Christmas in Amsterdam

We flew into Amsterdam on the 22nd of December and grabbed a Cab to the apartment we were staying in where we learned about how the dutch enjoy stairs that are very very steep... We had the room on the top floor so it was a new and exciting experience to haul our bags up! It turned out to be worth the effort because we got a room with its own kitchen. The apartment was quite close to The Van Gogh Museum and the Rijks Museum (I have no idea how to say the 2nd)...

Our first full day in Amsterdam we wondered around to an area called Leidseplein where there were many carts selling the most fantastical dough balls you've ever had... They had raison, apple, pineapple, banana, and plain. All were covered in lots Icing Sugar. We managed to try every type in our 5 day visit. Raison was the best!

Amsterdam has fantastic food from all over the world. Indonesian, Thai, pancakes, and Indian.. We found a fantastic indian spot and it was so good we returned again before we left... We also ate our share of Pancakes... Nat ate a pancake with Pineapple, ham, green pepper and cheese sauce on christmas morning.

In Amsterdam regular games of chess are frowned upon because the game pieces are too small so instead they play giant chess.. Here is a picture of some of the locals enjoying a friendly game.

While in amsterdam we visited several museums, The Van Gogh Museum, The Rijks Museum, The Sex Museum, and the Heineken Brewery which I suppose isn't quite a museum. But it comes with free beer so it heightens your sense of enjoyment.

We also took some time to wonder through the Red Light District where many ladies can be seen waiting in the window basked under the glow of their red lights. Nat tells me that the red light hides the imperfections. As you can see in figure 1.1 I've used photoshop to remove most of the red lighting. The results are surprising.

Our tour of the Heineken Brewery was nice because it offered free refreshments. The Van Gogh museum was nice too but not once did anyone give me a beer. I took notes to figure out how to make beer, apparently I will need a Giant Magnet to remove metal shards and nails from the barley. Also Mr. Spock prefers Heineken.

Here are all of our trip photos from Amsterdam

A map showing where all our pictures were taken.