"When I think of Amsterdam, I think of..." Amsterdam by swings

This was, basically, my third trip to Amsterdam. The first was in about 1971, when I met three other family members (present for various reasons) here for dinner and tasted that fabulous Indonesian Rijsttafel ("rice table") that serves, probably, 20 different dishes! An awesome display of food!

The second visit was in the winter: basically an overnight layover on the way home from Egypt. I remember the hotel had sliding wooden panels instead of curtains: this is important in the summer when the night is very short. But in this case, I remember the telephone ringing in the middle of the night. It was our travel friends telling us that it was about 10 am and that we had to leave in about 30 minutes to the airport, or we'd miss our flight! But, I digress....

No place in Amsterdam is far from the water, and the canals lace all through the city. Bicycles are a favorite way to get around, not only for the locals, but for visitors, and you'll see them everywhere!

Centraal Station in Amsterdam

Ignore that wizard behind the curtain! Ok,.... so I don't know how to edit pictures! The train station is that huge, old building way down the street! It's monstrously big, and I love the architecture! Trains, buses and trams all converge on it, so you can get to nearly anyplace in the country, or in Europe, from here.

Speaking of architecture, you'll notice the tops of the buildings are very distinctive. You'll also notice that almost every old building has a crane by which they lift large pieces of furniture into the apartments if they're so big they won't go up by the stairways.

Amsterdam Coffeeshop

Yeah, yeah.... Amsterdam has had a reputation ever since at least the 60's as a place to smoke marijuana. Of course it holds no interest for me, but for many others, it's a major draw.

Somehow I missed getting a picture of the Dam Square. It used to be a favorite place for the hippies to hang out in the late 60's/early 70's. My brother and his Dutch friend nearly got clubbed by the police, because the friend was too curious about the stampede of people away from the Dam once when the police had a crack-down there. Back then that erection had a different name, too.

'Nuff said.

• Pros:Great weather, good food, interesting architecture, and very cosmopolitan
• Cons:Too expensive and too easy to be hit by bicyclists
• In a nutshell:Exciting place to visit