Day 12 (June 16th): Amsterdam

Woke up and ate breakfast in the apartment (Museli cereal with fiber; that's the way to start the day) then packed up to get the 9:14 AM train to Amsterdam. We walked about 20 minutes to the train station and found our train track. The train was an ICE which is a nicer train then the standard ones. We had reserved seats so we found our "wagon" and got comfortable. They had a tv monitor on the seat in front of you but there only seemed to be one channel. We took a 1st class train so an attendant walked around and rolled a cart with drinks and snacks on it. We got a water for the 2.5 hr train ride. At the first Holland train stop, the police came on board and checked our passports. It was a pleasant ride and we saw a few windmills along the way. We finally arrived at the central station in Amsterdam around 11:45 AM. The station and the immediate area outside the station was packed with people. We were staying at the Hilton Hotel which was in the southern section of the city. We didn't know exactly how to get there and found a Marriott hotel where they gave us a map of Amsterdam and showed us the directions. We walked from the station to the hotel and it took about 1 1/2 hours. The hotel was nice and our room very pleasant. We definitely liked the big bed and AC even though it wasn't that hot out. By the time we motivated from the room it was around 1:45 PM and we needed some food. We went to the concierge and got the names of a couple of places for lunch and a place for dinner. We walked about 10-15 minutes to a nice area for lunch. The restaurant was called Van Damme and they served mostly sandwiches. We were admiring all the well dressed people. I had a smoke beef sandwich with horseradish sauce and lettuce/tomato along with a Heineken beer. Al had an old Dutch cheese sandwich with a white wine. Lunch was very tasty. After lunch we headed north and walked past the Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum. I saw the Holland casino and had to stop and get a chip since I wasn't able to get one the last time I came to Amsterdam. We entered the building and they wanted a registration fee to go into the casino. I told them that I only wanted to go in and get a chip. They said no but the woman at the front desk went to the back and hooked me up with one (1 Euro chip). Chip was nothing special but it's from Amsterdam. We continued heading north passed the Leidesplein and went to the DampKring. It started to rain so we decided to hang out for awhile. I had been to this bar before and remembered having a beer but now they only served water, soda and fruit drinks. I asked the waitress and she said they recently changed the law on April 1, 2007 that these bars couldn't serve alcohol anymore. A very strange man sat down at our table and I started talking to him. Soon a bunch of his other buddies were there with him from England on a Bachelor party. They were cool and we spoke to them for a while. When the rain stopped, Al and I started walking back to the hotel but took the scenic route but the flower market and through some interesting streets. We finally got to the hotel and I showered to get a second wind. Got dressed and walked to the dinner restaurant up near Leidesplein called Mas Puri. This was an authentic Indonesian restaurant that the concierge recommended. In Amsterdam, Indonesian is very popular. If it was not recommended by the concierge we would never have gone in. From the outside it was a little "interesting". You go up a staircase to get to the restaurant. At first they said they didn't have any more tables and then I told them that the "Hilton said we would be able to get a table". All of a sudden she came back and we had a table. They had a prix fixe menu that looked great except for one pork dish. We asked if they could swap it out and they said "no problem". Service was great and the price was very reasonable. They brought out about 8 different "sampling" dishes that ended up being a perfect amount. I washed it down with a big Heineken and enjoyed a very good meal. After dinner we made a pit stop at the Kadinsky bar. We had a pound cake for dessert which we split and relaxed for a while. We then headed over to the Red Light District which was packed. It was a very surreal place with women offering themselves to the people walking by. It was fun watching guys negotiate with the women and then head inside. There were all types of women (black, white, Asian, trans) offering themselves. Some of the windows had just red lights others had a blue/purple light. Not sure exactly the difference. I can definitely speculate. We roamed around for a while and finally made it out of the Red Light District. The street names and canals make Amsterdam a very difficult city to maneuver around. We decided to go to the Leidesplein area for a last drink for the evening. We hung out at an outdoor cafe and I had a nice cold Heineken. We started walking back and decided we were tired and grabbed a cab. When we got back to the room we had no idea that it was already 1:45 AM. It was a long fun day.