To finish off Dubrovnik:
We enjoyed our last evening in Dubrovnik and decided to paint the town, so to speak. We went to get a light dinner of mussels and salad and went to the Gaffe, one of two Irish pubs in town (right across from each other.) Alberto works there and suggested that we go. Who were we to say no?
We had a few drinks and stayed after midnight, watching these two guys trying to pick up a couple of women. It was quite entertaining! Alberto came by to chat with us a bit as well. We staggered home and had to wake in four hours for the trip to Amsterdam. Not our smartest move, but it was fun. I took a bunch of pictures that looked fabulous when I took them, or so I thought. But in the harsh light of day-- well, let's say you won't see them. :)
We left for the airport at 4:45 for our 6:25 flight. The flight was surprisingly full. We stopped in Zagreg, the capital of Croatia, then headed to Amsterdam. I was surrounded by screaming kids so didn't get the sleep I so badly needed. We took the train into Amsterdam and got off in De Pijp. Michael brought me the longer way past the museum complex where the Van Gogh Museum and the famous Rijksmuseum are. I'll be checking them both out at some point.
We settled in and I tried to power nap with no luck, as they are doing construction on a nearly apartment. So I sucked it up and headed out while he worked. He walked me down the street to the market that sets up and breaks down every day and showed me the bus stop, which is only two blocks away. Got a lunch of a ham and cheese croissant and headed off.
The but drops at the Central Station, though I stopped before that. I saw the station, which is an impressive building, so walked towards it to take some pictures. I decided to meander around and explored some of the area to the west of the center city, and decided to go to the Anne Frank Haus. The line was long and took around 45 minutes to get in, and it took around the same amount of time to walk through the museum. It was interesting and well done, though heartbreaking. The place was much larger than I expected, however, knowing that eight people lived there for two years without seeing the light of the sun really made it a challenge to view. Not to mention the stairs. Many, many stairs. Did I mention I pulled a muscle in my leg? Ouch.
I walked around and visited the Westerkerk Church, then decided to just wander around. I saw the National Monument, the Royal Palace and Nieuwekerk (New Church). Apparently wandered on the edge of the Red Light district.. which was hilarious as there is a huge church next to a sex shop. While I was trying to take a picture of that scene, movement caught my eye and I realized that the mannequins in the window weren't manneuquins at all but actually live women. I had been warned to NOT take their picture, so I wandered off after checking it out.
Sex is much more open in Europe in general but Amsterdam takes it to a whole new level. Sex shops, rather graphic sexual souveniers, scantily clad women in windows, and cannibus references are prevalent. I learned that there is a difference between a coffee shop and a cafe (where you would get coffee, ironically). A coffee shop is where you'd buy pot.
After a few hours I made my way back to the apartment and we caught up and got ready for dinner. We went to Moeders, a traditional Dutch restaurant and got two meals and shared: I got a mashed potato and sauerkraut dish with a sausage and what looked like a meatball with a brown sauce. Michael got a beef stew with boiled potatoes and red cabbage. Both were amazing! We got an appetizer of house recommendations, and it was a plate with smoked salmon, a duck leg, duck pate, an oyster in a cream sauce and a phyllo dough with cheese and spinach. yum!
We decided to walk back as we were quite full and meandered across the canals back to the Pijp. We picked up some stuff for breakfast, and then got some stain remover due to my, ahem, red wine incident. Oops.
The weather should be nice tomorrow then may rain the rest of the week. Possibly going to visit an area with lots of tulips, weather allowing, and maybe some windmills. We'll see!!
Off to drink a glass of wine (carefully, now) then head to bed for some more exploring tomorrow. Woop!
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