Lang leve de koning!

Last weekend was another whirlwind weekend.  I met a friend who lives in Zurich in Amsterdam.  She asked to be called "Veronica" in my blog (in part because it sounded exotic and in part in case I wrote anything incriminating).  Even though my eyes were superbly bloodshot from lack of sleep (not pot, I swear), it was a pretty tame weekend altogether so I don't think there is anything indecent to reveal, but who knows where this blog will take me.  

This was my first time visiting Amsterdam and I have to say that it was lovely.  By chance, we happened to be there the weekend before the current queen (Queen Beatrix) was abdicating the throne to her son, Prince Willem-Alexander.  And by even more coincidence, we were staying within walking distance of where the coronation was to occur, Dam Square.  The coronation was actually today (Tuesday) on so-called "Queen's Day", but the parties had already begun.  This was a big deal for the Netherlands because it is the first king they have had since 1890.  Beatrix (or Trixie as I like to call her) has been on the throne for over 30 years.  The entire city was decked out in orange (the royal family is from the House of Orange-Nassau) and crowns.

It appears that Trixie was pretty well liked because there were all sorts of articles and dedications to her.  Check out one of the chalk notes that a little girl had posted on the sidewalk. (By the way, the little girl was so excited to have me take a picture of it ---- it was so cute.)

"Veronica" and I had a bit of fun with some of the decorations. No, I didn't get bangs.  In case you were confused, that's "Veronica" on the throne, not me.  

Outside of all the coronation hoopla, the town itself is beautiful.  There are over 60+ miles of canals with over 1500 bridges.  For two girls who love water and walking, that was a match made in heaven.  

I have no idea why I'm laughing here.

On Saturday, we wandered through the streets of Amsterdam just chatting and taking in the sights.  We strolled through Vondelpark, the largest park in Amsterdam.  It's their version of Central Park.  We figured out later that night that we probably walked for about 5 hours.  For someone who had woken up at 3am to catch an early morning flight, that was pretty darn impressive.  (It's not Ironman impressive, but still.)

We did take a break to enjoy the view.

That night, we were both exhausted and were camped out in bed by 10pm.  I know...party animals, you say.  In a city known for sex and drugs, we enjoyed nature and went to bed early.  What can I say?  I like to be different.

Unfortunately, sleep was not something that was easy to get.  I pretty much passed out from sheer exhaustion (I only got 2 hours of sleep the night before), but "Veronica" was kept awake by the trams that came screeching down the street in front of the hotel.  I heard them a few times, but nothing could keep me awake for long.  Sadly, even though we switched rooms the next night, we still didn't get sleep because our upstairs neighbors were either killing each other or having a clog dancing festival.  Not sure which.

On Sunday morning, we were both slow-going.  My requirement was coffee and "Veronica's" was pancakes.  We found a cute little place that satisfied both aptly named "Pancakes!".  (Imagine me shouting that all day because that is what happened.)  Their pancakes are not like IHOP.  They are almost like crepes, but they were dee-licious.  

After breakfast, we went to the Anne Frank Museum.  Ugh...talk about heart-breaking.  The house itself isn't that big.  It is the second house from the right.  If you look closely, you can see the line out front.

Anne Frank House

They do a good job of mixing video with passages to read as you walk through all the rooms.  They had the actual diary there (a little red plaid number and additional notebooks) as well as the Oscar that Shelley Winters received for her part in the movie.  It was so sad to see the video interviews with some of the people that hid the family, her friends from the concentration camp, and even her own father.  The amount of pain that man had to go through --- seeing your entire family decimated --- was heart wrenching.

After that heavy experience, we needed a little levity, so we walked around and supported the local economy, checked out the flowers....

...and enjoyed the little cheese shops.

    Yum...cheese...

Later that night, I made sure we at least walked through the Red Light District.  I had heard so much about the sex shops that I had to "see it to believe it".  I think that might have been more depressing than the Anne Frank House.  All these girls just hanging out in the windows in their underwear.  Some of them looked like they were 16 years old.  For obvious reasons, you aren't able to take pictures, but I did get a picture of the general area.

Red Light District

It's hard to see in this picture, but there are a lot of neon lights and little seedy alleys off this canal and that is where a lot of the women are.  Depressing.

Despite the Red Light District and the ever-present cloud of pot smoke, I'm a big fan of Amsterdam.  Everywhere we went, people were so nice.  They seemed genuinely happy to have us in their city and they seemed disappointed to find out that we weren't going to be there to help them celebrate their new king.  

I'm becoming a big fan of all these monarchies...