A day in Amsterdam

 Today we got up and headed into Amsterdam right after breakfast at the hotel.  Our first stop was at the Anne Frank house, obviously a somber place, but I was impressed by the way the place was treated by the visitors.  As expected, the adults were concious of the history and everybody spoke in low voices and were quite subdued, but what struck me was that the kids there acted the same way.  It was almost like they were picking upon the vibe and taking their cue from the adults.  I resolve to read her diary when I get home and reacquaint myself with the story more fully.

After a lunch at a cafeteria type place in a department store (I had a salmon, onion and spinach quiche and a sampler of salads) we headed off to the Rijksmuseum to see some spectacular paintings by some of the Dutch masters, as well as all sorts of other exhibits.  Our guided tour got cut a little short due to the delay we had at the entrance, but the guide was very informative all the same.  We had some free time afterwards, so a number of us re-entered the museum and looked around on our own, so we managed to salvage the visit.

We followed up the museum with a canal tour.  The boat probably would hold about 40 passengers, so our group of about 25 was very comfortable.  The driver was very good, maneuvering the long boat very skillfully and pointing out certain points of interest along the way, supplementing the pre-recorded soundtrack playing on the boat's sound system.  It was a welcome break from being on our feet and all of us were ready to head back to Haarlem to our hotel.

Dinner for me and several others was at a local restaurant / pub where I had a Carpachio salad (a standard green salad that also included raw beef, sliced very thin, on the salad)...definitely out of my comfort zone!  It wasn't bad, but I won't be ordering it again, either.

Today's photos are basically just a general overview of the sights of Amsterdam, with this bottom one being of Amsterdam's prettiest canal.  There are 7 stone arched bridges in a row.  They don't show up so much in a picture of this size but I am hoping that they might if I enlarge and print the shot.

It's off to bed for me now...need to be up early to pack and leave right after breakfast.  Tomorrow night I will be sleeping in Germany!