Amsterdam, Netherlands (Holland)

Well we got back from Amsterdam. It's a beautiful city that was different than what we were expecting. It is located in the northern part of the Netherlands (Holland) on the coast of the North Sea. It's a really cool city that has cobblestone roads, which hurt your feet if you are walking with tennis shoes on, and it has canals throughout the city. It had both a Rembrandt Museum and a Van Gogh Museum. We didn't make it to those, but we did go to Anne Frank's house where she hid from the Nazi's with her family. We ate at an Italian restaurant for lunch and did a little shopping. We saw the red light district where prostitution is legal. The prostitutes will be standing behind glass windows even during the middle of the day and the brothels where they are have red lights on them, which is where the red light district name comes from. It's weird because the brothels blend right in with the homes, shops, etc. All the homes keep there windows open too. We were told this is because it used to be mandatory that all families read the Bible in the evening, so everybody had to have their curtains open so when the priests walked by they could see you reading from the Bible. Amsterdam is the major tourist city and shopping city in Holland, however almost none of the government is there. It's like New York City in that way. Bicycles everywhere! Absolutely everywhere! It is the major mode of transportation in the city. It's crazy, you have to be careful to stay out of their way.