Amsterdam

In front of the I Amsterdam sign (in front of the Rijks)

Hello All! We finally made it to our first destination, Amsterdam. Our flight there was long and uncomfortable. We did not get much sleep but we managed to stay awake when we arrived to explore the city. Yesterday we walked around to familiarize ourselves with the city.

Public Urinals

We started off in the Red Light district. The Red Light district was definitely interesting. One of the oldest buildings, a church called the old church, is located smack in the center. Right across from the church were prostitutes giving a come hither look to us. What an oxymoron. Another interesting sight we came across were public urinals (which are also in normal parts of the city as well). My Dutch friend Mirre told me that the city put the urinals up to get people to stop peeing in the street and canals.

Later on that evening we went to meet Melissa's friend Mirre for drinks. Although our meeting was brief it was good to share some time with her.

In front of the Rijks

Today we did a lot of sight seeing. We started out at the Rijks Museum, which celebrates the painters of the Dutch Golden Age. We saw a lot of famous paintings by Vermeer and Rembrandt. Some of our favorite paintings were Vermeer's Milkmaid, which photographs and copies do not do the original justice, and also Rembrandt's Nightwatch.

Laying down at the park

Afterwards we went for a stroll along the canals and the Vondel Park, which is considered to be Amsterdam's central park. It was very pretty and packed with tons of people including some performers.

Later we went to Anne Frank's House. We heard mixed reviews about it, but we were not disappointed. Unfortunately we could not take any photographs inside, but there was not much to take pictures of anyways since the furniture was never placed back into the home under request from Otto Frank, Anne's father. We did however get to see the annex, which a bookcase is still placed in front of the entrance. Most importantly her diary and other writings were on display.

That was it for today. Tomorrow we are planning on going a little outside the city to see some windmills and possibly the tulip gardens.

-Melissa and Orry