Angie and I actually woke up relatively early to do some laundry and get going to see all of Amsterdam.
We arrived in town around 11 and we went straight to the Anne Frank Huis to tour the house where the Frank family hid out during World War II and the Holocaust. It was a very good representation of the house and I feel like it really made you get closer to understanding the fear those people lived with every day. If you never read the Diary of Anne Frank, I think you should. If anyone could put what happened during the war in a way that could transcend age and culture, I think Anne Frank did. From her diary you get a feeling of what life was like, and what real fear is. It's sad, but also necessary.
After Anne Frank Huis, Angie and I needed to just walk and recover from the experience. We walked down one of the main canals and crossed over into Jordaan and explored for a bit. The architecture in Amsterdam is awesome. It's 5 story canal houses squeezed together in bricks and bright white lining the cobblestone streets. They surround the canal which are brimming with canala boats of all shapes and sizes and colors. The city radiates happiness and seems to be all embracing. Every Amsterdammer I spoke to was quite nice, they all seemed to want to help.
After wandering a bit, we happened upon the first and only homosexual monument to be built in Europe (possibly the world). It was 3 triangles of the same size in pink marble, who made a bigger triangle when all put together. I thought it was a nice way to commemorate the Homosexuals killed in the Holocaust, as the Pink triangle was the patch they wore (like the Jews wore the Star of David)
At this point I was starving. We decided to go to a traditional Dutch restaurant and try some Broodje (savory pancakes) That was the most delicious but weird spinach and feta pancake ever. The pancake itself is somewhere between the American think pancake and the French crepe. It was definitely interesting.
After I think we walked past every canal in Amsterdam until we finally found Nemo and the big body of water. We were a bit lost but we did take lots and lots pictures!
We finally made our way over to the Rijksmuseum, and despite renovations we still saw some of the most amazing Dutch art ever, mostly Rembrandt and Vermeer. The nice thing about this museum is that they had classical museums inside the exhibit rooms playing classical music, which went really nicely with the museum's art.
Around 7 we finally got on the bus to return to Robb's where we were greeted with some lovely couscous!
As a present to Robb as a thank you for letting us stay at his place, Angie and I (mostly Angie) had arranged a special showing at the Casa Rosso, Amsterdam's most famous sex show. Let me tell you that was the most ridiculous thing in the world, as one of the girl's behind me said "It's better than figure skating", which I think is the most appropriate comment ever made. So Contiki hooked us up, we were treated as VIP's at the place. Free admission and free drinks. The first one leads to laughter the second leads to being ridiculously silly and gullible. They kept not only refilling them but also making them ridiculously strong.
During the show at some point, a woman put a cigarette in her private part and smoked it... seriously someone paid 40 euros to go see this. I mean I didn't know it was possible but 40 euros? And even the sex part of the show wasn't even sexy. The guys were not attractive but quite well, errr, endowed, which I eventually figured out after I said very loudly, wow that guy is not hott at all and some guy behind me was like "But look at his d*$%"
Here's a tip to men, it is not advisable to hit on women at a sex club, especially when they are obviously constantly sipping their vodka pineapple because they are AT A SEX SHOW with their cousin. Some Irish dude claimed I worked there too. That was awesome.
After 3 or 4 drinks, Angie and I were successfully drunk. The person on stage was asking for volunteers so of course I volunteered my cousin. So she goes up and she's all alone. Somehow this lady behind me talks me into going up there with her. Let's just say, I got to know Oksana very well and also got to eat a bit of banana... Oi!
Finally Robb took our drunk butts to some Thai place where we drank more and were ridiculous until finally we were on the verge of collapsing and we went home.
Here is an excerpt of the email sent to my mom once home:
"Dear Mom,
Last night was ridiculous! Let's just say that we got into the sex show in Amsterdam for free because of my wonderful cousin and her tour company. Let's see, I saw a woman smoke a cigarette NOT from her mouth but another orifice (you can guess), a bunch of couples fornicating on stage and looking rather bored while doing it (which Angie did not think was possible), one of the couples were lesbian vampires... who would've thought....
Included in the fun were free drinks because we all "worked" for Contiki. Alcohol loosens your inhibitions. Whether or not Angie and I made an appearance on stage may be seen on Youtube. Never did I have a goal of eating a banana like that.
Any way we're going to get some tulips and see some Van Gogh's!
It's Vince's birthday, send him a message!
Love
your daughter and niece, the new stars at the Casa Rosso ; )"
Check out day 3 in photos!
