We have arrived in beautiful Amsterdam! All that talk about sleeping on the plane was hogwash. We had a 30 hour "day"yesterday, but still managed to hit the cobblestone running - seeing a few of our favourite places (Dam Square, the Royal Palace, Centraal Station, Niewkirk and Damerak) and -if possible- snapping even more incredible shots of canals and grachthuises (canalhouses). The weather is perfect. Big blue skies, 24 degrees, ideal for walking and cruising...

Our trip has come to an end. Instead of writing a full blog about our final day, I've decided to reflect a little bit on a few of our favourite 'discoveries' here in Amsterdam - one of our new favourite places in the world! Bikes: You have to experience this phenomenon in person to really truly understand 'bike culture'. They are everywhere. There are more bikes than people in Amsterdam. When crossing the street, you have to cross a sidewalk, a bike lane and a ...

Today we finally fulfilled our dream of seeing a real-live--up-close-and-in-person Windmill. Did we ever... We took a half day tour of Volendam - saw Dutch cheesemaking at its finest. Then we took a boat across to the island of Marken, the prettiest little seaside fishing community ever (fact.) and saw clogs being made by hand. So yes. we bought a pair. Then, we boarded the bus and were taken itno the Dutch countrside and farming communities of the Zaanse Shan...

We have arrived in absolutely BEAUTIFUL Amsterdam. Once again, we completely misjudged our ability to catch any amount of shut-eye on planes. 29 straight hours awake and counting. Not that it stopped us from hitting the ground running as soon as we got here! In true Sheppard fashion, within an hour we had already sampled local cheeses, stumbled upon a Bloemen (flower) market, taken over 50 pictures (mostly of canals, bridges and stunning architecture!) and even...