"Discovering Amsterdam" a Amsterdam Travel Page by AmericanH

This was my 1st trip to Europe. I researched for months on the internet. I looked at pictures by the 1000's. I read travel books, studied maps, but nothing could prepare me for the sensory overload I had when I walked out of Centraal Station. I stopped dead in my tracks... the activity, the buildings, the cobblestone streets full of people, bicycles and trams. I must've looked like the typical American tourist standing there with my eyes as big as silver dollars and my mouth hanging open in sheer awe of the city that lay before me. I had been transfered into a world I could have only imagined in my dreams. This was truely Old World Europe and I was standing in the middle of it.

The Jordaan is a great place to get away from the crowds and the hussle and bustle of the city. It's just a few blocks off of Damrak. The neighborhoods are quiet and peaceful, rich with 15th century architecture. Strolling along the canals I realized that the concept of my place in this world had been changed forever. I love being an american and I wear the badge with loyalty, but as I witnessed daily life in this beautiful old world neighborhood, I realized as Americans we are the babies of this planet. We have a lot of growing up ahead of us.