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I love all the old architecture in Dam Square. 

Dam Square is always a busy and bustling place.

From Dam Square, we walked all around town.  So much to see...

... like the Anne Frank House where Anne and her family hid during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam.

Amsterdam honors Anne close by with a nice statue.

This seriously cracked me up! This has to be the smallest car I have ever seen. We had to laugh at the fact that it was painted like Bo and Luke Duke’s car, the General Lee in the Duke’s of Hazard.  So funny!

Since it was getting late and we didn’t have much time for sightseeing, we wanted to eat a fast dinner.  So guess where we went?

Yep, KFC! I have a strange fascination with foreign American fast food chains.  I think it is a bit of a sick fascination to tell the truth.

I had three chicken strips for dinner, and I have to say.  It was not good.  They were dry and gross.  So, needless to say, I wasn’t impressed with the Dutch version of KFC.  Maybe that cured my sickness.  Probably not...


After dinner, it was getting dark so we wandered over to Amsterdam’s famous Red Light District to see it all lit up at night.  Can I just say, the Red Light District is CRAZY! 

Walking around there is quite an experience. As you may know, prostitution is legal in Amsterdam but it is strictly controlled. The prostitutes can only work in a specific area and they have these kind of store front rooms where they stand in the windows and try to attract “business.” They have their rooms/windows all lit up with black lights so they stand out. Photos in the Red Light District are strictly prohibited, so I had to be very sneaky. I didn’t get any very good shots, but this one kind of shows what I am talking about.  Again, sorry for the poor picture quality.

Hey, it’s the Moulin Rouge like in Paris! Well, not exactly like Paris considering there is a prostitute in the window right next to it! GROSS!

There’s all kinds of interesting people in the Red Light District.  Like this guy... guess he had too much to drink (or smoke) while in Amsterdam.  He was pretty much ready to hurl into the canal!  Too sick and drunk/stoned to get up - yeah, that really looks like a good time.  YUCK!

Apparently, Mr. Incredible also likes to visit the Red Light District.

Oh My is all I can say about that!  What you can’t see in this picture is that the front of Mr. Incredible’s costume lit up. Personally, I don’t really get why a dude would walk around the RLD dressed as Mr. Incredible. But, to each his own I suppose.


This was a scary alley way to walk down in a huge crowd of people.  It was so skinny and absolutely packed.  I held on to my DSLR camera for dear life walking through this street!

Amsterdam is also famous because soft-drugs like marijuana are legal.  In Amsterdam, a “Coffee Shop” isn’t like visiting your neighborhood Starbucks.  Unless Starbucks sells pot and a whole myriad of Bongs!

In Amsterdam, apparently public urination is also no big deal - for men anyway. They put up urinals on the streets for men to use anytime, any place. I was a bit appalled that the Wayneman used one.  I guess when you have to go, you have to go!  Oh. NO. HE. DIDN’T!  (oh yes he did!) I don’t think I can ever look at the Wayneman the same way again!

In spite of all the grossness about Amsterdam like the hookers, drugs, sex shops, urinals...  Amsterdam is one of my favorite European cities. 


I think it is just beautiful.  If you look past the one small area of the Red Light District, there is so much to see and love in this city.  First of all, the Dutch people are about the nicest people in the world.


Even in the Red Light District, I am able to look past all that and see things like these beautiful canals that run down so many streets.  All lit with the city lights.

I find the Amsterdam canals so beautiful!

I also love all the tall, skinny homes along the canals.  They are very old and full of rich history!

The canals on the streets almost remind me a bit of Venice. But so different from Venice too.

Everyone in Amsterdam (and the Netherlands for that matter) rides bikes.  Bicycles are everywhere you look. 

They even like our President in Amsterdam.  In a pot-smoking kind of way.

Amsterdam is a wonderful city to visit!  I highly recommend it!  Don’t let the other stuff scare you.  It is such a small part of what this city has to offer.  There is so much to see beyond that!

First off, it is a major tourist attraction, so it was incredibly crowded.  What I found very funny was that there were all different people walking around there. Lots of old people, young people, even parents and kids. I guess families live in that area.  We also found it funny that there were large tour groups of old people taking tours of the RLD!