20 December

Today morning we strolled through Vondel Park which despite the morning chill was filled with bikers, runners, and dogs. After a short trek through the city we visited the Amsterdam Historisches Museum, or the Amsterdam History Museum. It was more interesting than I thought it would be as it shed light on the remarkable growth of a small town into a bustling city. I was surprised at how much the Hollanders changed the landscape in order to build the town. In the early afternoon we saw the infamous “red-light district” which is nothing special during a winter’s day but apparently really lights up during summer nights…If anyone is planning on visiting Amsterdam and hopes to enjoy some of the ubiquitous European sidewalk cafés, I must warn you of what you might find in Amsterdam. If the shop is a “coffee-house,” it is NOT selling coffee but instead marijuana and possibly other drugs. If the shop has “café” in the name, then it’s all right and you can be sure to purchase coffee there. Also, apparently you are not supposed to take pictures in the red-light district. Our guide says people will try to break your camera. During the latter part of the afternoon we saw some of the industrial part of the city, finished some souvenir shopping, then headed to a swanky Indian restaurant for dinner. Service was surprisingly slow considering we were the only customers there for our entire meal. While we were leaving, our waiter noticed how tall Sachi is and commented by saying, “Damn, you’re tall! Do you play basketball?” After Sachi answered in the negative, he went on to say, “Good luck on finding a man!” Yes, Sachi is surprisingly tall for an Indian female and her height has elicited comments from many people, but this guy definitely showed the least amount of tact. After dinner we admired the city at night for a short while, then headed back to the hotel to write postcards and get some rest for our early morning train to Brussels.