We arrived in Amsterdam on Friday afternoon on a plane full of young women from London going to Amsterdam for "Hen Parties" similar to our Bachelorette parties to Vegas. Amsterdam is the fun, anything-goes capital of Europe. For Cory and I, the first day or two has been a bit of a culture shock. Even though we knew that the coffee shops are where people smoke weed and the red lights in windows were legal prostitutes, when you first see this it's a shock and takes some mental adjustment to acclimatize. However, we are giggling a lot and doing our best to blend in with the locals!

Megan, our beautiful daughter, joined us on Sunday morning after a very long flight from the US . We've been having a wonderful time together, walking and talking and generally seeing the sights. We made our usual trips to the market and then decided to see some of the things that make Amsterdam famous. We started with a little shopping and a visit to the Flower Market. This is a beautiful street full of stalls and shops all selling flowers and the tulip bulbs that made Amsterdam famous. This is a wonderful street to buy some souvenirs as well as sample the cheese that is everywhere and really yummy. Most of the shops give free samples before you buy, so we tried all the cheeses and settled on a truffle infused gouda that we've been munching happily.

Today, we walked to the Heineken brewery and did the "Heineken Experience" -- basically a tour of the old Heineken brewery, a multimedia ride that shows how beer is brewed ending with a beer tasting that every one enjoyed. Although Heineken is not our favorite beverage generally, it really tastes good when very cold and poured from the tap. After several beers each, we wandered down to Rembrandt Square and chose one of the many cafes to continue our beverage sampling and a bite of dinner. We sat at the café and talked and watched the people for several hours and just enjoyed the ambience and being together. Back at the apartment now, we're relaxing, watching some tv and making plans for the rest of the week. What will we do? We'll let you know when we know!!
Enjoy the pics.