Our visit to the Netherlands brought us to Amsterdam and a quick visit to the Dutch countryside.
Amsterdam — much like Venice, Italy — is a city of waterways. Houseboats line each side of the water.We wondered why most houses in Amsterdam have hooks on them. What we found out was this: narrow houses were built to be more stable on the sandy ground; it is hard to get any big items through the front door; so they use the hooks for pulley systems to get large furniture and other items up and down. Anne Frank’s house. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get tickets to go inside.Dam Square in central AmsterdamIn addition to the many “coffee shops” in Amsterdam (what they call pot shops), they have mushroom shops too. This is the first one we checked out.A window full of marijuana edibles!YummyThe name says it all.Pax in front of the Pax sign.The red light district during the day. You can go window shopping for the many women who waiting and ready.Some of the streets in the red light district are intermixed with typical stores. This woman is waiting for her next customer.This woman in the door directly opposite the bar we were in was more aggressive than the others; she’d open the door and try to wave men in. She got quite a bit of business while we were at the pub.Cheers!The men’s lone bathroom stall in the pub. The sign reads “Shelter; Christian Hotels”. Right on the edge of the red light district. This guy paddled up the waterway playing his horn with one hand, turning the crank on his music box with the other, and steering around in circles with…? Very entertaining.Wooden shoe boatHouseboats come in all shapes and sizes.A fancy hotel that the rich and famous stay in.Some of the bridges open for boats to pass through.The original Heineken brewery is from Amsterdam.The tall statue in the middle is of Rembrandt. We weren’t sure who the others were, but everyone was taking pictures holding this particular guy’s hand. The local bowling alley recently added soccer bowling (we weren’t able to do though).Bicycles are by far the most popular mode of transportation in Amsterdam.In addition to street lights for cars, they also have bike and pedestrian lights.The bike racks next to the central train station are three stories high and incredibly long. The bottom two levels appeared to be full.More bikes just down the road from the train station.These mini mini cars can park where motorcycles park……and drive in designated bicycle lanes!Across the harbor from the central train station (on a rainy day).Adventurous types can swing off the edge of the top of this tall building.We took a tour of the Gassan diamond company. This is how they shape the diamonds.Checking on the progress.Old fashion jewelers equipment.Inside the Van Gogh museum.The Potato EatersPaxton’s favoritePaxton was really excited to see this paining, as it was on the cover of his math book last school year. He said his teacher had discussed how the painting uses fractions.
The Netherlands countryside
Working windmills at Zaanse Schans, Netherlands. Each have different uses: saw logs, grind color pigments, etc. The houses across the water in Zaanse Schans.We took a tour of the windmill that saws logs into wood planks. They store the logs in the water to keep them wet and easier to cut. Our windmill tour guide and his wooden shoes.As the windmill blades turn, they pull the saws up and down while another mechanism pushes the logs back. All the workers use wooden shoes because they protect your feet from heavy objects falling on them and they keep your feet dry in the rainy weather. Just needs an “a” at the end.The next stop on the tour was Volendam, a fishing community that also has a cheese factory. Old Danish headwear.In the cheese factory. They specialize in Gouda cheese.The free samples were delicious!A sea captain on his other ride.Final stop was across the water in Marken, where we were going to visit a wooden shoe factory.After a short walk, we arrive at the shoe factory.Carving out the inside of the shoe.
