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| Amsterdam |
| 05.28.04 (4:44 am) [edit] |
Alrighty - finally a few minutes to update this damn thing!
We've been busy traveling again as you probably already know. Amsterdam this time - so I will try to condense 5 days into this entry.
We left last wednesday afternoon for the 'Dam from Geneva Airport. Getting through the line in the airport sucked - and believe it or not, my patience for waiting in lines has not improved one bit. We finally got checked in and left for a short (1 hour) flight. Got there, found the right bus pretty quickly and headed out to find our hotel.
We walked into the hotel which had been converted from an old house. Sounds quaint, until you realize that these old houses had no elevators, and VERY steep winding staircases. There were 18 rooms in the place and naturally we had room 18 - the worst climb in the hotel. Apparently our room used to be the attic - 8 feet wide with a ceiling that sloped at 45°. It was bizzarre feeling having to tilt your head at a 45° angle to be able to use the toilet. But I digress.
After dumping our bags we immediately set out to start exploring this wonderland of sin.....
First stop - coffeeshop for a , uhm, cappucino. Yeah. Then we set out walking in search of a place for dinner. The area we were in was LOADED with restaurants with almost any type of food you could think of - this led to the hosts having to work the street trying to lure in customers - it was kind of like being at a carnival and very entertaining. We gorged ourselves on Mexican food, walked around exploring a little more, found another coffeeshop and then decided to call it a day around midnight.
Thursday started with a quick breakfast and then we set out to find Van Moppes Diamond Factory (which was where Karen's Mom had gotten her diamond years earlier). We had a great time comparing stones, picking out settings etc, and then 3 hours later we left with me carrying the rock in my backpack with the understanding that I would surprise her with the ring when and where I wanted too. I didn't realize how nervous and paranoid I would be carrying it around though so I ended up taking Karen on a carriage ride later that day and proposed on the ride. This picture was taken shortly afterward.
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We grabbed a bite to eat and headed off to meet Panos and Jen at their hotel as they had arrived a day later than us. Found the hotel about 10 minutes before they arrived and headed back out into the city again, coffeeshop, dinner, watched the street entertainers, wandered a bit more and then went to our attic.....
Friday morning we set out for the Van Gogh museum - it was interesting and impressive although I am no big fan of Van Gogh. And the fact that every painting had 28 million people all straining to see didn't help either. We bailed out of there and headed out for a few Guiness on a beautiful deck overlooking the canals. Very relaxing. That night we headed out for a nighttime stroll through the infamous Red Light District. Hookers in windows - who'da thunk it?? You are strictly forbidden from taking pictures on those streets in the Red Light - many cameras (and bodies) have found their way into the canals for trying. So naturally, Karen needed pictures. One was a tame picture of the canal at night. I think the other is just a nice girl trying to work her way through college..... The quality isn't that good, but Karen was in stealth mode trying to get the picture from the window of a bar we were in. No, not THAT type of window!
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The next few days were filled with tons of fun - canal boat ride, comedy show, tons of good food, more "coffee", miles of walking..... We had one amazing steak dinner at a restaurant whose name I can not remember. The downstairs was full, but they had 4 extra tables upstairs in the attic. What is it with us, Amsterdam and attics? This is a shot of the stairs we had to climb to get to our table. And that our waiter had to climb carrying two dinner plates in each hand.....
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Some of you might remember the picture of me and the giant plastic crawfish in New Orleans. Well Karen and I have decided that when we travel to new cities we are going to take turns "posing" the other in front of the landmark of our choosing. The challenge is to find the most embarrassing poses. Here was my first choice for Karen's pose:
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Bad move for me to go first, because here is Karen's "revenge" photo:
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Sunday after a late breakfast we decided to get cheesy and headed off to Madame Toussaud's Wax Museum. I think the pictures will speak for themselves:
We have great respect for the current regime, as you can see.
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"Little red corvette......"
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"No woman, no cry... no woman, no cry..."
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I don't know what it is about Amsterdam that compels a person to have to pose with, in or on inanimate objects.... Oh wait. Yes, I do..... The same thing that compels one to eat french fries, falafels, donner kabobs, frosted waffles and Ben and Jerry's. This city is a junk food addict's paradise!
The architecture in Amsterdam was unlike anything I've ever seen. Way back in the day, the residents of the city were taxed based on the footprint of their house and the width of their front doors. Seriously. That is why most of the houses there are tall and skinny with tiny front doors. It also explains the stairwells, as the rooms were already small enough without wasting space on silly things like wide stairwells. The houses were also built at extremely odd angles so that the houses lean. Can anyone tell me why? Bueller? Bueller? Okay then - I'll tell you. It was because the damn doors and stairways were too narrow to move furniture in so everything had to be hoisted up the outside and in through the windows. The next picture isn't an optical illusion - check out the tilt on THIS house! Also, notice the huge "hooks" at the peak of the houses to attach the hoist to. All the houses have them to this day.
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So anyway. Last weekend was a 4 day weekend in Switzerland. This weekend is a 3 day weekend. DAMN I love all the Catholic holidays in this region!
I'm tired of typing. You are undoubtedly tired of reading this mindless drivel so I will leave you with this picture. Ciao'.
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posted by: KattDog (reply)
post date: 05.28.04 (5:02 am)
Congratulations !
Pretty good to be the first total stranger to tell you this.
All the best.
posted by: Timah (reply)
post date: 05.28.04 (5:09 am)
First, A GI-NORMOUS congratulations on your engagement! I am so happy for you guys- love you.
Secondly, how much for that girly in the window?
posted by: BrianKaren (reply)
post date: 05.28.04 (5:24 am)
Thank you both for the congrats. More to come on this blog - I'm doing it in pieces because the pictures take a while to upload.... And to answer your question Tim, according to the guide book, these girls are about 40€ for 15 minutes. But since that's 13 minutes longer than you would need, you could probably get a discount! ;)
posted by: jOhnny (reply)
post date: 05.28.04 (5:38 am)
So let me summarize.
"coffee", gorging on food, paranoia, more "coffee", more gorging, (so far not much different than an average night in Somersworth), engaged to be wed (OK, that's different than Somersworth), probably another cup of "coffee" and then Brian in a big shoe. If there was a big shoe in Somersworth, Brian would have been in it by now... somehow I think Amsterdam is still way more fun that Somersworth despite the similarities.
I think Brian should wear wooden shoes at the wedding!
Hey look - I'm going to congratulate you again, this time in a public forum! Congrats!
Tim - wanna go in half-sies on a girl? We'd only have to put out a twenty each! Uh, wait... never mind.
posted by: BrianKaren (reply)
post date: 05.28.04 (7:03 am)
Johnny used the word "half-sies".
posted by: Merlyn (reply)
post date: 05.28.04 (9:51 pm)
Hey , huge Congratlations!!!!!!
Hope you guys will be extraordinarily happy and have the best of times together.
cheers!!
posted by: NewLife (reply)
post date: 06.01.04 (6:36 am)
wow,trhats awesome,i always wanted to go there :(
posted by: Timah! (reply)
post date: 06.04.04 (5:15 am)
Johnny we should find two other guys to go in with us quarter-sies. That's all the time we would really need.
posted by: j (reply)
post date: 06.11.04 (6:10 am)
14 DAYS AND NO NEW POST! WE'RE DYING HERE!!!!
Fill us in on your exciting European style life!
or I could just wait 19 days and ask you in person...
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