Amsterdam Again

We were Saturday and Sunday in Brugge and thought we would do Antwerp next. But then we cleverly noticed that Antwerp's museums were closed on Monday. So we decided to make Monday a travel day, to Amsterdam, to pick up some items left in storage there, meet new friends, and see the Van Gogh museum.  The travel went smoothly, barely moving actually, in humongous traffic jams around Antwerp, but we got to Amsterdam in good order and found Camping Gaasper, by far the best camping arrangement we have seen for Amsterdam. The city is a straight shot in on the Metro: the station is a few hundred meters from the campground, then one change where you merely cross to the other side of the platform where the second train is waiting for you. Twenty minutes, tops, and you are at Amsterdam's central station.

Students of this blog know that we have been to Amsterdam a number of times, most recently in 2011 and 2012, when we stored the Grey Wanderer there. It is another city of great art and distinctive architecture, and we mostly enjoy just walking around, taking in the canal culture, the fries, the beer, the buildings, the interesting shops and weird people, etc. Perhaps it's my advancing age, but Amsterdam seems to be getting tamer. Drugs and prostitution and general lewdness were far less in evidence this visit. Perhaps it's everyone's advancing age. Perhaps we just go to bed earlier now. Perhaps it was just late May and the swarms, throngs, and hordes of American college students had not yet arrived. Anyhow, here is a miscellany from just walking around Amsterdam.

Amsterdam central station

Famous building

Drug store

Red lights

Bicycle parking garage near the central station

Canal scene

Ditto

Bicycle crash scene; they got up, dusted themselves off,
said sorry, and were back on their respective ways

Another canal scene

Line to get into the Ann Frank House

Street scene, another part of the city (out by the
Museumsplein)

Art Nouveau police station of yore

At the very forgettable flower market

A very rare sight: two American campers, MT and SD license
plates...turned many heads in the campground; most
Europeans have never seen an American camping car, one
from the US; when I sense someone has a sense of humor
and command of English, I tell them we took the Transatlantic
Tunnel (five days, lousy scenery), or that Montana is a small
principality tucked in between Spain and Andorra ("and this
is my wife, Queen Vicki")

Larry and Joyce, embarking on their European motorhome
odyssey; bon voyage!