Amsterdam turned out OK after all! Joe made it in by 6 pm on Saturday and I was able to hang out with those girls who I met in the morning until then. By the time he got there, all the touristy stuff was closed so we had to pack it all in to Sunday. That night, we saw the coffee shops and red light district. Seeing half naked girls dancing in windows down a long dark alley lit by only red neon lights was probably one of the weird
est experiences I've ever encountered. It's really something that can not be described in words and you'd have to go there yourself to really see what I mean. Coffee shops were another
very interesting thing about Amsterdam with random drugs that would be illegal in the U.S. being sold at discount prices. A place called Bulldog even told stories of its history of providing marijuana during times when it was illegal in Amsterdam. The sign on this bar stool says "Our first and most successful hiding spot. A real high chair!" It kind of reminds me of being in Harry's and talking about the Prohibition days. The next day, we were also able to go to two of the amazing museums in Amsterdam, the Vincent Van Gogh Museum and the Rijks (pronounced rikes) Museum. Both had art from spectacular artists ranging from Picasso to du Jardin to Rembrandt (and of course Vincent Van Go
gh). The scenes that these artists portrayed are really like nothing you can ever describe in words and its really a whole new experience when you can see the originals with their thick and thin layers of vibrant paints built up in different ways to bring about different moods and thoughts. One of my favorite was this Vincent painting of a broken down church in Nuenen called 'The peasants' churchyard' This picture though does not nearly do justice to the original hanging on the wall at the Van Gogh Museum. I have a lot more pictures of Amsterdam that I put online yesterday in my online photo album. To see them, click "See all my Pictures" on the right. Being in Amsterdam also gave me a chance to again feel like a complete foreigner, not knowing any of the language or anything about the city that I was in. This gave me a whole new feeling when I came back and could again speak German and ride on the Deutsche Bahn trains that I know and love. I think that I'm really starting to feel at home in Germany...
est experiences I've ever encountered. It's really something that can not be described in words and you'd have to go there yourself to really see what I mean. Coffee shops were another very interesting thing about Amsterdam with random drugs that would be illegal in the U.S. being sold at discount prices. A place called Bulldog even told stories of its history of providing marijuana during times when it was illegal in Amsterdam. The sign on this bar stool says "Our first and most successful hiding spot. A real high chair!" It kind of reminds me of being in Harry's and talking about the Prohibition days. The next day, we were also able to go to two of the amazing museums in Amsterdam, the Vincent Van Gogh Museum and the Rijks (pronounced rikes) Museum. Both had art from spectacular artists ranging from Picasso to du Jardin to Rembrandt (and of course Vincent Van Go
gh). The scenes that these artists portrayed are really like nothing you can ever describe in words and its really a whole new experience when you can see the originals with their thick and thin layers of vibrant paints built up in different ways to bring about different moods and thoughts. One of my favorite was this Vincent painting of a broken down church in Nuenen called 'The peasants' churchyard' This picture though does not nearly do justice to the original hanging on the wall at the Van Gogh Museum. I have a lot more pictures of Amsterdam that I put online yesterday in my online photo album. To see them, click "See all my Pictures" on the right. Being in Amsterdam also gave me a chance to again feel like a complete foreigner, not knowing any of the language or anything about the city that I was in. This gave me a whole new feeling when I came back and could again speak German and ride on the Deutsche Bahn trains that I know and love. I think that I'm really starting to feel at home in Germany...
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