Tulip Inn Amsterdam Riverside

... the rest of our trip and caught an eastbound train headed for Berlin.<br>(Whitney)<br> <br>We had a great time getting to know Tonio and Annie and their kids in Haarlem. We went intoAmsterdam during the day and then got to hang out with the family when we got back. We watched kids shows in dutch and made up our own storylines and had fun playing with toy cars and stuffed animals.<br>The tour in Amsterdam was really interesting ...

Click on photo's to get larger image.<br><br>Do I get bonus points for using arrows????<br><br>Most people are not going to get this comment. But hey there's going to be a lot more of that in the coming months......so bear with me there will be stuff here which you do understand eventually!

... made the buildings and the canals glow. I returned once again to the hostel to meet with friends I had met the night before (some Irish and Austrians) to watch the Arsenal/Celtic game (I was proudly wearing my red and white jersey with a big O2 in the middle). After Arsenal won, I went to take care of some more plans for Cairo. I feel now that I am more prepared for the next four months. Unlike my European cities, I don&#8217;t think Cairo is a city as ...

... women were, I guess I was expecting a lower class of ***** :-). Andy took us thru a Brothel of about 15 women. Literally they are in your face, very up close and personal with just a glass door between you. I almost lost Will as he was walking a little slower than me. I guess I was in more of a hurry to get out of there. The other shock to me was watching the guys come out of a room. Some were young and even thanked the women on ...

... hotel gave us a map and we went a-wandering! Walked for hours and hours. Finally realized we had wandered so far south that we were beyond our map. By this time Shaun had to pee and there were no bathrooms anywhere. This became our mission. Got to this big park and I told Shaun to go behind a tree but he wouldn't since there were kids around. Walked and walked and walked and walked and walked and ended up at a ...

... a poor depiction, difficult for the average person to grasp. Its almost tragic, the way it could be (the home as it was on the canal) and the way it actually was...a tarnished jewel. It was 8:45 pm when I emerged and decided I was starving. I passed the Homo Memorial with its three pink marble triangles and bouquets of flowers. Interesting concept and location, right around the corner from the Frank House. A nod to tolerance of all people, I suppose. I walked a wee bit to ...

... had packed for me, I started my day with the Canal boat Tour. On my way from the airport, I had learned that this is the best way to see the city and get oriented. This 1.5 hour, audio guided boat ride (&euro;10), a popular way of touring Amsterdam, takes you through the small interlaced canals, showing the popular sights and land marks. For a spoiled Californian/Mumbaite like me, Amsterdam was starting to feel too cold and only dared to step outside the ...

... us all down in the backroom of the bar to explain a little about the history of Amsterdam and to talk about the tour. It turns out that this tour was especially focused on the Red Light District...which is still VERY active today! I thought it was going to be a Historical tour....but no, we were going to be walking through the very active red light district.... On my honeymoon, of all trips! Slightly ironic I guess! Anyway, overall the tour was ...

... months ago. I was looking for a place to bring Dorothy to in the spring when Larry Hayden told me a guy named Reza who I knew from the Sensi Museum Coffeeshop had a really hip apartment in the Jordaan that he was trying to rent starting February 20th because he was going to move to Washington DC to be with his American girlfriend. There was a drawback in that the government was shaking him down for back taxes and he needed 3000 euros to get straight with ...

Dirk and I took the train from the airport to downtown and hung out for about 4 hours. We walked around the center of town in the dusky winter light, explored festive Christmas markets with colorful decorations and snack stands, and hung out in the famous coffee houses for a while. The canal side architecture with their elaborate false fronts and protruding cargo hooks were uniquely atmospheric.