Amsterdam is a beautiful vibrant city, and we are enjoying our two day layover here. We checked into our apartment in the city and met friends of Brock's, Matilde and Keiko who took a train from Paris. We delighted in the sunny weather and hopped on to a canal cruise which gave us a neat perspective of the city. It is the Venice of the north so you can imagine bridges over the canals everywhere and here the streetcars or bicycles are easiest to get around. We checked out a great Saturday market and tried waffles, frites and herring, and later at a brown house(pub) we enjoyed local cheese. Chris tried the local beer they say is the best beer in the world, made by monks. He's a happy man.
Day two has been spent seeing the works of Rembrandt and Van Gogh at the Ryksmuseum, which just opened yesterday after a ten year Reno. We are on our way out of the city for the afternoon to see a windmill that has a pub. They think of everything here!
Tomorrow we head to Istanbul.