Tulip Time River Cruise Day 9

Sun. Apr. 13: We got on our way bright and early in order to pack in as much as possible. Getting ourselves down to Dam Square was our first order of business in order to do the first of our Rick Steves walking tours. This was an introduction to Amsterdam, starting at the Central station at the harbor. We walked the bikes with us because we knew we were ending far from the square. Much of the tour was on pedestrian walkways so we couldn't have ridden anyway. It covered part of what we had seen with Johann a week ago Saturday and on the cruise tour last Sunday but took us event farther south.

Dam Square with the Royal Palais and Old Church on two sides

Opposite corner of Dam Square

Walking street right off of Dam Square

Amsterdam Museum, which we didn't visit until the next day

One of the oldest buildings still remaining in Amsterdam, this still has a wooden facade.

At the end we took a circuitous route back to the Dam and took a second walking tour, this time of the Red Light District. On his route we saw the notorious prostitutes in display windows. They were much like we saw in Antwerp except that, because it was morning, the "high rent" girls’ windows were still empty and only the older, heavier, cheaper women were on display. Near the end of this tour we came across The Bird, a Thai "snack" restaurant that Otto had recommended highly to us. So we stopped for spring rolls, chicken with cashews (Peggy), and sweet and sour pork (Marv). We each took half in containers to finish another time. 

Children preparing for a Palm Sunday processional outside the Protestant
 Church in the same Beggery we visited the Sunday before

Tram running through the Red Light District

Canal scenes in the Red Light District.
No photographs allowed of the Prostitutes!

Back on the bikes we made our way east to the World War II Resistance Museum. It is very well done and tells all about the Dutch experience from May, 1940 when the Germans occupied The Netherlands, until 1945 when the Allies liberated, first the south and then the rest of the country. We had individual iPods to swipe at about 30 displays giving us the story in English while we watched videos, looked at display boxes, and perused photos and diaries telling ordinary people's experiences. It was extremely moving. From the museum we made our way south to the B&B along canals and pathways. Amsterdam is made for bikes and we were grateful to have the use of them from the B&B. The three days would have cost us about 84Euros as far as I can tell, cutting some more off of our apartment cost. All of Amsterdam is in bloom, with the magnolias just finishing, cherries in full bloom, and rhododendrons and green leaves just beginning. Fat wisteria vines are heavy with purple blossoms, daffodils are finished, and the tulips are, of course, everywhere. Although the air temperatures were cool and there was a slight breeze, the sun made it very pleasant to ride along and feel like a native--with one exception: I only passed one or two people the entire time we biked and was continually passed by the fit and healthy natives. We learned that the Dutch are the tallest people in the world and they are predominantly tall, fit and handsome. They are also for the most part gracious and speak perfect English. Even the dogs, of which there were many, are well-behaved and we heard hardly any barking. The traffic is heavy but there is no honking like one hears in Paris and Rome and the numbers of bikes far outweigh cars, partly because both parking and petrol are prohibitively expensive. By the time we got back to the B&B we were pretty worn out so we enjoyed cheese, bread, sausage and fruit for dinner before relaxing and reading.

Outside the Resistance Museum