This and That

Thought I'd share a bit of this, and a bit of that from our trip. Mark and I have been resting the last couple of days, getting ourselves back into US time, and it's made all the difference. I need to post a few more pictures, but til I get them organized I thought I'd share a bit of this and that. The canals, the strange statue in one of the apartments across the way from Cari's apartment that kept watch on us, the fun kiddie rides outside of the stores, the babies on bikes (without helmets no less!), lots and lots of art in the parks and on the streets, the Opera House, the 'itty bitty' cars (and I do mean itty bitty!!!), and the little hot dog guy at one of the street vendors, draped in an American flag. A bit of this and that. Ah, Amsterdam, you so rock!

Fried Gravy.

This morning we took off for the market, and the bridge was up: we actually got a kick out of that. Hey, we're on vacation....then Mark and I went to the little bakery around the block, got some food to go, and then behind Cari's back we went to McDonalds so Mommy could get a diet coke. Yea, we did it. Sorry Cari: Mommy and Daddy love you, but Mommy wanted a drink and she wanted it now! I got a kick out of the 'I'm loving it' on the cup. The young lady who waited on us sure wasn't loving in. Not one smile, and I'm sure Ronald McDonald would be very sad at this. Oh well, Mommy got her diet coke, or should I say coke light? We took our food and contraband coke light on over to a bench by one of the canals and we sat and watched the many and many boats that went by. So many boats!! It was a HOT Saturday and folks were taking advantage of it. Then we went back to Cari's, hung out for a while, and then rode the bikes over to a cafe on the Ansel River and had some really good beer and some bitteballen (don't sue me over the spelling....sigh...). Cari had told us about this so we gave it a try. It's gravy that's breaded and fried. Yep. Gravy. Breaded. And fried. Different. Oh so different. We then rode the bikes around since it's our last night with the bikes, and when we went to the park by the Van Gough Museum we found that for the upcoming Queen's Day that a crown had been placed on the 'I Am Amsterdam'. We tried taking some pictures, but as you can see we didn't do very well. We're going to go back tomorrow and give it another go in the good ole daytime. Happy upcoming Queen's Day everyone!!!

My new favorite store

Hmmm...wonder why I liked this store?????

Friday in the park

Today was a day at the park. The three of us went to breakfast, and then for a walk in a park that is near Cari's place. Such a beautiful park. In fact, after Cari and I shopped all day we went and got some Italian takeout and went back to the park for a picnic dinner. Lots and lots of families and young couples in love surrounded us. Nice, mellow crowd, and lots and lots of birds hung out with us as well. There are parrots that hang out in this park and we saw them time and time again. So strange to see parrots in a park! Then we laid down, looking at the sky, and relaxed. What a lovely day.

A palace, a little Dutch girl elephant, and giant Pringles

Today was another sunny day in Amsterdam. Loving it! Cari took off for work, Mark and I drank our coffee, hung out for a while, and then went around the block to one of the world's BEST bakeries, and had lunch. So darn good! We picked up some sweets for later, (and took my picture in front of the McDonalds that is also just around the corner from Cari), and then took off for some adventures. We walked through town, checking out some shops to see about picking up t-shirts for Steven and Doug, but for gosh sakes, some of them shirts! You could tell we were really close to the red light district! Let's leave it at that. We ended up at Dam Square, where the Palace is. The Palace is amazing, so very impressive.We went on an audio tour and this was one of the highlights of our trip! The information they provided about each room brought it to life, and I now know why the folks who live here think it's one of the wonders of the world. Mark has his eyes shut in the picture in front of one of my favorite paintings, darn it. So Cari said to think of it as if he's concentrating: think of it that way, okay? Queen's Day is coming, a HUGE crazy festival, and there is a carnival outside of the Palace taking place. We're guessing the carnival has to do with the festival. We didn't take part in that, but I did take part of the ice cream with me...Mary was one happy puppy! We walked and walked, finding a small little 'Dutch girl elephant': now that's something you don't see every day. Cari laughed when I told her about it and she said she figured we'd find that. We met up with Cari and went to dinner at the Indian cafe across the street from her place. So good! They first brought out a large cracker, for lack of knowing what it actually was. We really enjoyed it, and Cari figured out it was the world's largest Pringle. I took a picture of the cafe while hanging out of one of Cari's windows. Tonight we're taking it easy. Mark has been on the computer, I'm reading a book, and Cari is out with friends. This is a wonderful vacation. How lucky are we????