The Amsterdam airport is spread out, like a big U. Mom and I had to walk from the gate at one end of the U to our baggage claim at the other. It's far and took us some time. Immigration, customs and baggage went quickly. I activated our Eurail pass right at the airport and we took the train right from the airport into downtown Amsterdam, a 17 minute ride.

At Centraal station, it was about a ten minute walk to our apartment in the De Wallen district (old town). It took us half an hour. Karen finds every rut and curb possible to stall us along the way. It's our first day and already the luggage is slowing us down. Still, it's a nice walk along the canal and we arrive at our home for the next three days, just after noon and right on time with suitcases in tow. Erik, the landlord, is there to meet us and gives us a tour, a cheat sheet and he's gone. He lives in the basement when his home is rented out. It's a two story home across from Oude Kerk. The 800-year-old Oude Kerk ("old church") is Amsterdam's oldest building and oldest parish church, founded ca. 1213. It stands in De Wallen, now Amsterdam's main red-light district. This historic old district is next to the train station and does include the "red light district". It's quaint and convenient to shopping and transportation, however, from our living room I can gaze into a few windows featuring ladies advertising for something. They're so nice, they even tap on the window inviting you in to visit. Boats cruise by in the canal and bicycles are everywhere. It's a great area with a colorful historic past.  It's Saturday and local tourists flock here for the weekend. The narrow streets are crowded with visitors, young people in their twenties visiting for the weekend from neighboring countries.
  
The canals of Amsterdam have been part of the city's landscape since the early 14th century. However most of the current canals were built during the 17th century, Amsterdam's golden age. As time passed, hundreds of narrow streets and smaller canals fanned out from the center, crossing the semicircles and creating 90 islands and 1,280 bridges, all within the city limits. The canal in front of our place is the Oudezijds Voorburgwal. This oldest canal of Amsterdam was dug between 1342 and 1380. The part left of the Damstraat used to be called Fluwelen Burgwal (Velvet Rampart), referring to the wealthy families that lived here, usually dressed in velvet.

After settling in, and without our velvet, we set out to explore the city. Mom set the pace which was slower than I had hoped for. I could walk faster but it just meant I had to stop and wait. My fate was set. We walked around the church, the canals and checked out the people. It's Saturday and everybody's here, mostly tourists from Europe for the weekend. The streets were crowded in the Red Light District but we managed to check out the merchandise. I play it cool and give the casual glance and disinterested smile. Mom waves at the girls and talks to them through the window. "Would you like some tea? You must be cold wearing just that", I think she must be saying. We stopped at a vegetable market and picked up a few groceries for a couple more days. Although I fought it off for a while, we had been up for 28 hours and it was time to take a nap. Lights out at 6:30pm. That truly is the sign of old geezers in Amsterdam.

Thanks for the posts