I forgot the locks

There is a bridge in Paris that people attach locks to to show their love for each other or someone. I have never seen it other than in pictures. In my early morning travels I found a bridge that had some locks on it in the same spirit, just not as many. Here are a few pictures.

Some things I found interesting

This is just a list of some observations I noticed. It is not a complete list and I may have mentioned one or two previously but I still find them worthy to mention once again. It is just some differences in culture between The US and the Netherlands.

It seems everyone rides bikes, especially in Amsterdam. I realize not everyone does. Some take the public transportation. Some ride scooters. A few have cars. The ones that ride two wheels do not wear helmets. I did see a group of two or three riding together and they had helmets. I just figured them to be from the US and completely unaware that the rest of the world figures it is stupid to ride a bike with a helmet everywhere.

There are not many police out and about enforcing the law. I saw the police occasionally. They had police stations and substations but they were not looking for something insignificant. They were there if needed. People for the most part obey the law. There is crime there. There always is a criminal element. After speaking with a few people it seems most of the crime is petty. People get drunk and throw a bike in a canal. People get drunk and their bike falls into a canal. Public urination on the street or in a canal. By the way, no one is swimming in the canals because of the aforementioned reason. Someone may steal a bike. Defacing property, graffiti.

Speaking of laws, there are laws of the road in Amsterdam. I just do not grasp them very well. There are only stoplights on major roads and thoroughfares. Minor intersections do not have them. Instead of looking for a sign telling you to stop, it allows you to watch for pedestrians, bikes, motor-scooters and 4 wheeled vehicles. The traffic moves smoother, a bit chaotic but smoother and the police do not give you a ticket for not stopping when there is no stop sign or stop light. I saw no accidents while I was there.

The people that have lived there their whole life or naturalized there are Dutch. They are colorblind, as it should be. They are proud to be Dutch. Nobody is putting them in a class or race. I did have one conversation with someone that said that they sometimes have a problem when someone has a Muslim name but not too much.

Pot is legal. I knew that ahead of time. So is prostitution. I knew that also. The point is not everyone is smoking pot 24/7. If something is legal it does not mean everyone is going to participate. It means some can if they want to. It does not mean everyone will. People in the end will make up their own minds of what they will do.

The Dutch will speak your language whenever they can because they figure they can probably speak your language better than you can speak Dutch. It is more than likely true no matter how well you think you can speak Dutch.

The stores and businesses shut down for a few hours everyday. It is not a 24/7 society. They allow for downtime. It is needed. When you look at it, does everything need to be open 24 hours each and everyday?

I only saw a couple of runners. I figured them to be from the US also. I believe the reason for the lack of runners is because of the bicycles.

These are just some observations.

Photos Mom tweaked while on the plane

My Mother had a couple of hours to kill, actually about 9, while on the plane flying back to the USA. So I let her mess with the phone for a bit and she changed some photos. Some were outlined others changed to black and white or some other adjustment. I will post originals beside where I can.

Some shots from the camera

I had a small digital camera with me also and I could not upload those until I got home since I did not have a way to do so.

First some shots from the Rijks Museum day

Now some from the tour of the windmill day.

Enjoy....

A pic Lori wanted me to post

Well....



I originally cropped the picture to have just the wooden shoes because I did not like the photo of my head because it was not lit enough. It is a goofy photo of me and I wanted it to be funny, but now I am in trouble because I did not bring back wooden tulips for her. HA I did fill out those shoes though. HAHA

Pics Mom wanted added

The above photos were taken on a tour where there was a place that made wooden shoes. It is a very nice village. I do not remember the name of it.



This photo is just one of the many bridges in Amsterdam that go over the canals.

Back Home and Review

I had a blast in Amsterdam and throughout in the Netherlands. We stayed at the NH Caransa at Rembrandtplein. The hotel staff was wonderful. They were all very nice, warm and friendly. The Rembrandt Square is very busy and really a party area for people. It is just where we wanted to be because it was nice and centrally located near everything. The NH Hotels are worldwide and if this is an example of how they are then I would recommend that hotel chain to anyone. If you are unfamiliar to the NH chain and what it is like then if you are familiar with Hampton Inn in the states, it is similar to that chain. A nice chain with good amenities. It is not 5 star but affordable and not a low rent place. Where we stayed was modern, meaning up to date with its amenities. The Caransa had a great breakfast bar andthe balcony was a pleasant place to drink tea or coffee while enjoying the morning air and overlooks the Square.

