We arrived in Amsterdam on Thursday, May 22nd and found our hostel without too much trouble. We were pretty tired and jet lagged but wanted to try to get on local time as quickly as possible so we stayed up and found a nice bench by a canal to sit and talk and pray. The next morning we took a 3-hour walking tour of the city, which was a really nice overview and helped us get our bearings. The sad part of this tour was that in walking through the Red Light District, we – of course – saw some girls in windows. It made my insides hurt. I am glad that Holland is a tolerant country and Amsterdam is a tolerant city, but I think there are reasons for limiting this sort of thing. Anyway, we learned some interesting things on the tour (although I’m not sure everything was 100% accurate), such as the fact that it was a Catholic architect who designed some of the Protestant churches – even though the Catholic churches had to meet in secret (but how secret are you when the whole town knows where you are – because they made you go there – an you’re singing with a full choir out of open third-floor windows??). We also did a tour via canal boat, which we both really enjoyed. It gives you a different perspective on the city, and was a bonus because we love boats! Another highlight of Amsterdam was going to the Anne Frank House Museum. Our last day in the Netherlands, we took a train to Haarlem. We really wanted to go to the Corrie Ten Boomhuis, which we did, but the museum was closed. Nevertheless, we really enjoyed Haarlem. The streets and architecture are beautiful and it was much more peaceful than Amsterdam – lots less people. It feels like a city you could really live in. One funny thing in Haarlem was that there was some sort of motorcycle convention and there was an older woman – maybe eighty? – on her motorcycle posing in front of the cathedral on the main square. You go girl!
