Europe JUMP Trip - Amsterdam

The second leg of our Euro Trip... Amsterdam.

See the first leg in Paris with an intro to the trip here.



Yes, we would be staying in the famous Red Light District, only cause the best and cheapest hostel is located there.


How appropriate... Hostel Meeting Point.


And see... it was ranked as a top 10 hostel in the world.


A room with a view...


We stayed in these big dorm rooms and had huge barrels as a safe-keep locker.


Getting fiesty...


The coolest thing about drinking beer in Europe is that each beer has its own unique glass to enhance the aromas and the style.


Local Beer Menu


With a new friend that we met in our hostel, Gideon, from Australia, who was traveling around the world on one of those Round-The-World airline tickets.


Little Black Riding Hood...


Gideon, The Crocodile Hunter. He was thrilled that Mike was wearing a cowboy hat around...


Caitlin with a cat in a store with Mike's hat.


Dollar Bill Art


I wonder what kind of plant these seeds grow into...


Oxygen bar...


Mixed feelings about a sex shop. Actually, we never went into a single porno store the whole time that we were there... We behaved.


Naughty polar bears


Intricate glass pipe - Devil on a cruiser


The traditional dutch shoes


Cowboy hat picture...


How cool... Big Chess


We joined the Dutch in their favorite mode of transportation - bicycles. They were quite cheap to rent and were excellent transportation.


Locking our bikes safely before heading into the van Gogh Musuem.


Navigator


Cycling away. We knew there was more to Amsterdam than the Red Light District, so we got on our bikes and just headed straight in one direction out of town to see what we'd come across. We were told that we could put our bikes on a train and ride back from the dykes, which would have been very cool, but would have needed a full day for that.


A beautiful canal away from the city center.


Critical care for boats. These little guys looked damaged and were probably being fixed or salvaged.


A typical Amsterdam street with a one-way lane on either side of a canal.


Mike and Caitlin on a canal bridge. Amsterdam was really a beautiful city, especially since I like water a lot.


Having a bite to eat by the canal.


At Anne Frank's house.


The cowboy hat with an old Citroen.


Yes, the famous Sex Museum, which was more freaky than sexy.


Waving to Marilyn in the Sex Museum.


At the bar in our hostel. The cool thing about this hostel was that you could only enter and leave through the bar on the ground floor, which was open 24 hours. So, we'd just hang around and meet anybody that was passing through... have a drink with them or go get something to eat.


We got drinking with these Italians who couldn't speak English, but one of them learnt French in school, just like me. So, we communicated in broken French. I knew it was good for something. And before you knew it... Mike was arm wrestling their toughest guy.


The Italians, Gideon and us with the Amsterdam flag. Wonder why it has a triple-x on it...?


Good times...


One of them came back down looking for something and didn't bother with any extra clothing...


Mike playing chess with another hostel guest... this was about 4 in the morning.


Caitlin with a kitty in the hostel bar.


Cowboy hat at the Stones Cafe Coffee Shop.


Mmmmm... french fries. We ate a lot of those. These were the only kind of shops open late at night... when the munchies kicked in. It was super expensive too. That serving of fries was about 6 Euros.


Having some fantastic Belgian Duvel beer... more than 8% alcohol by volume, compared to 4% or less back in the states.


Walking the streets of Amsterdam...


I remember Mike describing eating this pastry as orgasmic...


Zed, Gideon's friend with the Hot Dog guy at a food stand.


Relaxing by the canal


An Amsterdam Canal


This was our fantastic Home Sweet Home for a few days...


On the train to Gent, Belgium.


Getting ready to mix a few drinks.


Mike and I settled for Coke with our vodka (i know, i know.. but we had no other mixers), but Caitlin went with soda water and tried to sweeten it with sugar we swiped from the dining car.


Chillin on the train


That's a pretty big glass of vodka there...


Leaking water damaged Caitlin's camera.


And that's how she felt about it...


Amsterdam lived up to its reputation, but we were glad that we got to see parts of the city away from the Red Light District. It's definitely worth another visit...