The Strawberry Girl

Christine...  a very dear friend of mine...  I believe we met each other nearly 13 years ago.  About 4 years ago she left Vancouver to fulfill a dream and live the life of a seafarer.  Today she is in Curaçao.  Every year she has made a short visit to Vancouver so we have always been able to re-connect.

This time our re-union was even more unique.

We were gifted with the opportunity to meet in Amsterdam.

To be honest, we didn't do anything touristy at all.  No museums, art galleries or the like.  We simply wandered aimlessly through the canalized streets of A'dam either by foot or bicycle. We experienced 2 glorious days of sun and somewhat warm weather and one damp and foggy day.  We ate *A LOT* of cheese, I tried the pannenkoeken, Christine the pea soup and we both had (on more than one occasion) butter waffeln.  We met up with my Dutch friend Marc and he took us out the this incredible restaurant called Bazar (see photos below) and then to the local alternative pub.

Our B&B was on the Boathotel Iris.  This was our cabin.

This was our Boathotel Iris.

Some sights near Iris.

Bicycles were *everywhere*!!!  This picture shows about 1/8 of what I could fit in my frame from my view point.

Cheese, cheese and more cheese.  Did I mention we ate a lot of cheese?  Look at the size of that Emmanthaler!!!  :O

Clogs with tulip bulbs...

and high heels with chocolate sprinkles!  :D

All of the buildings in A'dam are on a slight tilt... thus making you feel forever a little tipsy... always screwing with your vertigo.  You can't see very well in the following photograph, but there is a pully systems on all buildings near the rooftop. They are used, along side the tilted façades, to lift furniture into the flats, the tilt allowing room for the furniture to *not* crash into the building/windows.  A photo of this system follows.

Picturesque canal scenes are around every corner. The first image is of the Schreierstoren - built 1480 as part of the city's defenses, it became a point from which women would wave farewell to their sailors... only 1 in 3 ever returned safely from a journey.

Taken of the Amrath Hotel - Art Deco architecture, but I can't seem to find a year or any history about it.

Red Light District swans.

Bazar - Turkish restaurant, use to be a mosque.

The loverly Christine.

A whirlwind trip in 4 days...  took me 7 trains (an accident on the tracks), 2 loverly Dutch people as guides and 7 hours to get there, but it was worth it!!!  An incredible experience I never dreamed could happen.

And guess what?