Tulips and Bicycles

I have returned from Amsterdam. If you ever get the chance it is a great city. Everything is in walking distance and it is easy to get around. We enjoyed the Anne Frank House, the Rijksmuseum, the canal boats and Dam Square. We didn't see the red light district at it's peak though. The days are getting longer and with my parents we didn't feel like venturing out at 10:00 when it finally got dark just to walk down a street with prostitutes. I have heard it is quite the sight in the dark. Either way you can't take pictures so it wouldn't really matter.

The "coffee" shops were a sight too. We got the giggles a few times as you walked past one and heard some first timer in there just coughing a lung out. You can buy cannabis cookies, little cans with "grow your own cannabis" on the label, and countless other products containing pot. It was quite the experience.

Something I think we weren't quite aware of is the number of bicycles in Amsterdam. It is their primary mode of transportation. It was nothing to see a parent riding down the street with a bucket type device hooked on the front with 2 kids in it and another child riding in the child seat hooked on the back. When crossing the street you have to watch for cars AND bikes. We witnessed an accident involving a pedestrian and a cyclist and the person on the bike was NOT at all pleased with the tourist who had gotten in his way. They have 3 level parking structures specifically for bikes - it was incredible.

We didn't make it out to the gardens but I had heard from a friend who went 2 weeks ago they had already cut the fields. We chose instead to wander the city that day and by chance we ran right in to the flower market. What a great find and let me tell you the next time I buy tulips I will have to seriously put out of my mind how much cheaper I could have bought them in Amsterdam.

-Side note: I actually don't really like this song by Katie Melua but somehow I couldn't get it out of my mind once I started writing about bicycles. LOL