Europe trip, part 7: Amsterdam (July 13-16)

Jeff, Brad, Michelle, and us toured Zurich by foot on Sunday morning. We caught the biking part of the Iron Man. We took a train from Zurich to Basel in the afternoon, and then we took a plane from Basel to Amsterdam. This is Dam Square:

We walked through Anne Frank's home. We tried to avoid the crowds by going at 8 pm, but the number of people was just barely tolerable. Obviously, the secret apartment was not a large space, and it was filled emotions. Scott walked through at a decent pace while Liana whimpered slowly through. They had a great interactive outreach area at the end of the tour.

Amsterdam contrasted strongly with Zurich and Grindelwald. Everything goes in Amsterdam. The streets are more crowded and dirtier, and people are less punctual. All public spaces are tobacco-free. It's hilarious to see the cigarette smokers outside while people pull bongs inside the coffee houses. We liked their free policies on dogs.

The canals and old architecture give Amsterdam a very romantic feeling.

On Monday we went to the Van Gogh museum. The artwork is striking; it's amazing how much he painted in such a short period of time. The crowd and audio-tour were both overwhelming. Practically every-other picture in the 100+ collection had a thorough essay to hear, and it was too much to take in at once. We caught our breath in the museum park.

Next we brought lunch to Vandal park. We napped and read in the sun.

On Tuesday we took a bike tour out of town. We rode to an old-fashioned windmill.

We also rode to a cheese farm and wooden shoe factory.

The weather turned rainy, but it was still fun.

We also rode by the Hilton Hotel where John Lenin and Yoko Ono held their naked press-conference to protest the Vietnam war. You can sort of see the drawings on the second-from-top windows by John.

We found this funny garden with iguana statues.

Our hotel was right on the edge of the red-light district.

On Wednesday morning, we went out for breakfast and walked around town one last time. Then we took the train to the airport and headed home. After all our train and plane travel, that sweater is about 2/3 done!

We got delayed in customs, and we missed our connection in Detroit. Luckily we caught seats on the 10:30 pm flight to Madison. We spent the extra time riding the airport train.