Amsterdam

Amsterdam , a set on Flickr.

We began our trip to the Netherlands with a walking tour of Amsterdam. The tour covered, the Old Church, the Red Light District, the Jewish Quarter, Palace, Jordaan District, Anne Frank House, Dutch East Indian Company, widest and narrowest bridges (1250 in total) and the narrowest apartment. We all learnt heaps about the history of Amsterdam, it was interesting and surprising how the city has formed over time. Amsterdam is a very liberal city with the view of turning a blind eye to many social and moral issues, as they would rather regulate what is happening rather than legalising against stuff. We decided to avoid cafes aka coffee houses, there were a couple that we walked past that smelled a little funny. The actual city is very pretty with houses lining the canals; it was fascinating how all of the buildings tip forward so that furniture can be hoisted up and in the windows because the buildings are so narrow it is impossible to get furniture up the stairs. Mum also thought it was funny that many men drown in the canals each year due to no railing ... usually with their pants open (drunk and peeing). We will visit Amsterdam again before we leave as we did not go into the Ann Frank House and we would also like to visit the Van Gogh museum.