








We took a nice relaxing hour long canal tour all through the city. It would be very nice if the seats reclined. Since you are in a boat in the canal and the buildings are very tall your neck is killing you by the end of the ride just from looking up all the time. The canal ride was one of the best parts of the whole day. It was relaxing, my feet got a nice rest from the walking. . . . .and walking (yeah, I think you get the point) and a nice view of a lot of different parts of the city.



The day was quite cool and it sprinkled on us a few times despite the fact that Weather.com claimed we had no chance of rain that day. It was a high of about 65 and really windy (or perhaps that was just from all the (*&%(& @#*&#@%$^ bikes speeding past trying to mow down innocent walkers). I lost my jacket a few days ago and I was really glad I grabbed a sweater before leaving home.
We walked around forever trying to find a restaurant with an open table outside so that we could sit and eat and watch the freaks. .. I mean people walk by. It's kinda funny that in all the cafes with outdoor seating the chairs are all on the same side of the table facing the sidewalk. The restaurant owners realize that you want to watch the people walking past.
After dinner I would have been fine to just go back to our hotel but Kyle, being the red blooded American man that he is claimed that as an American tourist in Amsterdam it was his obligation to walk through the red light district. He said there is a major fine for Americans who visit Amsterdam and do not walk through the red light district. I checked the guide books and I couldn't find that listed anywhere but he insisted that it's a little known fact and the authorities supposedly have a secret way of checking to see if you actually fulfilled your legal obligation of gawking at the women who are innocently selling their wares.
The most surprising part of the red light district was that the girls, who were dressed rather modestly in bikini's were all very very good looking. There was one girl that was very obviously a man, a couple of kinda scary chics but the rest of the women were youngish (20-30) gorgeous, girl-next-door looking women.
I hear there are cigarettes and other smokable things for sale legally in Amsterdam as well. I did learn that last weekend was the last grand hurrah for pot in The Netherlands. As of July 1st there is a smoking ban in all of the Netherlands. Marijuana isn't exactly legal in the Netherlands. It's simply tolerated and not prosecuted. As of July 1st all smoking must be done outdoors and the police may start cracking down on it. At least, that's the rumor on the streets. So, the last weekend in June would have been a good weekend to be in Amsterdam, if you are into that sort of thing.
After about a hundred miles of walking, and dodging those dang bicycles it was such a relief to get back to our hotel. We got to the train station about 5 minutes before the last train of the night left the station. We walked around the city for about 14 hours!!! It was crazy, insane, wild Amsterdam. I woke up Sunday morning realizing exactly how old I really am, and that I'm just too dang old for Amsterdam.