The Brezinski Blog of Adventure: Amsterdam!

What a wonderful city! Amsterdam has a reputation for being a fun and easygoing, culturally liberal city, and this is all very true. Everyone here that we met was kind, friendly, and relaxed. Most people spoke English (a small but comforting plus!) and we found people to be so helpful. Amsterdam is the most densely populated city in Europe (with a waiting list of over SIX YEARS for apartment rentals and over EIGHT YEARS for a city parking space! Hence all the bicycles!), with a large population of expats and foreigners (seemed to be mainly Turkish where we were, though we met American, Italian, and Canadian expats here as well). We enjoyed every second, and can't wait to go back.

**Some photos in this blog may not be suitable for children, unless you want to explain some sex or drug-related things to them!**

Flying over the Alps on our way north.

The canals of the suburbs.

First meal - pickled sour herring (plate in middle), and smoked salmon and spinach salads with mustard vinaigrette. Delicious!

At the "I Amsterdam" sign at the airport! D found his niche!

I made my own! (Coincidentally, this then changes the phrase to "Hamsterdam", which is pretty great, I think!)

The Centraal Station tower.

Our stop - Mercatorplein

Chalk drawings by the local kids on the way to our B&B by Rembrantplein.

Out for a walk heading towards downtown, past several canals.

I loved being in such a public transportation and bicycle-friendly city!

I loved all the kwanzan cherry trees!

Apple blossoms?

I don't know what they are, but Amsterdam has a species of pigeon that is the freaking largest pigeon I've ever seen. They're the size of chickens! This one is easily a foot and a half tall!

Our first windmill. :)

Which happened to be a brewery!

Walking past the Zoo.

And to Dam Square.

So picturesque!

While marijuana is NOT legal in Amsterdam, it is "tolerated". The Dutch have a very liberal and sensical view about drugs - per the laws on the books, if someone is using an illicit substance but is not causing public or societal harm, it is tolerated (to a certain amount). However, if it results in violence or social disorder, it is no longer tolerated. As in - if a person does drugs and injured themselves somehow, the law considers you at fault because you made the choice to do those things. If you don't hurt anyone else, you're essentially allowed to do it but you will be held accountable. There is NO such thing as a ludicrous lawsuit in this country. The laws hold everyone accountable for their individual behavior. If you walk into a signpost or trip and fall on someone's stairs, it's your fault. Not theirs. Bam. Saves a LOT of taxpayer money!

And on another note - not ONCE did we see any Dutch people in the smoke shops. All we saw were tourists. We spoke to our B&B friends about this and our tour guide discussed this during the tour - the Dutch generally don't partake in marijuana, mushrooms, or the other illicit products for sale here. It's mainly for silly tourists who think they're "rebelling".

In the historical old quarters of Amsterdam, many of the houses lean heavily to one side or the other due to both ground shift and silly construction! Some of them look like they're going to fall!

Into the "Red Light" District.

Unlike drugs, prostitution here IS legal. The Dutch government taxes the industry, and all the prostitutes are individual businesswomen. They are protected under national law, provided police protection, form unions and workers groups, and have regular societal meetings. They contribute a lot to the tourism industry and have codes of conduct and strict safety measures they hold to (every woman operating here must have comprehensive STD/HIV testing at a minimum of every two months). There are few "pimps" in this country and it drastically reduces the amount of human trafficking. The Dutch feel that prostitution exists everywhere in the world and there is no way to stop it, so it may as well be offered protections and be taxed!

Photographs of the women are not permitted (bodyguards WILL take you AND your camera and throw you into the canal if you try!) but every red-lit window for two main boulevards and several cross-streets is a room with a lovely, scantily-clad woman inside. If you're interested, just approach the window, knock, or be invited inside. You will discuss payment, be given a condom, and serviced however you like. Men and women are equally invited. If you show any indication of violence or other, erratic behavior, every woman has a "panic button" in her room and can use it if she chooses. Average police response time is less than 60 seconds. On any given night there are dozens upon dozens of plainclothes police officers in the neighborhood to offer protection for any riff-raff.

Dutch sheep cheese, local beer, and red wine. Funny side note: I asked the bartender what type of red wine this was. His response? "Miss, this is a brewery. It's just red wine." Well... He's right, but it was delicious red wine!

Cheese shop!

At the Museumplein.

Amsterdam has the highest concentration of museums found in one city. It's home to some weird ones: The Pianola Museum, Rembrant Museum, Rijks Museum, Museum of Prostitution, etc. It's even home to the Museum Museum!

Such a beautiful day everyone came out to enjoy it!

Social puppies with their owner. Seeing this makes me happy!

Olympic Stadium

So iconic!

We took ourselves out to eat late on Saturday night at one of the only Vietnamese restaurants in the city. Not only was it PACKED, but it was delicious!

We were the last people in the restaurant at closing time. Lo and behold, who comes prancing from the kitchen? A pretty little tortoiseshell female with the softest, lushest coat of fur I've ever seen! What a sweet, affectionate little thing! It seemed like every business we went into in Amsterdam had a resident cat!

The resident cats at our B&B - Moira in front and Lina in the back - two sister gatti adopted nine years ago from Italy!

The ridiculously opulent spread for breakfast at our B&B.

Heading out on our bicycle tour!

Bicycling through the Vondelpark of Amsterdam - this is one of the only parks left in the city where having sex in public is still legal! Talk about interesting people-watching! LOL!

Picasso's only public art installation!

Our tour guide through Mike's Bikes (in black shirt on right).

At Leidseplein.

The Anne Frank House. No, we didn't go inside. Not only did everyone say it wasn't worth the time, but the line stretched around two blocks to get in...