Our timing in Amsterdam was absolutely perfect.  We arrived in Amsterdam just in time to help celebrate their Liberation Day from the Nazi's.  Along with this holiday comes much celebration and at 8pm in the evening, they offer two minutes of complete silence, where everyone (and I do mean everyone) stops what they are doing in order to reflect their freedom.  It is an incredible experience to be in the midst of a bustling city that comes to a halt for two minutes to honor their past. 

We made a visit to Anne Frank's house, the RijksMuseum (which houses such Dutch artists as Rembrandt and Vermeer), the Van Gogh Museum (http://www3.vangoghmuseum.nl/vgm/index.jsp)(with more Van Gogh's than I'd ever dreamt of seeing), the Red Light District and all of its cannabis and working women (we didn't stop...just looked), the Zaanse Schans Museum (http://www.zaanseschans.nl/)  with it's many windmills and shoemaking and lastly, the world famous Keukenhof (http://www.keukenhof.nl/nm/english.html), home to over seven million tulips.

 

Van Gogh is one of my top-5 favorite artists and if you ever get the opportunity to visit Amsterdam, make this one of your stops.  The collection is amazing....200 pieces including Sunflowers. Zaanse Schans is a cool museum to stop by, particularly with children.  We were mildly entertained by the surroundings - you are able to climb a windmill via some VERY steep staircases (typical of the Amsterdam area).  Once up on the second level on the windmill, you realize JUUUUUST how much wind those babies generate. Impressive and it took a good 20 minutes to comb the knots out of my hair.  But I'm not complaining...not sure when I'll be up in a windmill again.  Another cool thing about the Zaanse Schans Museum is their wooden shoe exhibit.  Interesting to learn the shoe history (yes, they actually served a purpose for farmers and fisherman) and to see the various types of decor available.  And my absolute favorite visit of all was the Keukenhof.  Holy mackerel!  This park is 80 acres of sheer beauty....whether you do/don't like flowers. I never knew that so many tulip varieties existed (beyond colors).  This was heaven to me and I could have spent an entire day here...me, the flowers and my camera....but the road beckoned us, so I had to bid a quick farewell and hope to make it back!

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