Anna and Corina do Amsterdam!

Once again, I had a Canadian visit me here on the other side of the ocean! And, as always, it was a blast! On our first day we were both tired, so we wandered around the city, and climbed up NEMO, a weird green building that looks like a ship, which houses an Ontario Science Center-like museum. From there, you can get a view of the city.



To fully incorporate Corina into Dutch society, we took a bike trip to Muiden, a town just outside of Amsterdam. Muiden is famous for the Muiderslot (Muiden Castle). The fortress was built in 1280 by Floris V, who was sympathetic to the poor, but also to the French; he was murdered in 1296. The castle is the first in Holland to have round towers, a French invention.





Muiden has a central lock that sends boats out into the IJsselmeer; many of the old VOC boats still sit here.


Back in Amsterdam we had lunch at Metz and Co, a restaurant on the 6th floor! This is pretty much as high up as you can get in Amsteram, which offered us another cool view of the city.



A guy I know has a small motor boat, and does private trips through the canals. We got 9 girls together and cruised through the canals for 3 hours, it was great. Here's Amsterdam's narrowest house next to Amsterdam's widest bridge. Can you spot it?




Marianna (Romania), me and Core in front of NEMO



The famous Magere Brug (Skinny Bridge)



We visited the Portugese Synagogue, built in the 17th Century and still active today. At that time, it was Europe's largest.



In the women's gallery; can you tell I'm not impressed?


We took another day trip out of Amsterdam, this time to the famous cheese market in Alkmaar. Alkmaar, in 1573, was the first Dutch town ot repel occupying Spanish troops. The locals opened the locks and flooded the area with sea water, forcing the invaders to retreat. The victory got the town weighing rights, which laid the foundations for the famous, traditional cheese market. The cheese market happenes every Friday morning during the spring and summer months in the square outside the Waag (weigh house).



Cheese is heavy.



Buyers look at the cheese, agree on a purchase, and then the men in colorful hats (each color represents a different guild) carry the cheese to the weigh house. It's funny to watch them run.






I even got weighed on the old scales. Cheesy tourist pic.


The rest of Alkmaar is a regular Dutch town, cute and small.



On our last day we went to the Bazaar, a cool Middle-Eastern restaurant located in an old church. Many churches in Amsterdam are no longer active.