Well, Dana had to work most of the day so I have to write about day 11. I started the day by running to and around Vondelpark. I used Dana's wristwatch-GPS which turned out to be a good idea! Vondelpark was very nice. For those of you familiar with Seattle... Vondelpark is a lot like Greenlake except 95% of the people are on bikes, it's bigger and flatter, and the trails cut across the center of the park in addition to going around the perimeter. I went back to the hotel a different way so that I could see more of the city. I found the Van Gogh and the Rijksmuseum. There is a big park behind them which reminded me of the mall in Washington DC. I planned on going to see those museums but it didn't happen.... next time. I got a little lost on the way back to the hotel but not too bad.
I was supposed to meet up with Diane but I still kept getting a busy signal when I called. I headed out for the red-light district for an English Breakfast (eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, and beer). The prostitutes are still there at 11am but they are of a different quality (lesser) than they are in the evening. After breakfast, I finally got Diane on the phone and we planned on meeting at the War Memorial at 1:00. So, I had a couple of hours to kill. Using the Rick Steves guide, I explored the Dam area including: The Palace, the New Church, Kalver Straat (shopping), and Begijnhof. Begijnhof is a neighborhood where a bunch of ultra-religious, single women lived. They were single because the men were fighting in the crusades. Okay... now off to meet Diane.
We agreed that it had been about 18 years since the last time I saw her and yet she doesn't seem to have aged a bit. She has lived in Amsterdam full-time now for 9 years but she seems to know the place like she had lived here since the Renaissance. We would walk for a while and she would tell me about the city in a way that sounded...hmmm... well almost cynical, and like she was making fun of the people and making them sound charming at the same time. For example, she told me about how dutch people are obsessed with those tacky little garden gnomes. They know how silly, ridiculous, cheesy, clichè... (you pick the adjective) they are and that seems to feed the obsession. Okay, then I would look up and we would be at another city sight. Diane would then tell me about the landmark as if she were there when the residents were deciding to build it. That went on and on for about 2 hours but it seemed like much longer. We saw: craft markets, flower markets, Rembrant square, The House of Hajenius (extremely famous cigar shop), a flood memorial (a large cylinder of water that was labeled with the levels of floods), and the Church of Saint Nicholas - amazing! It was an amazing experience for me. I wished that I'd be able to recreate the tour for Dana but I knew I wouldn't be able to.
Dana came home from work at 5 or 6 and we headed out for dinner. We ate at a middle eastern place and tried to make it to the Anne Frank house by 8:30 (when they close). Well, we made a few wrong turns and found the place at 8:35. Alas! we didn't make it. So, I tried to show Dana the chuch - closed. So, I tried to show Dana the flower market - closed. So, we wanted to take a canal boat cruise in the dark when they turn the lights on on the bridges. The problem with that was that sunset here, this time of year, is at like 10:45pm and the last canal tour was at 10. So, we took the cruise but it was too light out for the lights on the bridges.... next time. I was starting to lose Dana (she actually fell asleep on the canal cruise) so back to the hotel we went.
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