The first organized outing in Amsterdam was the Van Gogh Museum. It was excellent(!!!), however, I was looking forward to Starry Night (which wasn't here- it's in NYC) and the Bedroom (pictured, which was being restored here). This picture I took at the d'Orsay in Paris; its a copy that Van Gogh did of his own work while in the asylum.
Still, it was so awesome to see Van Gogh's skies, flowers, and amazing colors and mad brushstrokes up close. Here is Steve admiring the sunflowers.
Tonight we went on a boat ride with a few friends of friends who are visiting us from Ireland. The boat was electric, so it was very quiet. It was gorgeous to float down the canals and the Amstel River. Ours was the best boat ride ever because we had a doggie aboard named Olive. Jilly will be very jealous.
When you take into account the narrow streets, the cars, the bicyclers and all the other tourists, boating is the gezellige way to go in Amsterdam. (Gezellige is their word for cool, laid back, and social.) The boat driver even dropped us off at our houseboat!
Today we had a terrific Indonesian "rice table" lunch. It was so good and we were so hungry, we didn't take a picture until the plates were empty. We might try to find more Asian cuisine tomorrow. We whimped out on the Anne Frank house today because the line was so long. Hopefully we will brave it tomorrow, since we don't know if we'll be back to Amsterdam any time soon.
Some of the houses here are leaning forwards and sideways, but the Dutch engineering is quite amazing overall. The Dutch are also quite accepting, and many things you see here are completely shocking. Take the Red Light District, for instance. (Here is a blurry photo, because that's how unreal it seems...) I'm a long way from Yadkinville, North Carolina!
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