May 24: Today Eric and I ventured into the Red Light District here in Amsterdam... famous for their legal prostitution and many sexual related experiences! WOW... I have to admit that it was very strange, but very Amsterdam. They say California is liberal, but I think we have now seem the most liberal city in the world. I like it here, it is still very safe and clean. At the end of our experience, Eric ended up with only one hooker, aka "lady lumps".... (just kidding). For those of you who have played Call of Duty II, you know who that is.
We also went to one of the street markets in the city and bought a few cool small prints for souvenirs. Then we bought some mighty fine looking steaks from the grocery store for dinner. Although they looked very good, they sucked. Word to the wise... don't buy beef in Europe unless you want a soar jaw! I think there might be some good places to get it, but they are hard to find... just leave that to the US!
May 25: This morning we walked to the Central Station and rented some bikes. Our bikes were bright red with a big sing that said "Mac Bikes". The bright colors of the rental bikes let the locals know that you are inexperienced at biking in the city! Anyway, we figured out that this is the best way to see the city. It is a little nerve racking but still very fun and fast. They gave us a clear demonstration of how to lock the bikes, there are two locks per bike, on for the rear tire and the other one for the frame and front tire. They warned us that the bikes should be locked even if you are just taking a picture because it is common for thieves to just take a bike from you while you are distracted (stupid tourists).
Once we had our bikes we toured the Dutch Resistance Museum. This was a very interesting museum depicting Amsterdam through out the Nazi occupation in World War II. Many highly educated people went into hiding to carry out their part in the resistance (about 80% of the college students at the time). There were many underground newspapers that were created, but many of the columnist were executed once they were found to be guilty. Then of course, there were MANY Jew's that were evacuated and murdered or forced to work in the camps. The (NSB) Nazi's were in control of Amsterdam for 5 years 1940-45, until the Canadian forces liberated the city. Some Dutch were very excited while others had lost to much to care. One person, Otto Frank, was among those who lost everything. He was the father of Anne Frank, and Margot Frank. Eric and I visited the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam. This house was only about 2 blocks from our apartment. At the time the secret annex was in the back of the house located behind the warehouse that Otto ran (he made spices). They were eventually found out (by an anonymous call) after 4 years and sent to different camps. There were 8 people that hid in that annex. Anne Frank died after her sister of typhus one month before her camp was liberated. Otto Frank was the only survivor of the eight, and later published his daughter's diary. This day was a great reminder of the importance of tolerance.
After our tour of the actual Ann Frank house/annex, we went out to dinner with Eric Hespenheide. The restaurant was just around the corner in a building that used to be a warehouse for Tea. The name of the restaurant is d'theeboom (The Tea Room), and the food/wine were great. Our favorite part of the meal was the desert... cinnamon ice cream with candied cherries in an amaretto sauce. After the two bottles of wine, we went back to the apartment to sleep. Eric H. had to leave for Detroit the next morning (early) and was so nice to take us out to dinner while he was here! Thanks again Eric!
May 26: Once we woke up in the morning we rode our bikes to the movie theater to get tickets to "Pirates of the Caribbean III" because movies sell out very fast here. We had to get the VIP seats because the rest of the seats were sold out! This was really only 3 Euro more and well worth it. We were upstairs in the balcony of this old theater called Pathe Tuschinski (check out the pictures). We felt like we were going to see a play! Anyway, we had to return the bikes before 12:30 PM so we headed back to the central station Mac Bike rental.
Next we took a 1 hour canal boat tour. This was very cool and allowed us to see the city from a different view point! The boat went right down the canal Eric's apartment was located. It was described as the Gentleman's canal because of the many wealthy men that lived in the mansions along this canal back in the day. Now many of the mansions are businesses or high end apartments/condos.
The evening rolled around and it was time to go to the movies! This theater, as I said before, was amazing on the inside. Our VIP ticket included a drink at the bar. I got Champagne and Eric a Heineken. We relaxed in the lounge before our movie started enjoying the architecture. It was in English with Dutch sub-titles... all in all, it was a great movie and night! We walked home in the rain and got asked for directions for the second time that day...maybe we were actually starting to fit in???
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