First Stop, Amsterdam!

The first couple days of our trip was spent in Amsterdam. Unfortunately, I couldn't take pictures of the good stuff. Our first night (after a day of travelling) was spent roaming around the city. We walked along one of the many canals.

Toward the red light district, which was one of those things I couldn't take a picture of. We stopped and got a beer at a bar on the corner of a street with a row of girls in their windows selling their "wares." We later find out that those lovely ladies pay somewhere around $100 a night to rent said window and depending on the location it could be more. If the curtain is closed, the room is occupied.

There were bikes everywhere!

That's just a small cluster (and apparently very fuzzy since I was walking and taking the picture at the same time). There was a whole multi-level parking garage dedicated just for bike parking. So, how it works is you have the street. Then, next to the sidewalk there is a red bike lane for bike and certain types of motorized scooters. Those bad boys have the right of way. So you best look both ways before you cross the bike path. 

The next day we went to the Heineken museum... So, more beer! Ok... I don't have pictures of this particular tour because I forgot the camera. Basically, you walk around the museum for a little while. Go into the "Brew You" experience. Then, to a tasting room where some guy explains the proper way to taste a beer. Finally, you get to hang out in a bar and drink beer! Admission includes two drinks. So, I was nice and buzzed when I left the museum.

That evening we met with our tour group for dinner and then went to a "Culture" Show... Also known as a sex show. Bare bones.. It was sex on stage, but it's not like traditional American porn since they didn't finish on stage. The performances varied. There was a dominatrix that strapped a dildo on the forehead of one of the audience members. There was a couple where the girl looked bored. There was another couple and he was flinging her into all these crazy positions. She obviously does yoga. The best part... The girl that smoked a cigar out of her vagina. Her performance was pretty boring until she lit that cigar and stuck it in her hooha. WOOT! LOL!

The following day was a trip to Edam where we did a bike tour of this awesome little Dutch town.

Then, we went to a cheese and clog place. We first sat in one very stinky room where this little Dutch woman in traditional dress told us about the process of make Gouda.

After that was a demonstration of clog making. This guy learned how to make wooden clogs from his grandfather. Most clogs are made in a factory and this is a dying art. There aren't many people left who make them by hand anymore.

Of course you can't leave the cheese and clog place without a picture sitting in a big clog.

We had the rest of the afternoon free. So, we went to the Anne Frank house (AKA the Secret Annex). Another place where we weren't allowed to take pictures. It was quite an emotional experience being there. There's no furniture in it because the Germans cleared it all out and Otto Frank (Anne's dad if you didn't know) decided that it should never be furnished again. There are models of what it looked like when they lived there.  If I'm remembering my picture taking right. This picture was taken while I stood in line in front of the house. Can you imagine the Gestapo with their sirens blaring pulling up the road coming to take you to a concentration camp? It's kind of terrifying when you think about it.

That evening was our last night in Amsterdam and we went on a canal cruise and out to a bar. Since there was to be alot of drinking, I didn't take my camera. You'll have to take my word on it when I say that it was beautiful and that I got drunk.

Next stop.... Berlin