Monday, November 7, 2016 (Ibis Amsterdam Centre Stopera Hotel, Amsterdam, Netherlands)

We had a great sleep...oh man, those were the most comfortable beds! The hotel's website advertises "...a view over one of the canals, the room features the new Sweet Bed by ibis bedding...". Yes, the "Sweet Bed" is very sweet! And I also forgot to mention that we have a lovely view of a canal out our window, however we never got around to taking a picture.

Needless to say, after a good (long) sleep, we were up bright and early...and raring to go! So we were out walking the streets of Amsterdam at 7:30 a.m. looking for a some place to have breakfast.

The streets are very quiet this early on a Monday morning...

That looks like a nice spot for my morning coffee...how do we get over there?!

Madame Tussauds...

After walking for over an hour, taking in the unique streets of Amsterdam, we found a spot for breakfast along one of these cool narrow streets...Omelegg-City Centre...and the funny thing is that it is the place that I had read about as having great breakfasts.

After warming up with a cup of coffee (no refills) and a delicious breakfast, we were back out walking. This time we were headed back to the Hop On Hop Off Canal Boat.

An old church...

Amsterdam Centraal Station...(Yep that's how it's spelled) Look at all those bikes!

The number of bicycles there are in Amsterdam is amazing!

We're catching the canal boat at those white buildings on the right...

Amsterdam Centraal Station,,,

We had to take a detour. The water is a little choppy in the harbour today! One of the river cruise ships...

This is the back of our hotel...our window would be four floors up in the middle...

Steve's sister's name is Nadine...this is for you sis!

Just love the architecture!

We got off the boat at the stop for the Rijksmuseum...

Those four entrances go straight through under the museum. Lots of bike riders riding through there...

We had purchased our museum tickets on the canal boat, so when we got inside the building, we went right to the entrance. Now....this place is absolutely Ginormous! And you are allowed to take pictures (no flash)...so, just a warning...Steve took lots of pictures! (surprise)

We started by splurging on audio headsets...many displays have a number, so you just enter that number and it tells you about it.

Lots of schools kids today...

Our first art museum and not really our cup of tea, but we have to admit...it's amazing how much extreme detail and talent went into some of these very old paintings...

The Milkmaid... (Johannes Vermeer 1632-1675)

Time for a rest as I listen to the audio...

Now THAT's a library!

That was only a portion of what we saw on one floor and we were there over 3 hours! We even ran into Joe and Betty while there. However, we realized it was going to take many more hours to see all the other floors so it was time to move on to our next stop.

The Heineken Experience!
Born in Amsterdam, raised by the world! Especially for Heineken fans like yourself, our first built brewery in Amsterdam has been transformed into a sensational interactive tour through the dynamic world of Heineken.

The Heineken Experience is a self guided tour of approximately 1.5 hours. You can go in any time during opening hours and our staff will tell you all about the beer along the way!

We were following what we thought was an open tour...then we were told it was a private tour...well, okay then...LOL!

Oops! Caught her at a bad time, but she was explaining the mixture and smells...

So your saying we can't ride a Heineken horse!

Horse bridal...

Ahhh...finally....we get to taste the beer! We learned that the foam on the beer is a good thing as it keeps the oxygen away from the beer so it doesn't go flat. And I learned I shouldn't take such tiny sips (results of being a wine drinker, I guess)...

Then...after a few more displays, we get to claim our two free beer (each)...








Cheers!

We emerged from The Heineken Experience a couple of hours later...that was very cool...and headed to find the canal boat pick-up/drop-off spot to take the boat back around to the other side of the city.

That's some pretty tight parking!

Here's our boat...

Reservations are recommended to visit the Anne Frank House which had a large lineup waiting to get in.

Not too crazy about some of their modern architecture...

Okay...the Eye Film Institute is a cool looking building!

Dinner cruise boat...

This is the back side of the train station Amsterdam Centraal...

St. Nicholas Church at dusk...

and Hotel Victoria...

This morning on our way to catch the boat, we passed a little pub that looked really cool, so we decided we would go there for dinner. After getting off the boat, we found our way back to Molly Malone's Irish Pub. We were disappointed that there wasn't any Irish music playing so Steve asked our waiter...the owner why. Apparently the clientele doesn't like it. What! He did say that he would have his staff put some on but it never happened. :-(

After dinner, we managed to find "The Red Light District" on our walk home. Steve was very disappointed...at the start we saw a couple of scantily clad ladies dancing together and that was it! Other than that lots of empty darkened windows, sex shops, clubs, and even a Museum of Prostitution. We were expecting a dungy old alley but it was along a canal and quite beautiful all lit up at night.

I had a moment of panic on our way home...the battery on my cell phone died, therefore our walking directions home were no longer available. No problem, though...we managed to find our way back to the hotel with no problems.

The Weigh House I think...

Just can't believe all the bikes in this city...

We were beat by the time we got back to the hotel...that had been a long day out sightseeing! But we had made good use of what little time we had here and were pleased with all we managed to see. Having said that, though, we would still love to come back...we absolutely love Amsterdam!