Amsterdam!

Hello and welcome to Amsterdam! We started our trip to Amsterdam with a free student-run tour of the city, and although it wasn't the best tour i'd ever been on, it was at least entertaining and informative.

This is Dam Square. This is where Amsterdam got its name: There was a Dam on the river Amstel at this location back in the day. Amsterdam was first settled as a small fishing village in the late 12th Century, and it was one of the most important ports in the world during the Dutch Golden Age.

The building on the left is the Royal Palance. This was originally used a the town hall and its classical facade and fine sculptures were intended to glorify the city of Amsterdam and its government.

This is a close-up of a tower in Dam Square.
And here's some art that was put annonymously into the pavement of one of the streets in Amsterdam. Our tour guide tried to make some sort of analogy, saying that this art was a metaphor for Amsterdam - the fact that both the man's hand and the woman's identity were unknown, and that the art is chained to the city - just like prostitution is, I guess, 'chained' to Amsterdam. Not sure she did a good job of the metaphor, though.
See that bridge in the middle of the photo? That's apparently the highest bridge in Amsterdam - yep, the Netherlands is that flat.
You know, now that I'm looking at this picture, I'm not sure this is Amsterdam.... but either way, there are some lovely houses, boats and a canal in this one.
Yay! We're all happy! Cold... but happy. I can't for the life of me remember the building we're standing in front of, though.
Here you can see the lovely designs of the tops of Amsterdam's houses. You can also see, in the middle house, the pulley and ropes used to bring furniture into the homes as the staircases are too narrow to bring in large items of furniture.
There is a large number of abandoned boats full of crap - ice, water, leaves, garbage. Blech. Well, I guess they could be active boats, but still - who wants to clean out a gross boat?!
Here's the main street that leads from Centraal Station to Dam Square. It's got all the tourist crap and pickpockets you can think of.
And just for your enjoyment, some more bicycles, tall houses and canals!
... and a green bicycle!
The water was very very calm and it was nice to see the reflections in the canal.
I saw this little bird just chugging along, pulling quite a twig. I wonder where he was going and what he was doing with it?
You have to admit, though - the boats sure are colorful!

We also went to Anne Frank's house while in Amsterdam, although I didn't take any pictures inside. It was a very interesting museum, although it felt very empty. It was a real experience seeing the real house and Anne Frank's real diary. I have never read the book in its entirety, although I always meant to.

We didn't stay super late in Amsterdam as it was so very, very cold. I did go back to Amsterdam on my own a couple days later - these photos are a mix of those two days. When I went back to Amsterdam, the weather still wasn't great, but it wasn't as cold. I did go to the Purse and Handbag museum, which was a lot of fun.

Anyways.... next is Rotterdam!

October 29: Eiffel Tower

On Wednesday, October 29, all of us together headed over to Notre Dame to go inside. It was lovely inside, and what's better is that its free to go in!
I really need to buy a tripod. My photo options were somewhat restricted when I had to find a surface to put my camera on.
The stained glass is just lovely.

I always loved how huge the place was on the inside. I can never quite get a picture that covers both the floor and ceiling of this place to illustrate just how big it is, but I'm sure you got the idea.

After that we got the chance to feed the birds! We brought our own stuff (just dried baguette), since I didn't want to take any from the guy in case he wanted money (you never know...)

This was seriously one of the highlights of this trip. And it's true, a bunch of sparrows on your hand is a lot less stressful (and less heavy!) than a bunch of pigeons.

Seriously. Loved it. I will definitely do this again next time.

After that I visited the deporation memorial on the tip of the island. It was a memorial to all the french people who were sent to the concentration camps during the second world war. You couldn't take any pictures inside, but it was a very good memorial.
A couple more photos of Notre Dame (yes, I know, enough already!) and I was on my way.
We were on our way to meet up with Matt and Mandy (I think...) when we stumbled onto the Place de la Concorde right at sunset. The luck!
Perfect timing.

After we all met up we were walking through some of the gardens just west of the Louvre when we saw the Eiffel tower all lit up and blue!
And, of course, while I was trying to balance my camera on a bar table to get a good shot, the guys were spinning circles in front my camera! Silly buggers.
Pretty silly.
Finally, a person-free shot!

And here's the token night-shot of the Champs Elysees and l'Arc de Triomphe.
And a night-shot of a foundtain in the Place de la Concorde.

Yay! More blue Eiffel Tower!
Everyone was having a lovely time.

And then the Eiffel Tower began to sparkle! That's the best part.