June 27th Ann Frank's House

We headed out early again this morning.   We walked by the harbor area.

Roger leads and we just follow him around except when he crosses the road on red lights.  We tend to be a little bit more cautious.

We took Mike and Pam to Ann Frank's house and dropped them off since we had already been there.  There were a lot of people in line because Celebrity had a ship in port today.  Mike got a little nervous that we were taking his picture as we were leaving them because he thought we might not come back for them.

While they were at Ann Frank's house we walked to a cigar shop.  Of course as our luck would have it the only day that they do not open at 9:30 is Monday they don't open until 12:00.  Well since we had to meet Mike & Pam at 12:30 we couldn't wait until they opened so we just walked back.  We again walked through the flower market.  We got back to the meeting spot with too much time to spare so we walked over to another street market.

 I like walking down their picturesque streets.

And their canals.

They were waiting when we got back so we sat there in the shade for a little bit.  Today got pretty warm so it felt good to be in the shade.  Well we went back to the cigar store and Roger got his cigars.  We walked past the Amsterdam University.
So they tried to look studious.

We walked to Rembrandt's house.

There was a flee market behind the house and Mike found something he wanted.  If only it fit...











in his suitcase.

June 26th Hermitage Amsterdam, Flower Market & Van Gogh

Mike and Pam were patiently waiting with their door open waiting for us this morning.

We had a wonderful walk on our way to the Hermitage Amsterdam Museum.  The beauty of the city and the excitement of the day did crazy things to us.

There may not be as many cars on the roads here but there are a lot more moving objects to watch out for and lanes to cross.  There are bike lanes, tram lanes & car lanes, all with their own lights.  The bikes may have a green light but that does not mean pedestrians can cross.

The Hermitage Amsterdam's exhibit was about the Russian Orthodox Church.  It was interesting to see and hear all that they have been through.

The museum is in a building that use to house the elderly and the poor.  Besides the exhibit on loan from the Hermitage in St. Petersburg they also had a few exhibits about the buildings past.

I also loved just looking through the window and seeing the beauty of Amsterdam.

We were kind of disappointed because we were under the impression from their website that the Van Gogh paintings were there because of a remodeling project going on but they weren't so it was then decided to head to the Van Gogh Museum.  On the  way there we passed a square that local artists were displaying and selling their art.

I also saw a sign that I thought was a good thing to remember.  I also like that you can see a reflection of all of us as we're heading down the road.

Roger & Mike are trying to decide if they should live on the wild side and if so which vice should they take up while they're here.









a piercing or a tattoo?

going to a coffee shop?

I think they might settle for Roger's favorites Heineken & Hagen Daz.

We also got to walk through the floating flower market.  I wanted to buy all kinds of bulbs but you are limited to what you can bring back to just a few that are certified and besides that I can't add any weight to our suitcases.

We found some fun shops to along the way.  Do you think these shoes fit?

Roger wanted to shop here.

I found something I would have loved to buy for Amanda but instead she gets this picture.

Then Roger had something crappy happen to him, pardon the pun.  Yes that is bird poo on his arm (and back).

Lucky for him Pam had some Kleenexes to clean him up with.

Mike was jumping for joy when we finally reached the Van Gogh museum.

After we finished there we headed back via the Heineken Brewery.  We didn't do the tour but did go into the gift shop.

Took a little break.

We stopped by the store and got a few things.  We also enjoyed the music that was being sung as we walked.

Pam made dinner....

and dessert.

We had a boat parade as our entertainment for the night.

Then we had a beggar come to our window.

Then later the whole family showed up.

June 24th Happy Birthday Roger

I woke up this morning and looked at my watch and thought it was 7:30 well the sunshine must have been playing tricks on my eyes because a while later I looked at the time again and it wasn't even 6:00 yet but it was bright and shiny outside.  I took advantage of the time this morning to get caught up on the blog.  I was also greeted by some visitors.  Mom made sure I knew when I got to close and believe me I quickly backed up.

When we were ready to set out for the day we went next door to pick up Mike & Pam and they had a special surprise for Roger.  They had gotten him a birthday card the Mike had added some art too and Pam played Happy Birthday to Roger on her I-pod piano.

Today we didn't really have a plan to do anything but walk around so just started walking.

We first went to the oldest market in Amsterdam which is like a Farmers market with fruits and vegetables, meats, eggs, meals and clothing market.  We bought some apple turnovers and bread.

Pam also bought some tomatoes.

We made some new friends while we were there and they even shared some of their frites with Mike so of course we bought some.  One with frites sauce (traditional European style) & 1 with ketchup.  There was so much good stuff there we are planning on going back tomorrow.

With our purchases in hand we needed to take them back to the apartment before we left.

With all our stuff dropped off we headed back out.

Mike got excited when he saw the POM sign.

We walked by Anne Franks house but the line was so long we decided to come back early another day.

We did have to watch out for the quite road hazards, both the trams and the bicycles.

We stopped on the way back and the boys had a beer sampler.

After walking all day Pam came home and made us her wonderful macaroni and cheese with cheese that she had gotten at the market that we had no idea what kind it was.  Then for dessert we had apple turnovers, that we heated in the oven, with vanilla ice-cream.








I don't think anyone will have a hard time going to sleep tonight with the sun still shinning.