Sun July 26 We took an evening train from Brussels. Dennis selected a hotel very close to a metro stop. However, when we arrived we discovered that section of the metro was closed for renovation. We were given directions to take a different metro and then a bus. As we got off the bus, the bus driver motioned us back on. Unfortunately he didn't know our hotel and he thought he was doing us a favor by dropping us off at a non-scheduled stop further on than we had been directed to go....he meant well. After turning on our TomTom to get us to the hotel, found we had to backtrack on the bus route some. It was quite a walk to the hotel and of course it started raining. When we got into the lobby, the desk clerk asked if Dennis wanted a towel to dry off (he must have looked like a drowned rat) -Virginia had been wearing a hat and was a bit more protected. They were very nice to us, and told us of a different metro stop that while not immediately adjacent to hotel was closer than the route we had just taken; this stop was about a 10 min. walk from the hotel. From the hotel parking lot, we could look longingly at the metro stop that was closed for renovation. We were too tired to go out to dinner, even down to the hotel restaurant; we ate bread, fruit, and tomatoes that we had brought with us from our Brussels apartment. It rained some every day we were in Amsterdam; we bought new umbrellas as our souvenir. The weather in Amsterdam was quite a bit cooler than Barcelona, Paris, and Brussels - we wore long sleeve shirts with sweatshirts; but it was a welcome relief. Didn't let it stop us. The Check-in and Check-out routine on the metro/tram/bus system was new and confusing and we got caught twice where we had checked-out too soon. Once the metro staff let us through the gate, but at the next station we had to wait for another passenger to come and sneak out behind them.

Mon July 27 We have some cruising friends, Yvonne and Roderick aboard Happy Bird, that are from the Netherlands and they had suggested we do a boat tour on the canals. The first day we took the canal ride, Rondvaartboot. It was sunny most of the time, but it didn't matter when it sprinkled as we were in a glass covered boat. The narration was very good and we enjoyed it. We did a loop through numerous canals and the large harbor. As our friends mentioned, it was the best way to see all the historic, elegant merchants' houses alongside the principal canals of Amsterdam. But whether the tall, narrow buildings, built tightly against one another are commercial or residential, they all have a beam with a pulley projecting from the roof peak that is used for hoisting furniture and whatnot in through windows of the upper levels of the house as the stairs are too narrow and winding -it reminded us of how we must bring large furniture through the window of the second level of our house. Some of the wider canals allow houseboats to dock along the sides and it is obvious that these boats don't go much of anywhere - they are all decked out just like a land house with potted trees, children's toys and playsets, patio furniture, etc. It is unbelievable how many of the 'streets' are canals -reminded us of Venice except the houses here are on wooden stilt foundations and the water doesn't rest right against the buildings -each canal is bordered by a street. A couple of years ago they constructed barriers along the canals to keep cars from going into the water but our guide advised that they still have at least one car a week going in for a dip. As usual, the tour gave us ideas for sites to visit further. Amsterdam is very flat and would be perfect for a bicycle tour but the weather was so questionable we decided to skip it.

Another highlight for us was the Resistance Museum ; we spent a lot of time there. The subject of the exhibits is the Dutch resistance to the occupation by Nazi Germany between 1940-1945. Of course Amsterdam was the setting for Anne Frank's diary and hiding the city's considerable Jewish community was a major element in the resistance movement. Signage was in several languages, including English. The audio guide was very good. The displays were a nice mix of textual descriptions, video clips, pictures, and artifacts from that period. It was quite interesting and very well done. There was one route through the museum that described life in that time for the average Dutch resident and rooms off to the side devoted to specific groups and themes, where most forms of resistance were covered. It is a relatively small building.

Tues July 28 We visited the Rijks Museum - main art museum. Our goal was to go to the Dutch section and focus there on famous artists like Rembrandt and Vermeer. But we ended up spending several hours there as they had a large Dutch section and then we couldn't help but wander through the rooms with Van Gogh, Picasso, and other names we recognized. It is a huge building which was built specifically for the museum but looks like it could be a Cathedral, including columns, decorative ceilings, and stained glass windows.

Just outside the museum Amsterdam had the sculpture of big block letters that we have seen in other big cities around the world. The difference was this one was missing the "heart" symbol (for 'love'); it said "I Amsterdam". Of course it is a popular tourist photo spot.

Next we wandered through Vondelpark. Large and beautiful with many winding paths shaded by large trees, water fountains, and bridges over ponds. There are several cafes on the property. We went to one with an upstairs room in the round with a view out through the tree tops. Yvonne had warned us that Amsterdam cafes don't sell coffee, but chai-tea and drugs (marijuana is legal in Amsterdam). This didn't seem to be "that sort" of café. We shared some delicious apple strudel.

We wanted to walk through the flower market that occupies an edge of a canal and it was getting to be closing time, so we rushed over to that area and enjoyed browsing the fresh flowers, dried flowers hanging overhead, and abundance of bulbs. Nearby was a Franciscan Catholic Church with beautiful stained glass windows and stations of the cross with raised reliefs -gorgeous.

There were cheese shops everywhere, but we weren't sure what other traditional Dutch food we should sample. We found a nice restaurant that might have been more Spanish as it was serving tapas. We had our first steak in a long time and it was delicious -so tender. To Virginia's dismay, Dennis had been advocating a tour of the Red Light District. With daylight lasting so long, we finally decided to take an early evening stroll through that area at around 7:30pm. At that time of day it didn't live up to its excessively sordid reputation. Yes, there were plenty of strip joints and drug deals going on in the alleys but we only saw one 'lady in a window'. Clearly things don't really get 'hot' until after sunset which was around 9:30pm, and it didn't get dark until nearly 11pm.

Wed July 29 We flew to Berlin. The Amsterdam airport was impressive. It was very clean and organized. They had a comfy lounge area where we were designated to wait until about 30 min before flight. When they announced our gate we walked to the gate and immediately boarded. Quite pleasant.