the Hughes': Amsterdam

Wow. I'm finally finished with this post. It's kind of long. Enjoy!

This past weekend we traveled to Amsterdam with our friends L&G... and fell in love with it. Before we went, I was envisioning a city where we'd have to share the streets with drug dealers, prostitutes, and other weirdos. Totally not what happened. Although the Red Light District exists (with said weirdos), it was limited to a very small part of the city. The other 99% was amazing. The four of us decided we could definitely live there. Here's the rundown of our trip:

Our first time flying Easy Jet. Oh. my. goodness. Talk about anxiety. There is no order to their boarding process. Whatsoever. It's a first come, first serve seating philosophy. Boarding announcement = swarm of people crowding at the gate, cutting, pushing, and breathing on each other. Savages. My sister would have commited a murder if she were there. I prefer having some sort of order. I miss Southwest. I'd even go for the smaller groups like Continental does. Heck, I'd love an assigned seat. Guess that's what we get for 60chf round-trip tickets.

An hour and a half later... touchdown in Amsterdam. Hello weekend.

We stayed with a friend that used to live in Phoenix, but now lives in Amsterdam (kind of like our deal here in Switzerland). Thanks R!

First thing on our mind? FOOD. Geneva has a somewhat limited food selection. Well, I'll just say it: Geneva's restaurant selection sucks if you live here. It's fine if your visiting, but ex-pats experience restaurant-variety-depression and shock from outrageous prices. We go out maybe once a week.

Indonesian rice tables at Long Pura. Surprisingly, this cuisine is 'very Dutch'... and very good. We were also introduced to Heineken Brown. It's really sweet and one was enough. We ran through these rice tables like hyenas. NOM NOM NOM. You would think we hadn't been to an amazing (and reasonably priced) restaurant in a while... oh wait...

Drinks at Van Zuylen... and a tiny car.

Buildings looked a little unstable. Some looked like they would fall forward and others leaned sideways. Notice Adam & G standing straight up. Crazy.

Breakfast at Sara's pancake house (Dutch pancakes). Again, hyenas. It. was. delicious.

Left: Beautiful architecture!

Right: cat hanging out at the pancake house.

Left: Flower market. Holland remains the head of the flower industry. Wish we could see all of the fields in bloom. I'm sure it's beautiful.

Right: Westerkerk church

There are over twice as many bikes in Amsterdam as there are cars. You can't live in Amsterdam and not own a bike.... unless, of couse, you are physically incapable of riding one. Even then, you probably still have one to fit in. Everyone rides bikes. Everywhere. Although there were multiple near-death experiences for us (obliviously stepping into the bike lane), we enjoyed watching, and participating in, the bike culture. Amsterdam has separate streets for bikers, unlike Geneva where it's really dangerous to bike in certain areas. So... we rented bikes and channeled our 'inner-10-year-old.'

More interesting bike facts:

Bike theft is the most common crime in Amsterdam. R's bike was stolen recently, but he got a sweet new red one.
There is a ginormous bike garage (bigger than this picture shows)

"Time Travelling" - a term the locals use when one wakes up the next morning and is unaware of a biking incident that happened the night/day before (alcohol does not necessarily need to be involved). Bleeding, bruising, and other physical ailments may be present. Also, the person is more than likely unaware of where the bike is parked. "Bro, I have a nasty cut on my leg and my face hurts. Did I time travel last night? Have you seen my bike?"
Everyone has a cute bell. Ding-a-ling-a-ling! We may have misused them. Several times.
No helmets were seen... also no wrecks were witnessed. We probably needed helmets.
Very few kids were seen riding bikes. Where are all the kids!?
Typical Dutch bike (taller and just... bigger than American bikes, some without hand brakes)

It's nearly impossible to do a wheelie on a Dutch bike.
This is a common sight:

Left: Bucket and driver talking on cell. They're great at multitasking.

Right: Business suits and someone sitting on the front or back (or both)

I may or may not have had severe bike-seat/tail bone pain on Sunday. I walked like a cowboy for the first few minutes after we woke up. I don't bike enough around Geneva.

Bike ride through Vondel Park... then for several more hours through the city.

Our friend R met us in the park and showed us around the rest of the city...

Left: A is for Adam & Ashley

Right: Rijksmuseum (lots of Rembrandts)

L is an extremely talented painter and painted a couple Amsterdam's this week.

Next stop on our bike tour: The Red Light District

I could only take a picture of the red lights. Apparently you'll get chased down if you take a picture of the girls. I didn't care for that. So, made a picture myself.

This picture couldn't be any more realistic. I'm beside myself at how it turned out. Amazing artistic talent. My mom would be proud. I did it using my SmartBoard software. It's shameful to think that I created this with the software I used with my kindergarteners.

