Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Today, I find myself in yet another country.  This is all part of my week-long European tour (see the last post on Stockholm here). I woke at 3:30am to catch a flight to Amsterdam.  Today, we met with yet another videogame developer.  Usually the meetings look like 8 hours of this:

It's been quite a few years since I was in Amsterdam, so I was determined to see something.  I convinced the team to take an extended lunch and race around the city center, to try and catch a glimpse of the sights.  I'm really glad I did.  Not just because I would have something to post in my blog, but it renewed my appreciation for "parts" of Amsterdam (more on that, later). For this reason, you won't see any tulips, or windmills in this post ; )

For our break, we stuck to the center of the city.  There are several districts around town, but the few square kilometers outside of the central rail station (Centraal Station) are packed with sights.

As the capital of The Netherlands, the city has been around since the 12th century.  It has a system of canals that criss-cross the city (with over 1,000 bridges!), that reminds me of Venice.  Only more pretty.  And less stinky.

Obviously not my picture...just wanted you to see how cool it looks at night

Just outside the station is the St. Nicholas Church (Sint Nocolaaskerk). Apparently, St. Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, which is important to this city.

The streets here feel familiar - much like most Western European cities, with narrow streets lined with shops and cafes, with apartments overhead:

This street really made me nervous. Those buildings looked like they were going to fall over!

We jumped on a canal "bus" to see some of the architecture from the waterways. I heard that housing is expensive and in short supply. Many people have resorted to living on houseboats in the canals.

We jumped off the boat and found the Koninklijk Paleis (palace). This is the official residence of Queen Beatrix, but I don't think she actually live's there. It was built in 1665 as a huge city hall, but was converted in the 1800s.

Next door was this beautiful structure - I have no idea what it's called…but it has now been converted to a mall. What a shame…

The destination that I was pushing people toward, was the Anne Frank House. This is literally the place that the Frank family hid for over two years, from the Nazis during WWII.

We took a quick tour through the building, and saw the actual rooms where they had to remain quite for so long.

This is the bookcase that covered the entrance to the area that they hid in.  Not my picture, as photography isn't allowed...but I walked through there...

It's a heart-breaking story…and I have a tough time writing about this. However, her diary survived, so that we have a unique insight into the mind of a teen-ager, especially one that lived under extreme circumstances.

I asked one of my employees to take my picture, so that I could prove that I was actually here ; )

 On the way back to the train station, we passed by the Waag - a part of the city's defenses back in 1488. It anchored part of the old city wall. Later, it was the site of public executions (how fun!), but now it's a restaurant and the vault for the city's archives.

This is the Zulderkerk. a 17th Century Protestant church. The tower is beautiful, and can be seen from far away. 

Not my picture - I wish I had the time... ; )

Walking past many of the houses, I was curious to see this feature on most of the buildings. Can you guess what it is?

It's a "furniture hook". Basically, most of the houses were built vertically, with incredibly steep and narrow stairways. To get furniture into these homes, they have to hoist them using these hooks that are attached to the top of each structure!

Last, we see the National Monument (Nationaal Monument), Netherlands' best known memorial to WWII. The monument contains symbolic statues: males (war), a woman with child (peace) and men with dogs (resistance).

One final note.  As many of you know, Amsterdam is a liberal city.  A very liberal city.  You find things here that are out in the "open"...that would normally shock Americans.  To begin with, marijuana is plentiful...and openly smoked/sold.  Here's a picture from a typical tourist souvenir shop:

I passed this place, as well

That's it for now. I'm heading back to the airport, to catch a flight to Frankfurt tonight. Yup, that's three countries in one day.  I'm exhausted ; )