I decided on an excursion from the city to view the windmills that Holland is known for. I was pointed to Zaandijk, a short train ride north and was not disappointed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaandijk
I took the Metro to the Central Train Station, and the train around fifteen minutes to the city. It's around a fifteen minute walk to town and very cute. A bit tourist trappy, but there's a quaint small town that's beautiful then the area where the windmills are. You can tour the bakery, a cheese shop, a windmill and other buildings. It was very picturesque and well worth seeing.
I wandered around for a couple of hours and picked up a warm waffle with syrup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroopwafel). Oh my, I had no idea what I was missing in my life. Yum. I wandered and did some shopping for people then headed back to the train.
Once in Amsterdam, I walked around a bit then realized something. There's no better way to learn a city then to forget your map and guide book at the room! Whoops. Ok, so that part wasn't planned, but thankfully I got my bearings yesterday so kind of knew where I was going. Until I stumbled into what I assume was the Red Light District and ended up laughing at a group of 40-plus year old frat boys. Wow.
I went to the Sex Museum, which is on the main drag in town and quite interesting. It showed everything from ancient greek and chinese sculptures, carvings, paintings, etc. in an assortment of different sexual positions. Many times were represented including Marilyn Monroe, Betty Page and other 'modern-day' people as well.
I found a middle-eastern restaurant and got a dish of eggplant, spicy lamb and cheese with some fresh pitas- yum! I wandered around a bit then decided to take a canal tour while the weather was still holding out. It was around an hour and toured through some of the larger canals. I learned a few interesting facts:
- There are hooks high on most houses here. Apparently because the stairways are so steep, people move furniture in and out of the windows
- The cost of the house is by width, which is why many of the homes are so narrow
- There are over 1,000 bridges and over 100 canals in the city
- There is an old prison housed in one of the old bridges
- There is an underwater tunnel that is something around 60 km because the ferries couldn't handle the capacity
I got off the ride and walked partway back then picked up the metro to go back to the apartment. I stopped by the market (http://www.albertcuypmarkt.nl/ac_english.html) and wandered a few blocks when it started pouring. I picked up some blackberries I noticed on the way into the market and raced back, but decided to stop at a cafe (not to be confused with coffeeshop) for a cup of coffee to warm up a bit and take a break. They had mini lemon merangue tarts which was one of my favorite things when I was a kid. I got one and yummm!!!
Getting off my feet a bit and relaxing before we get ready to head out to dinner. I'm actually craving vegetables, as I often do when I go out to eat a lot and don't eat much of them. Strange, huh?
Well, I'm going to send this off and will write about the evening tomorrow with my next post. Have a lovely day!!
s
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