The ladies couldn't be outside... it's illegal. So, they show their stuff inside of red lit rooms trying to lure you in by dancing, pointing, winking, etc. I'd be lying if I said I felt comfortable when they winked at me... weird. It's also uncomfortable seeing all of the creepy men who are not there to walk through like tourists... there were there as customers. The girls weren't naked, but there wasn't much left to the imagination. All were wearing bikinis/lingerie. In my amazing drawing, you'll notice a girl reading, one upside down, and another charging her iPhone. Those events actually happened. I'd say most of the girls we saw did not show any enthusiasm for being in their little room... I don't blame them. It's sad. Apparently, the prostitutes make up to 500 euros a day (part of it going to rent the room), belong to a union, and pay taxes.

I can't imagine being in a situation where prostitution was my only option. Makes me appreciate my non-creepy husband, comfortable house, 'normal' job, etc.

The red lights.

When you think of Amsterdam, the Red Light District and marijuana probably come to mind first. Little known fact, but marijuana IS illegal. However, it's not enforced. At all. So weird. This results in 'coffee shops.' Similar to Starbucks in regards to potency of the product. It's not hard to find 'coffee shops', which are these establishments that sell weed and allow you to smoke amongst other enthusiasts. Some of these coffee shops are cleverly named. The Grasshopper is probably the biggest/most famous one and then here's Smokey's on the right... not obvious at all right? Less uncomfortable than the brothels, but most of these shops are still in the RLD.

Next stop on the bike tour: the Windmill Bar. This is the only windmill left in the city. There are some others around the Netherlands, but not many. It was huge! R said that families would build one of these and then pass them down through the family with each new generation... house and business all in one.

Biking proved to be a bit more difficult/fun after the Windmill bar.

Next stop: Jenever ('yen-ay-ver') bar. Jenever is a whisky-tasting liquor made in the Netherlands. A long time ago it was exported to England by a British king who love it... the residents fell in love too. War soon prevented jenever from being imported, so they tried making it themselves. The Dutch say the Brits failed miserably and instead of creating jenever, they created gin. So, if you ever ask for Dutch gin in Holland... be prepared for a chewing out. They don't appreciate it. It's jenever. Not gin.

Our cute bartender above. She told us the history and taught us how to drink it. Tiny little glass filled to the brim. You don't move it until you sip the top layer off... prevents it from spilling. It's my understanding that if you spill it then you get kicked out of the city.

Now for tasting. Remember... I said it had a whisky-esque flavor.

Jenever types below (LtoR): Superior(oldest), aged-corn, aged, young

Jenever tastes (LtoR): hot lava, fire, McDonalds coffee, boiling water

Oh. my. gosh. Sooo strong. Lit my esophagus up. I think it's a gentleman's drink.

Now. For more biking. Nighttime. Dangerous.

Cafe du Klos for ribs, baked potato, coleslaw, etc. Heaven. Delicious.

Done with the bikes for the day. Now to R's apartment to get ready for Museumnacht (Museum Night) which is one night a year when all the museums are open, have dj's, bars, food, etc. You purchase a wristband for about 18 euros and can go in any museum and ride the tram/bus for free! Such a great time.

View from atop R's apartment. He lives on one of the canals in a great location.

The Geneva Gang: G, L, Me, & Adam

I told Adam we needed a bike like this.

First museum: Foam (photography). Overrated.

Onto the next.... ooooo look what I found. Slight addiction.

Van Gogh Museum. Amazing. Bottom left: see the self portrait?

Here's some of the famous works we saw. Although he was a troubled man, his art is so cool. Love the colors and style. See the musem and rest of his works (100's)

Adam and I also made it to the Rijksmuseum. No pictures, but we saw several works from Rembrandt. His look more like photographs. Amazing.

Here are some from Google... The Night Watch (top right) was HUGE. Floor to ceiling.

Snagged a chocolate covered waffle on the way back to help us get some sleep. Because that's logical.

Next morning. Bagels and walking around the city. Yum. It's hard to find bagels in Geneva, but we have Pain au Chocolate (bread with chocolate in it)... not complaining too much.

Onto the Anne Frank House...

The Anne Frank House was a great museum despite the purpose. It was well laid out and you actually got to go into the apartment where Anne, her family, and others were hiding from the Jewish-hating Nazis. The pictures she pasted to her wall are even preserved. It was a very somber, angering, and quiet tour. I didn't take any pictures inside, but I found some online...

Left: bookcase hid the secret entrance. Otto Frank's employees helped them hide during the 2 years.

Right: Anne's room. All of the windows were blacked out to prevent Nazis from finding them

Left: Anne

Right: model of the business and connecting house where they hid (two green floors & attic above)

The group was discovered and arrested in 1944 and sent to Auschwitz where her mother and sister both died. Anne died from disease only a few weeks before the camp was freed. Otto (her father) survived and eventually relocated to Switzerland. Such a horrid and sick story.

After the museum, we grabbed some lunch. Cauliflower soup, quiche, salad, and beer for the guys.

Onto the Heineken Museum! It was kind of an overcast day, so being inside was perfect.

I have a new appreciation for Heineken. Was never my favorite, but I like it a little more now.

Night before we left: MEXICAN FOOD!!!!! Oh my! So exciting. We miss Mexican so bad. Tacos, Pacifico for Adam, and strawberry margaritas for moi. Delicious.