Amsterdam, Netherlands

The last day of our travels has finally arrived.  While we hate for our journey to end,  we miss seeing our babies, Madelyn and Abigail, and are ready to sleep in our own bed again!  It was very warm in Amsterdam today with temperatures reaching nearly 100 degrees, which is quite unusual for this part of Europe.

We started off the day with a canal cruise through Amsterdam.  The city is 700 years old with classic and elegant architecture creating a distinct ambiance.  The canal cruise provided a unique perspective to this beautiful city.

There are more bicycles in Amsterdam than there are people, and they were everywhere!  We were cautioned more than once to watch for the aggressive bicycle riders even though there were bike lanes!

We visited Zaanse Schans just north of Amsterdam after lunch.  It's an open air village with typical Dutch houses, windmills, wooden shoe demonstrations, and a cheese factory.  It was a delightful afternoon which gave us a real taste of the country.

The final excursion on our travels was an evening canal cruise to the Red Light District.   (Bet you can't guess who wanted to go there!)  Marc, being from the Netherlands, said there is a possibility that the government may close down the Red Light District.  So this optional excursion sold out since it may soon be a thing of the past!

Amsterdam, like many other cities, takes on a different appearance in the evening.  We took a short canal cruise before entering the Red Light District viewing it with a walking tour.  It was very crowded to us, but our tour guide said it wasn't  very busy.  We were told not to make pictures of the girls, and since we got rained on, picture-taking was limited.   The tour was an eye opener to the darker side of life.  Been there, don't want to go back!

Tomorrow we board a jet and head for Atlanta by way of Heathrow!  It's been another awesome vacation filled with remarkable experiences and memories made for a lifetime!

Until the next time...