We slept in after the previous evening's lateness. We didn't leave for the day until almost noon. Our first visit was to the church right around the corner, the New Church. This is the place where Dutch royalty gets married.
And, of course, a selfie.
As we arrived, an organ concert was beginning, so we stuck around to listen.
We'd talked for two nights with Paul and Phil, folks who frequented Cafe Gollem, and Paul had strongly urged us to take a boat ride to tour the canals. We checked the Rick Steves book and headed through Dam Square toward the place he recommended. Along the way we stopped at a cheese shop, but a tourist group came in as we were looking around, so we decided to wait until later.
It was a beautiful day for a boat ride. We bought some Heineken for the ride and settled in for an hour tour.
Our tour took us on a journey through the many canals. This is where we got on.
Next came a famous bridge modeled after a French bridge.
More views of the tops of the houses
Here is what the older style homes look like - property was taxed on the width of the frontage, which is why the houses are so narrow.
This is the smallest house in Amsterdam -- the width of one window and door.
More rooftops - so many different types.
After our ride we bought some cheese and stopped back at the hotel to decide our next adventure.
The Jordaan district was next. We thought that we'd walk around and then have lunch somewhere. This area is quite gay-friendly. This is a pink point specifically for gay-themed info.
This plaque was on the nearest bridge.
We spent quite a while trying to find a specific restaurant, but when we finally got there, it was closed, so we found a small place on a canal and had wine and brootjes (Dutch sandwiches). On our way back to the hotel, we checked out a Belgian place that offered tasting menus paired with beers. We made a reservation for 7:30.
The meal was huge! We shared beer and each course, and by the end we just had to go home and go to bed.
The first two beers.
Accompanied by 3 appetizers.
Next came the three beers for our main courses.
Actually, there was a fourth dish with the entrees.
Then came the dessert beers. I especially liked the Barbar honey beer.
We had been contemplatingvisiting Cafe Gollem, but we just had to go back to the hotel and to bed...
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