Amsterdam - walking tour & museum

We had cereal and tea in the apt. Met in Dam Square for our free tour with Sandemann's New Europe tour with Paul. We cut through some alleys and the Red Light District. Went to Oude Kerk, Waag (old city gate kept for important events like executions and autopsies), Rembrandt house in Jewish Quarter. Cut back to Old Town and headquarters of East India Company. We walked through an exhibit at the Amsterdam Museum where they had carpet tiles designed by each country in the world and arranged to create a beautiful image, proving that with diversity we create beauty. We saw two courtyards with churches that have had different religions over time. We headed west to the Jordaan area near Westerkerk. Learned about the story of Anne Frank and her family. We also learned a lot about how Amsterdam legalized marijuana so the police would have more time/resources to prosecute heroin dealers and users. The tour lasted from about 10am to 1pm. It was very informative and we had a good time. We had lunch at a restaurant near the endpoint of the tour at a place our guide recommended. We both had stamppot, a Traditional Dutch meal, Myron had it with sausage and I had it with meatball. We also shared bitterballen, which is like a deep fried beef stew ball. And beers of course. Maggie was very tired and had a meltdown. We went to the Amsterdam Museum in the afternoon. We learned about the history of the city, life in the city and an exhibit on a famous photographer. We bought Museumkaart tickets here, which ended up being a tremendous value. We ended up spending 60euro each on these MK tickets and between all the museums and churches we went to, would've spent about 80-90euro without it. Anyways, the Amsterdam Museum was very cool and unique. It was also easy to navigate with the stroller.

Dinner was at the Burgermeester in the Jordaan area. S had a burger with grilled vegetables and M had a lamb burger with chorizo and jalepeno (it was very spicy). We also had a brownie, half corn on the cob, cole slaw and a shake/lemonade to drink.Read more