Dinner!

And me - a little too close to the flash - ready for maxed out portions.

No food in this post!
Yay!

This is the gloriously art deco Theater Tuschinki, a cinema. I didn't go to see a film there, so no pics of the interior, but according to the interwebz it is just as extraordinary.

It's on a narrow street, so I couldn't get it all in. Also a dull day, sadly.

The details are beautiful.

Goodness, am I still going?

Here is the Bloemenmarkt. It's a flower market based on barges moored on the canal. As you can see they all have canalside entrances anyway, so although it's technically a floating market, it's not quite up to Far Eastern standards.

I bought a couple of gifts for family and friends of family here. Mostly unusual coloured tulips in tins or china clogs. Too heavy to post, which is why you got none.

Note the Christmas Store to the right. It was gorgeous, but over-plastered with "Don't Touch!" signs. I'm sure it's a real problem with kids in the high season, but it put me off buying. Also we have no real Christmas fanatics in my family. Still, I was tempted to get something for Secret Santa.

Great pics! I can't wait to go there...someday.

My late lunch of uitsmijter when I was going to the Verzetsmuseum (the Amsterdam Resistance). This is three fried eggs with cheese and ham. What a porker. And there's me walking around a museum which features self-sacrifice, oppression, resistance, Jewish persecution, poverty and hunger. But selfishly, better to have enjoyed it before going in, I wouldn't have dared order it when I came out!

I also had a boiled egg every morning for breakfast. Some hard, some soft. I think it depended on who was cooking and how much attention they paid. Every morning a croissant, a wholemeal roll and a crumpet. Bizarre but true. Then a dish of butter, one of blackcurrant preserve and a plate of cheese. And the egg.

Oh, and here's a pic of me waiting to leave Victoria, because I haven't put it in so far.

Grumpy? Well, I did leave home at midday, and at this point it's about 21.30. Had a lovely time with my Godfather (the non-paedo priest) and my bro though. Yeah, it's a posed photo, but if you're on your own with a camera what can you do?

I was accosted by a big burly German man actually. He had a shaved head and a walrus moustache and a couple of thousand euros beer-belly. He spoke to me in German, as did the sweet confused Grandfatherly figure earlier. But then I was sat in the area where the coaches to Munich leave, so that's fair enough. It made me smile though. Not only did the big Herr look like Steve Pemberton's fatter older brother, but I was reading an account of the work foreign teens did in the French Resistance...

Cheers chick. That's it for now.
There are a few more to come but even my self-obsession has limits!

I'm weird about food (I might die in a foreign country) but those eggs look gooooooooooood!

Did you make it to the Van Gogh museum? One of my colleagues, who works in Cleveland, told me at conference that he and some buddies had gone to Amsterdam. I wanted to smack him! I asked him, in front of everyone else, if he had gone to the Van Gogh museum and he said yes. Then I did smack him. Later, I secretly asked him about the coffee shops...and he grinned, yes he went to those too. ;)

I love the Dutch tulip vase you got your mother. :thumbsup:

Excellent Sundae. A lot of that food looked really good. Those mussels. :yum:

Shawnee, you'd definitely find food in Amsterdam that you could eat.
I like pretty much all food, so I shopped around - price was my main motivator - but trust me there were things you would not find "foreign". McD's and BK at the very least. You'd also go for Bagels and Beans (the beans being coffee) and Barney's (to follow).

I even had a kebab. Yumski scrumski. No photo though, as I was a little ashamed of myself :) But the shop was in the alley next to the hotel! I walked past it a couple of times a day!

I didn't go to either of the big museums. Not the Van Gogh - I'm just not a fan - or the Rijksmuseum. The Rijksmuseum is still under wraps and only showing a small selection of items. I was tempted, but in the end walking the streets proved more of a draw. I don't regret it, as I already intend to go back there anyway.

Bruce - I so fell in love with those vases. Given my druthers I'd have bought a Delft one, or at least a Delft style one. But I know Mum's opinion of "going too far" and "flaboyance"! Need to buy the gift to suit the giftee. Away from the more avant garde ones it's beautiful in its own right.

Most excellent!

Some moar.

Canal shots from my cruise.
I did take some video, but it's not great quality and anyway it's a bit dull.
Not for me! I loved it, but the relaxed pace of the waterways does not lend itself to YouTube viewing. I might put it up at some point.

Canalside pics.
I didn't edit out the bumcrack - thought it would please the ladies and Shel.

This is the Magere Brug - translates as the Skinny Bridge. In its way it is as much of an icon as Tower Bridge or Sydney Harbour Bridge, albeit on a smaller scale.

There are much better pics of it of course, so I only tried to get some from a different perspective.