Amsterdam

Amsterdam is a really interesting place. First off, it is the first planned city. It is broken up with canals and bridges and is really quite quaint. And like Coppenhagen, it relies mostly on the use of bicycles. They even have parking garages for bikes!

Aimee and I arrived early on July 1st and checked into our hotel. After a delicious breakfast, we hit the streets to check it out. Unreal. Before we know it, we were right in the middle of an Amsterdam festival as well as "The Battle of Amsterdam." As I previously stated, Amsterdam is broken up by canals and bridges, with that there is this friendly competition between areas ranging from soccer games to art shows to even a dance and rap contest for teens. It was awesome!!! These kids are extremely talented! And we had a blast!

The Van Gogh Museum. Awesome! First off, did you know that he only decided to be an aritst at age 27!! Unreal! So, kids, if Van Gogh doesn´t know what he wants to do at an early age, it is OK if you don´t! :-) ... Anywho, each area of the museum is broken up by a certain years and/or places he was when he created a certain piece, as well as a little anecdote of information about him and what he was thinking or going through next to each piece. Quite amazing!

Later we hit Anne Frank´s House. It is really interesting. First off, it is alot larger than one would think, however, keep in mind there were 8 people living there! Absolutely crazy what they had to go through.

After a brief rest on one of the beautiful canals near Anne Frank´s house, we decide on our next move for the evening... Food & Jazz. So, with that in mind we decide to head back to the hotel and shower and change and actually look like girls, since we were total backpacker bums all day.:-) As we walk along yet another canal, Aimee and i realize that we are parched! So, Aimee and i notice a goodlooking African gentleman coming out of his house and Aimee politely shows him her water bottle and asks him where we can buy water. This super nice guy says, "Come with me, I will fill it up for you"... so, Aime and i do! Next thing we know we are in his apartment where we are then greeted by his beautiful wife, Mirian, and he introduces himself, Bailar. Without hesitation he tells us to basically take a load off and chill out - bringing us Coke and Water. Aimee and i are delighted! Moments later, he tells us that he will be right back, after all he was on his way out when we stopped him. So, like all girls do, Aimme, myself and Mirian start chatting it up!! She is born and raised in Amsterdam and he is from Africa. They have been together for 12years and are absolutly great!! Bailar is also a fantastic musician!! So, before we know it we are completely wrapped up in our conversation, trading stories, and filling her in on my travels, etc.. and Bailar comes back and asks us if we have some place to be or not and of course we didn´t, so we said no, as long as we are not intruding and thankfully, they were enjoying our company! :-) So, seconds later, Bailar brings out dinner that he had picked up. So sweet! Aimee and I were beside ourselves. These two strangers took us in and made our Amsterdam experience absolutely amazing!! 3hours later, after a fantastic dinner, hysterical stories, tea and alot of laughter, Aimee and I head out knowing we have new friends. So much for Jazz... but if you were to ask either one of us, that night was probably the best!

As we walked back to the hotel that night we stumbled on a small "Red District" Area.. and Aimee asks me, are we at the Red Light District?? And i quickly answered, i don´t think so, after all it is called a district, i feel like it would look more like Time Square or something... and i was right...

The next day, Aimee and i headed to Rijksmuseum. Unfortunately, only one wing was open, but they put the best of the best in it! They had the entire history of Holland as well and Rembrandt´s best pieces in this wing. Again with a brief history about the piece or that period in time. Very educational and interesting.

After a mouthwatering Italian lunch, Aimee and i decided to take the Heineken Tour. Super fun!! they had these Video and Picture things.. Hysterical! Free Beer obviously, 3D / Virtual Reality games. Alot of fun!

http://heinekenfm.bitmove.tv/bitmove/cgi/receive.jsp?uid=FCAD4DAD77129BD26D8BAF680D33E40C

That night, Aimee and I agree, we MUST go to the "Red Light District" and see what all the comotion is about... so, we did and WOW!! i have never seen anything like that before in my life. Literally women and some men trying to be women in all shapes and sizes and ethnicities are in windows for all to see. Some are dressed, some are not, some are attractive and some are most defintely not. Unreal.. Some guys try to bargain while others just walk in and the curtain is closed. Aimee and i were seriously "star struck!" And there are actual Neon Red Lights in the windows, hence Red Light District. Pimps on the street, drug dealers, you name it, it was there, but all in a very organized chaois way. Very interesting and seriously extremely funny for Aimme and I.

On our final day in Amsterdam, Aimee and I did the Mike´s Bike tour / boat tour - In the Rain! It was pouring!! And they gave us this great ponchos, but after a while, it was worthless.. and we were drenched! But we got to see the ins and outs of Amsterdam and if any of you are interested in buying a place there... it is $$$$$ - even a cheap small "brownstone" goes for 1.8€ and that is not even in the nicest part of Amsterdam!!

After the tour, of course it stopped raining! - Aimee and i walked around and tried to figure out what our next move would be... Scotland to hang out with Lock Ness or Pamplonia to Run with the Bulls... well, if ya know me, you know where we went.. PAMPLONIA!!

That night, we packed up our stuff and headed to Paris for a night to see my friend Joanna for a perfect quick break before Spain..

Then it was off to Spain.............

more on that later!