Amsterdam

Photo 1: On the Rhine. How much stuff can you stack on a barge?

Photo 2: Phil with Tomas, the maitre d' on our boat and Phil's dietary adviser. Special treatment, great food!

Photo 3: Typical buildings along the main canal. 

Photo 4: Part of red light district along canal.

Photo 5: Typical scene in the red light district. Note the girls in the windows displaying their assets. It was not safe to take a photo any closer.

Photo 6: The new - electric cars.

Photo 7: the old (but far more popular) - typical bike parking on pavement.

Photo 8: Windmills at Zaanse Schan.

Photo 9: Cow in clogs. Moo!

Photo 10: Coming into Volendam

Here we are in beautiful Amsterdam. Before we left the boat on Friday we had an evening tour of the red light district which was 'revealing' to say the least. Oddly enough the area is centred around a church (?!) and there appear to be hundreds of windows in the main streets and narrow alleys where minimally clad ladies display their assets illuminated by red light. Phil thinks a large bust size must be a minimum requirement - trust him to think of that 😀. 

We were warned not to photograph any of the girls as if we do we might end up taking am involuntary dip in the canal. The reason given was that they like their privacy. Huh??!!!

We also learned that if you just want coffee don't go into a 'coffee house' because the main menu item is marihuana. The smell when you pass one is a dead giveaway. Hmm, wonder what the hash latte is like 😳. 

Another thing you learn very quickly in this city is that its thousands of cyclists are savage predators who will kill or maim anyone who gets in their way. It's a jungle out there people! They also have great faith that all other vehicles will always give way to them, and that appears to be the way it works. Scary! By way of contrast the taxis all seem to be Mercedes or BMWs.

On Saturday we took a tour to the north of Amsterdam with the first stop at the village of Zaanse Schans which has the largest concentration of windmills in The Netherlands. We visited one where peanuts are ground to produce peanut oil and saw how the operation works. We then visited the village of Marken to see clog making (and navigate the inevitable gift shop), then took a sightseeing boat across the Zuiderzee to the town of Volendam to see cheese making (and get caught in their gift shop as well). Despite the 34 degree heat and lots of walking it was a very enjoyable day.