Amsterdam, Netherlands

There is so much to photograph in Amsterdam.  I got overwhelmed, in a good way.  We went to the red light district, where we saw prostitutes lit up in windows like they were Christmas displays. 

We took a boat tour of the canals.  You could navigate the whole city by the waterways and many people actually live on house boats rather than in actual houses. 

We also went on a tour of the house where Anne Frank and her family hid for four years before finally being betrayed, discovered by Nazi police, and sent to concentration camps.  Anne's father was the only survivor and he fought to have the house set up as a museum dedicated to illustrating the dangers of prejudice and racism.  It was a very touching experience to be there and see how they lived and to read excerpts from her diary in context.  The teacher in me thought it was brilliantly currated for kids.  They had an especially touching interview with Anne's father, and a friend of hers, who was the last person to see her alive.  Here are some of the pictures we did manage to take. 

There were so many pretty bridges.

Notice the Aurora sign.  Of course we thought of our little girl back at home.

A specialty of the Netherlands: raw, salted herring.  I tried one piece and that was enough of the national dish for me.  The boys on the other hand, wanted to eat it the way the locals do, which is apparently in one big gulp.

Pre-gulp pose.  Check out the poster behind him.  I told you.  This is the way the locals do it.

Post gulp and he still has a smile on his face, which means it must taste pretty good.  Or he has a fish bone stuck in his throat and now he's affraid to close it.

I leave them alone for 2 hours to go on a tour of the Heineken Factory and this is what they do. 

That and flirt with the beer lady as they learn about Heineken.  I will assume it was to get more free samples and in that case, I will forgive.



Aren't tourists so fun?  Me wearing huge clogs, just like the natives.



Looking good!



He hated me for making him do this.



At the Dutch cheese store where we proceeded to eat them out of free samples. Yum!



Standing on a bridge over the Amstell River with the main locks behind us.



Just in case you don't know what you want for Christmas yet.