Amsterdam Day 2: Walking in Circles

We were all up and ready to go the next morning, miraculously none of us suffering any ill effects from the previous night. We walked down to the end of our street to hop on the ferry across the harbor. The ferry takes all kinds: pedestrians, scooters, motocycles, bikes, and even little Smart cars.

Amsterdam used to be a much bigger harbor, but then the Dutch built the Ij canal and and erected the main train station where the shipping docks used to be, so most of the freight now goes in and out of Rotterdam.

We made our way to the Van Gogh museum to meet our Dutch friends. This was no small task! When Brian talked to them, he thought they said something like Songhoff Museum for a meeting point. I searched the map and couldn't find anything like it, then asked a couple of people who gave me blank stares. Finally, we decided to go to the Van Gogh museum because I thought that's where Tonja and I had decided on earlier. While waiting in line, we heard someone say something that sounded like Fon-Koff. Then in finally dawned on us. This is how Van Gogh is pronounced in Dutch. The museum was really excellent. As someone who loves Van Gogh's art, I would obviously have this reaction, but I think even those who hadn't been exposed to it or weren't big fans yet would love it too. The first two floors are Van Gogh and temporary exhibitions. The top two floors are works by artists who influenced Van Gogh, such as Gaugin.

Next we walked along some canals. In walking along canals, which you can't avoid in Amsterdam, you are pretty much guaranteed that you will walk in a circle or in some direction you don't exactly want to go.

Next stop was the Heineken Beer Brewery, which is an enormous brick building on the opposite side of town from the train station. My aunt, uncle, and cousin went recent ly and recommended it. Also, we probably would have gone anyway given that we're suckers for brewery tours. They tell you that the tour takes about an hour and a half, but I think you need even longer! It's all self-guided, but there's a lot to see and a lot that's interactive.

Heineken one-upped the Carlsberg people in Copenhagen because they give three glasses of beer, not two (although you have to pay for the tour, unlike at Carlsberg) and there are two bars along the tour, not one.

Does this spot look familiar?

After a tasty Thai dinner in the red light district, we rushed off and jumped aboard a night canal cruise, with just enough time to grab a six pack of Heineken!