Amsterdam Part 4

Our breakfast.  I chose the special--the breakfast Tisfris.  It was really good.   I like how they stuck the fork in the knife.  Fun presentation.

We spotted a Japanese restaurant along our wandering.

We also saw more traditional Dutch food. 

We also stopped in at a cheese museum and we were able to sample tons of cheese.  The best cheese, I tell you. 

Alas, it was time for us to return to the airport.  After hauling our luggage all over with us, we were mostly ready to go.  It would have been fun to be able to explore more, but we were definitely worn out.  On the train back to the airport, I noticed that it offered free WiFi, so I went to connect.  I had a good chuckle at the name of the network:

At the airport.  I thought the globe was pretty neat.

Take a look at the teacups!  They are actually seats.  I took another picture with people in them for perspective.

The interesting thing about the airport is that they don't have security screening until you actually get to the gate.  Once through, you sit in the tiny glass room until ready to board the plane.  Consequently, you can't get anything to eat, drink, or wander about.  I didn't like the set up at all.  We had gotten thirsty and figured we could just get some water on the plane (since we couldn't go back out to go to the fountain--or buy one).  However, they did not offer complementary beverages, and Emily ended up buying a very expensive but small bottle of water on the plane. 

On our way to Scotland!

Amsterdam Part 3

As you can imagine, we started getting pretty hungry by about 8:30 (we hadn't eaten anything yet for the day).  We found a nice Dutch cafe and wanted to eat there, however, it didn't open until 9:30, so we wandered about a bit more, than sat on a bench overlooking the canal as we waited for it to open.

We passed by a wax museum and we saw Gweneth Paltrow

This was an interesting building.  In the windows are life sized drawings of people.

The Amsterdam Dungeon.  If we had had the time, it would have been really fun to go see some of the shows

Some interesting sights:

It hadn't opened for the day yet, but it would have been fun to see what books they had

 

The Dutch like their bikes, and I rarely saw one with a lock on it.  The bikes always seemed to be piled in heaps with nary a care

Some traditional Dutch figurines:

....and we also saw quite a bit of the other aspect of Amsterdam. 

They even have a map of their "red light" district. 

More of the City: