Yep...Amsterdam again. We love that city! And our motto is "Have 3-day weekend, will travel!"
We brought two of our friends from our school with us, Lynne and Shack. Neither of them had been to Amsterdam before, so it was fun to get to show them around a bit.
And every time we go to Amsterdam, we find new things to see and do. We stayed in a different area this time. And it was really lovely.
We spent some time just wandering through the neighborhood, checking out the architecture, different shops and restaurants.
And one of the nice surprises of our neighborhood was Begijnhof, a closed-in courtyard of houses from the 14th century. The very dark house behind Cisco and Shack here is the oldest house in Amsterdam... and one of only two wood houses in Amsterdam. For the last 400+ years city ordinance says all houses must be built of brick or stone.
We enjoyed a couple of beautiful evening walk-abouts.
Oh...and we finally made it to the Anne Frank house during one of these evenings. About time... it is our fourth trip to Amsterdam with this attraction always on our list.
There is always time to stop for a little cheesy tourist activity. :)
Cisco and I spent some time in Vondel Park, which is a beautiful getaway from the busy city which surrounds.
I loved this heron and how unfazed it was by the big German Shepherd about 20 feet from it.
And talk about new experiences... We were introduced to the Dutch holiday tradition of Sinterklaas arriving (direct from Spain - where he lives)... 
accompanied by hundreds of "Zwarte Piet" (Black Pete) helpers. 
This tradition has become very controversial (especially to foreigners as you can imagine) but there were still thousands of locals out to welcome the brigade. And many children dressed as Zwarte Piet, too.
We heard sevaral different versions of the story of Sinterklaas and the Zwarte Piets. One version is that the Zwarte Piets are slaves. Another was that they were elf-like helpers who only got black face because they went down so many chimneys to help Sinterklaas get into houses to deliver presents. Either way, it was another unusual experience among many.
We brought two of our friends from our school with us, Lynne and Shack. Neither of them had been to Amsterdam before, so it was fun to get to show them around a bit.
And every time we go to Amsterdam, we find new things to see and do. We stayed in a different area this time. And it was really lovely.We spent some time just wandering through the neighborhood, checking out the architecture, different shops and restaurants.And one of the nice surprises of our neighborhood was Begijnhof, a closed-in courtyard of houses from the 14th century. The very dark house behind Cisco and Shack here is the oldest house in Amsterdam... and one of only two wood houses in Amsterdam. For the last 400+ years city ordinance says all houses must be built of brick or stone.
We enjoyed a couple of beautiful evening walk-abouts.Oh...and we finally made it to the Anne Frank house during one of these evenings. About time... it is our fourth trip to Amsterdam with this attraction always on our list.
Cisco and I spent some time in Vondel Park, which is a beautiful getaway from the busy city which surrounds.I loved this heron and how unfazed it was by the big German Shepherd about 20 feet from it.
And talk about new experiences... We were introduced to the Dutch holiday tradition of Sinterklaas arriving (direct from Spain - where he lives)... 
accompanied by hundreds of "Zwarte Piet" (Black Pete) helpers. 
This tradition has become very controversial (especially to foreigners as you can imagine) but there were still thousands of locals out to welcome the brigade. And many children dressed as Zwarte Piet, too.
We heard sevaral different versions of the story of Sinterklaas and the Zwarte Piets. One version is that the Zwarte Piets are slaves. Another was that they were elf-like helpers who only got black face because they went down so many chimneys to help Sinterklaas get into houses to deliver presents. Either way, it was another unusual experience among many. 
1 comment:
Yes! You should hear David Sedaris talk about it... St.Nick and 6-8 black men. :) It's quite the hoot! LOVE the updates. Thank you!
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