then one of the must see places is Amsterdam. I believe that many people only see Amsterdam during their visit to Holland and that forms their entire impression of the country. Of course, that is wrong, but today was Deb and Ray's turn to see the city.

Off on an hour train ride and then a stroll up the main street that connects the Centraal train station to the Dom (the city's central square). The Dom is the site of the original dam on the Amstel River. Get it - Amstel - Dam = Amsterdam?

We had timed tickets for the Anne Frank House and had time for breakfast. They cater to the Brits with full English breakfasts. 

Deb and Ray went Dutch with an omelette and sweet, chocolate pancake - YUM:

Bill and Linda went Brit:













Then, with full stomachs, we walked over to the Anne Frank House with about 15 minutes to spare. They started selling these timed tickets on May 1st. Certainly a lot better than the old method of standing in line for over an hour.

The House didn't allow pictures. It was depressing, but very complete in telling Anne's story and about her dairy and how it was found and published.

The Westkirk stands besides the House so we took a look. There is also a Nordkirk, but this was the church for the well-to-do.

After leaving, we were able to catch a tour boat right there to see the harbor and some of the smaller canals.






















Its hard to see, but there are seven bridges down there.

Just before we completed the full tour circle, the captain suggested we get off at a stop that would give us a pleasant walk up to the Rijksmuseum. We turn a corner and there it was at the end of the street.

After a stop for a coffee, we decided that trying to see both the van Gogh and Rijks was going to be a bit much and Ray was more interested in the van Gogh.


No photos allowed in the museum, just lots of his paintings.

After that, we walked over to Hans and Gretl which is where we always take our guests for lunch. But, by the time we arrived after 5:30, the kitchen was closed. Wondering down one of the main restaurant streets, and after rejecting a few expensive places, we found a bar that had pretty good food. They had schnitzel for me, so that's good. Deb had it too. Linda had a stew and Ray had fried fish. It was all pretty good.

We walked a little further and hopped on a tram to get back to the Dom. From there we always make a circle that includes a chocolate shop (closed), the smallest bar in the city (just looked in), the Bull Dog Energy Coffeeshop, and, of course, THE GIRLS (not polite to take pictures of them in the windows).

A short walk back to the train station and after a little confusion trying to find our track (spoor) and also add some money to our train cards, we were off to Baarn and then transferred to our last train and home again.






Four tired puppies slept good that night.