Since I am now at my computer, I can add more than one pic a time and I will be adding pics over the next few days as people say a certain picture looks good and should be posted. Then I will not do anymore to the blog unless I go back to Amsterdam, which I hope to do sometime. Just let me know if you have any questions about the area or posts

Once again, I could not say too much about how great the staff was at the hotel.

Last shot of Netherlands

Last shot of the Netherlands from the plane. Almost back home.

Zee plane

Where I will be for the next 10 hours.

Yay

Last evening meal

Meal from the Italian place near the hotel. It was a nice meal with pizza and beer.

I thought about naming this last supper, but I did not want to get anything mixed up with the real one.

A view from the balcony

I know. Boring picture.

The purpose of the picture posting is what is not there.

A little traffic.

You don't see it because it is not there.

Traffic lights. There are traffic lights in Amsterdam, but not everywhere. They are just, it seems, where they are needed which is heavily trafficked areas and intersections. Does it a little more chaotic? Yes.

Does traffic seem to move better and smoother? Yes.

Sugars

Ditto on the sugar. I did not know you could get banana sugar, kiwi sugar, etc.

Spices

Spice shop from yesterdays market. These are A to some of G.  

There were many, many choices of spices. I did not buy any. If I was going to buy 1 Spice, I was going to buy 10 spices or more. So I opted for none.

Flowers from the market

Last pic of flowers from bloemenmarkt.

I really liked the variety of flowers there. I guess if they did not have the variety and sold other things it would just be a market.

Bagel

While looking for a wc we found an organic restaurant near the Albert cuypmarkt. The juice was needed and refreshing. I enjoyed the bagel. It was an oat bagel with walnuts, honey, thyme and a big hunk of goat cheese.

Juice

Carrot, apple and cucumber on left.

Carrot and orange on right.

Bagel was afterwards.

Stroopwafle

Mom said it is possibly the best tasting food she has ever put in her mouth.

Enough said

Truck

This is no 18 wheeler I am used to seeing. However, it seems to be able to work around here quite well. It is all electric.

Funny pic

Me beside a car that would be too small for me to drive.

A little onion

I love omelettes. I love making them. I love eating them. I have had one a day while here. The first day or two I put no onions with the omelette. They were good. The last ones I have made(I put ingredients in a bowl and it goes back to a cook) I added a small amount of finely chopped onion. It really brought out the flavor. I do not know if it better because onion adds flavor or because it compliments the Gouda cheese. I will have to experiment.

Van Gogh at the Rijks

I was going through some stuff and realised this was not posted.

This one is at the Rijks and not the Van Gogh museum.

Another Jemgum pic

This one also did not post. I think it is just a nice pic from Jemgum.

Looking thru a furniture store window

Today

One more full day left in wonderful Amsterdam. We had nothing planned for the day before we left. We decided to go to Albert Cuyp market.  It is says it is the largest open air market in Europe. It sells food, clothes and junk. My kind of place.

Going to go by Anne Frank house again. I was there before it opened yesterday and got a few pics. I want to try to get some more today.

I am also gong to go by the floating flower market again and Waterloopplein again, another junk market. I have walked through it twice so far. The first time it was closed. The second time the vendors were just setting up.

I really have bought too much stuff. At least it all fits in the suitcases though. I bought cheese yesterday. The candy picture from Germany had tea and jagermeister and German bitters. They were too cheap to pass up. I have post cards for some reason. I should probably by zip lock bags for the liquids. If there was someplace selling crap after a tour, I bought something. You know, things you wouldn't dare buy if you are local.

Big shoes

Last stop was a wooden shoe factory.

Found some.

Boats

Boats at Marken

While in Volderdam

In case you are wondering, there is a room, a rather large room, that has designs on the wall and ceiling made with 7mill cigar bands.

Yeah.....

The windmills

Windmills.

One is for wood

One mills corn

One crushes rock

One for vegetable type oil

On the way to the tour

We had a tour today windmill and cheese basically. This is a row of houses on the canal that we saw on the way to catch the bus.

Candy

So a giant, over aged kid walks into a candy store.......