Monday, May 12, 2008

Europe '08. First stop...The Netherlands...

Or more specifically...Amsterdam.
Yes, Amsterdam...home of the imfamous Coffee Shops and the Red Light District. P has some old college friends that live in Amsterdam so we thought we'd make a stop there on the first leg of our "European Vacation". Spent a day and a half there and fit in as much as we could in the little bit of time we had. However, the whole time we were there, all I could hear in the bak of my head was, "I am from HOLLAND! Ishn't that veird?" or "Yesh, yesh...it's toight, Yesh." (alla Gold Member). Anyway, here's some random images from Amsterdam...

This looked to be a church kinda across the street from the central train station that we arrived in. Don't know it's name...just felt like taking a pic because I love how old things here in Europe look. Makes you realize how young the US is in relation to other parts of the world...








Had seen it in the movies, but never realized just how prominent the bicycle was as a mode of trasportation in Amsterdam. Can't really see it too well from the pic, but that's a 2 story parking garage...just for bicycles. And it was jam packed with bikes just crammed into every available inch. I should have taken a pic from the side as well though...so you could see the depth of the structure. That's a LOT of bikes...


We came across this cotton candy stand that had the LARGEST bags of cotton candy I Had ever seen. Of course, A and I just had to get some. This is a pic of P holding both A & I's cotton candy. Strangely enough, the cotton candy wasn't flavored like the blue and pink cotton candy here in the US. It just tasted like straight sugar with no flavoring. *shrug* It was still good though...


Here's one of the imfamous Coffee Shops of Amsterdam. It's funny to go into these places ad they always have pics of the celebrities that have visited their establishments. Of course, you'd see the people you'd expect to see...Snoop Dogg, various rappers, etc. But there were several faces on those boards that I was surprised to see...different actors, etc. What an interesting world...



Aaahhh...only in the Red Light District ca you find the "Porno Supermarket". Nice. It's interesting how touristy the area is though. Lots of families pushing their kids in strollers next to and through the sex shops, etc. So interesting to see how different cultures view porn and erotica...







We met up with P's friends at Odeon for a nice dinner. Afterwards, we took a really nice walking tour of Amsterdam. The weather was cool and beautiful...perfect for a nice walk. It's amazing how peaceful the neighborhoods are at night. This is a pic of the "Skinny" bridge. Not so aptly named because the bridge itself is pretty wide. "Ish zat Veird?" Anyway, Amsterdam was a great start to our "European Tour". Next stop...Barcelona...

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