Amsterdam

I loved the city of Amsterdam. There was a huge difference as soon as you get off the plane. It was nice being in a country where they spoke fluent English. What a treat when you walk out to catch a taxi & they are all Mercedes. My kind of town :). The coolest thing about Amsterdam is that everyone rides bikes. I could not get over this. There are bikes everywhere. Young people, old people all riding their bikes. Such a neat thing to see. The canals and the architecture are very cool as well.Here is the Hotel Pulitzer which we stayed while visiting Amsterdam. It is part of the Luxury Collection with Westin as well. Beautiful hotel which sits right on the canal. Right out the front door we were able to catch a canal ride which was great.
Here is the Anne Frank house/museum. This was quite the moving experience. The most eerie part for me was being able to look out the windows that she did while being cooped up in this house for more than 2 years. The saddest thing is that someone turned the family in for hiding out & they were all taken to concentration camps. Anne Frank died a month before the war was over. Very sad indeed. This was the highlight of my trip to Amsterdam.
View of the canal from the hotel
Here we are on our canal tour on the boat called the Tourist. It was built in 1909. Winston Churchill toured Amsterdam on this very vessel in 1946. Neat huh?



Here is a short video of the canal ride in Amsterdam.
Here is our captain Victor. Great tour guide. Here is Rembrandt's house which is called Rembrandt's Corner. This house was very beautiful on the inside & they teach you all about his very different techniques of art.
In Amsterdam they call these buildings the "Six leaning ladies". Notice how the buildings are all leaning.
Here is the cathedral where Rembrandt is buried which is right up from the hotel we were staying in.Quite the difference between horse & buggy in Amsterdam to Spain. All of the horses here were draft horses.Hanging out at the hotel bar in Amsterdam. I introduced Jeanne to my favorite drink on this trip. None other than Grey Goose & tonic. Ahhhh!!!!!! She loved it.