Photo of the Week - Amsterdam Canal

OK, another Friday has come along, and so does another Photo of the week. This week I chose one of my favorites from Amsterdam.

Amsterdam is one of our favorite cities in Europe. We went back there for a visit in July 2010.
I love this photo as it was the view from the front of our hotel, the Grand Amrath. I love how is shows the homes of the people in Amsterdam, from walk ups across the canal, to houseboats on the canals.

It is free to dock your boat on any of the canals, so many people hook up and don't leave...makes sense to me if that is the life you want.

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When in Amsterdam, don't forget to take one of the many Amsterdam canal cruises to get a different view of the city.

What do you like about Amsterdam? Comment below:

Does the Amsterdam Red Light District Live Up to It's Reputation?

When I tell people we spent some time in Amsterdam, one of their first questions is, "did you go to the Red Light District?"  I answer, of course we did. There are not many places in the world where you can buy marijuana, sex films and toys, or sex so openly, it is hard not to be curious about it and want to check it out.

Now having said that, we did walk through it often to get back to our hotel due to where our hotel was located. But we didn't mind, we love the vibrancy of the area and would have sought it out anyway.

We love watching the tourists gawk and awe at the ladies in the windows lit up with red light (apparently they chose red as it makes the ladies look better). We also like the energy of the area. You have grooms and brides to be on their Stag and/or Doe weekends (or bachelor or hen night parties), military men from many different countries on leave walking around, young people, older people. The energy is light and party like, with now judgment (at least in my experience). It's a real mix of fun, especially as we were there during the World Cup and Holland was in the Quarter and Semi Finals.

We even did a tour of the Red Light District to learn more about the history of the area and to be honest how it all works. Every tourist we talked to wondered the same thing. What we learned was that the prostitutes are paid anywhere from 30 to 50 Euros for 15 minutes of their time. They rent out the "windows" or work areas for 8 hours at a time. Their services are regulated and they must pay taxes on their earnings. There are also rules on how each girl is to dress (must where a bikini of some sort). There are girls of all shapes, sizes, nationalities and age and sexes (blue lights mean that they are actually transvestites). Whatever you do DON"T take a picture of the girls - in my mind out of respect - but also they will get REALLY angry with good reason.

Trying to catch a breeze in his apartment during the heat wave in the Red Light District

This is just like any other neighbourhood really. There are schools and apartments, restaurants, pubs and coffee shops, even art in some windows (the city bought out 1/3 of the windows to try to "clean" up the area and display local artists work).

You will find live sex shows too.... On our visit in 2004 a doorman at a live sex show told us that it would save our marriage if we saw the show - thanks but our marriage is perfectly fine.

Overall the Red Light District is a lot of fun. As the majority of visitors to it are tourists it really feels like a big tourist attraction.

Have you been to the Amsterdam Red Light District? We would love to hear your experience - Please comment below.

Back from our Romantic and Relaxing Trip to Europe

Wow. I didn't know it was possible, but Warren and I managed to have a relaxing vacation in Europe. We visited Amsterdam, Netherlands, Nice France and Paris France.

In my younger days (fine I am only 40 but still) I always felt like I had to spend every waking moment experiencing the places I was visiting. I wanted to pack in as much as I could.

This trip however we didn't do that. We actually took it easy and really experienced these cities. Instead of waking up early, rushing from tourist attraction to tourist attraction, we changed it up. (It helped that we had been to Amsterdam and Nice before and I had been to Paris as a teenager).

Amsterdam, Relax or Not...

Amsterdam is the first stop on our upcoming romantic vacation to Europe. Warren and I visited this awesome city back in 2004 on a whim. He came home one day in June with a map and said that he wanted to go to Amsterdam for our July long weekend.

This wasn't like him back then, so what was I to say but OK!!! Lets see what we can do.

First the airfare, we found a cheap last minute charter flight with perfect times to maximize our trip there, then a hotel right in Dam Square. The famous, NG Krasnapolsky Hotel Amsterdam and when we got there got upgraded to a room with an awesome view of Dam Square.

So 2 weeks after Warren came home with a guide book and the map, we were off on an adventure.

Picture of the Week - Streets of Amsterdam

Today's picture was inspired by an online Twitter friend who is on her way to Amsterdam this week.

This weeks picture is from a last minute romantic get away Warren and I took to Amsterdam, almost 5 years ago. Wow I find it hard to believe it was 5 years ago!

We LOVED Amsterdam and keep trying to get back there. It rained hard everyday and that made it all that more romantic. We had to huddle under umbrellas and try to keep warm. :-)

We booked this trip last minute and only stayed about 4 days. We loved walking together through the streets and alleyways. Then coming back to our room and watching the rain while eating the incredible pastries or chips with mayonnaise (a local favorite) that we picked up on our way back.

We toured the Ann Frank House, and the Van Gogh Museum. And of course we visited the casino. That was a prosperous visit as Warren won quite a bit of money!

When we arrived we were unaware that the Netherlands took over the governing of the European Union while we were there. There were parties and celebrations everywhere!

When we got a little tired of the city, we took a train out to Harlaam. We wandered through the market and had lunch in a little cafe where no one spoke English. Warren ended up with ham and cheese and actually liked it (He doesn't like pork products normally).

We even considered retiring here one day. We could imagine how lovely our retirement would be, living in a small cottage enjoying the Dutch countryside.

Who knows maybe one day....