Amsterdam, so much more that what it's famous for.

September 15, 2012
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Before I tell my story and show you how awesome Amsterdam is, I have to mention that the roughest day at sea to date was the night before Amsterdam.  It was the only night we ever cancelled a show.  It was so bad, I had to lay in the back of the ship in the dressing rooms on the floor because being vertical in any way would induce vomiting.

That said, Amsterdam is awesome!

I got off the ship in the morning as soon as it cleared, hopped on the public transportation, took it to just outside the city and started my walk back.  Here is what I saw.

Heh heh heh.

 Lesson 1 about Amsterdam.  Coffee does NOT mean coffee.

I often bought flowers for the room when I was in port.

Just incredible.

Personally, I would never eat at a place with this name.

Amstel - Amsterdam.  Making connections.

So far, Amsterdam is on the top of my beautiful cities list.

There, I saw windmills in Holland.  Check.

Clever phrase that is EVERYWHERE!

No shortage of amazing architecture at every turn.

Probably Amsterdam's biggest export.  There are many times more Heineken signs than Starbucks.

I took this picture because the Magic Mushrooms sign made me laugh.  But then I backed up and realized that this little building was built right up against the church behind it.

Getting high for Jesus.

It's what you think it is.

In most alleyways, it's hard to find a place that doesn't sell pot.

Europe does public transportation well.  Amsterdam is no exception.  Here's the central station.

So that was my morning walk, which actually turned into quite a run because I had to make it back to the ship to meet the rest of the cast.  Our plan was to follow the Cunningham's to a place called The Pancake Bakery to celebrate Dustin's birthday.
 

Got my wooden shoe license.

Always thought of Vince as larger than life.  Here is my proof.

 In the next picture, Courtney points towards the Anne Frank house.  I know that is a really big deal to a lot of people, so that's why this picture is included.  The Anne Frank house is somewhere in that general direction.  But honestly, we're all hungry, so lets go eat pancakes instead.

Mmmm.

Happy Birthday, Dustin!

This turned out to be a really neat place.  I started with a French onion soup, and then went on to an Egyptian Pancake.  It was a pancake with lots of meat and spices with a salad on the side.  That is how this place works.  Pick a nationality and that style comes in a pancake.

Marcy and I have completely opposite taste.  Any doubt, look at her face.

And then comes the pancake ice-cream dessert.

Yatta!  I did it!

Said goodbye to the other four, and then went for a walk back to the ship with Kathleen Burgoon.  Found some gypsies along the way.

I want to stay here.

Click this picture at your own risk.

I'm doing my best to give you a sense of how beautiful this city is.  It's so much more than the whores and drugs.  It's actually a really great place to be during the day.  It fact, it's probably one of my favorite places.  I remember having a feeling of being overwhelmed by how beautiful it was.

And then I couldn't help but laugh at this.  Throughout most of the city, there are three sets of lanes of traffic, and you can see them all in the next three pictures.  There are the lanes the cars drive in, then there are the bike lanes, and then there's the pedestrian walkway.

Bike lane.

You always see entire families biking together.  It's kind of precious.

 But the absolute best thing is that if your car is small enough, you can drive it in the bike lanes.

Mr. Bean would be so happy.

As glamorous as my life may seem at this point, I have to acknowledge the major downside of working on a cruise line.  More often than not, we leave ports early, and spend the nights sailing.  This means I get to see most of the world, but I couldn't tell you what the night life is like.  Every once in a while though, we get an overnight at a port.  Guess what happened in Amsterdam?

Next post: Amsterdam at night.