Dam Hotel Amsterdam

... br> Amsterdam is a city like New Orleans, built below sea level with an extensive canal system for drainage.

Because early residents were taxed on the width of their houses, they started shrinking them to avoid taxes. This also caused them to shrink their staircases into very tiny narrow ones as shown by the staircase in our hostel. Because of the narrow staircases, hooks were installed at the outside top front ...

... Most stations have platform 1a, 1b, 1c etc but the divisions relate to first class carriages or second class carriages, at Amsterdam they are actually separate platforms!

We completely missed our train, so we went and looked at the timetable to see if there might be another train we could get that the ticket sales girl might have missed. There was one on the next platform leaving in a few minutes, but it was one of those special trains like the one we weren’t able ...

... pour les jours à venir (si je le retrouve.... je l'ai stationné quelque part par là.. ou plutôt de ce côté? Dur à dire..) Les vélos ici, c'est partout! Faut dire qu'un trajet en transport en commun coûte 2.60 Euros...
Mon Deutch ne s'améliore pas. Je n'ai aucune idée de ce que je commande.. ou d'ou je vais.. ou d'ou je suis, en fait.
Bon, la pluie s'est arrêtée, allons voir si je peux retrouver ma monture...

... s potrait as being in Los Angeles. It seemed they were pretty bitter that Getty had possesion of one of their paintings. Ugly Americans!

Wednesday, the girls needed some rest so Taylor and Nick helped me bike the kids down to the beach. Another great Netherlands experience! A 25 minute bike road through the village and dunes let's you out at the town's beach where there are ice cream stands, and a few restaurants. the kids had a blast collecting ...

... different advertisements over the years and Heine's role in soccer.  My favorite part was I got to put my name on a bottle of Heineken, so yes, my name is on a beer bottle.  It is now sitting in my room, being shown off to all who enter.  Following the Heineken tour, Brandon and I headed to the Rijksmuseum.  This is one of Amsterdam's most famous art museums, housing the works of Rembrandt and other famous Dutch painters whose names I ...

... of Amsterdam. We make our way through many of the more colorful districts and proceed to down some Dutch pancakes. The following days are spent touring the Anne Frank House, Van Gogh and Rijkmuseum. Of course, we get our fill of pancakes and canals and are ready for Prague within a few days.

... closed for renos) I took some stately home pictures... We took in the "skinny" bridge, which was a collaboration of two sisters who decided that they wanted to cross the canal for ...

... said. "They're so out of touch with the reality on the ground," Rosenthal said, referring to the federal government. "Are people in general going to stop? Yeah, just the way they stopped producing alcohol during Prohibition." MPS BACK ANTI-DRUG SPRAY IN SCHOOLS A majority of MPs support the use of a special spray in secondary schools which can be used to identify drug users. The government is to investigate whether the spray works and its legal implications. The ...

Spent the weekend in Amsterdam and had an awesome time. Ingrid & I went to meet up with a friend of hers who was working there for a few months. 3 of his friends from the US flew in for the weekend. At the last minute, our fellow Americans in Stockholm, Matt and Erin, decided to come as well. The city is beautiful - canals every other street and gorgeous buildings. Even though it was cloudy and rainy, I still thought ...

... another day. As we waited to get the gondolas, and the line slowly dwindled, we all started fidgeting, more than eager to get off the mountain. On arrival at the base of the mountain, we were given souvenir hats. And some of us were even interviewed for the local news. Apparently we had become minor celebrities, and the hotel manager had been in contact daily with the local radio network giving them updates and stuff. After the excitement of ...