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This will be probably more than one part as there is a lot to share.

Early morning run outside the city center through Artzuid, sculptures scattered throughout connected parks. I stopped to snap a few pics of ones I thought were very interesting.

Next on the agenda was food but it was a long walk to Amsterdam Centraal where the mass transit is centered. Behind the station is Pancakes Amsterdam. They have Dutch and American pancakes and they were delicious. In the back of the picture is berry and in the front is a savory smoked salmon.

A quick ferry ride across the section of water between North Amsterdam from the old city is all that separated us from the countryside tour.

Some sights around Amsterdam as we were walking to breakfast:

The royal residence.

Inside the tunnel to get to the back of Amsterdam Centraal.

Next post is the countryside tour.

July 25. After getting in a little later than expected (our original flight was cancelled as the airport had refueling problems and limited the number of planes that could arrive. We were lucky to get a different flight quickly as the flight was cancelled mere hours before take off.) With our rooms not ready, we left the bags and started sight seeing.

At the airport.

Before we left we planned what we wanted to see and mapped out our days to see what we could fit in. Becca is going with me and we are obviously alike. We purchased the Amsterdam pass for two days (you can get a mobile download instead of a card.) It gets you a lot. Many of the things we wanted were covered in this pass.

The first thing we used the pass for was a free trip on bus 397 from the airport. It makes many stops near hotels and attractions. The closest to the Apollo Marriott was the museumplein stop. We walked the rest of the way to the hotel.

After dropping off our luggage we walked back up to the museums. The first in the list was the Moco museum that had contemporary art like Banksy and Andy Warhol.

This is in front of the museums. The van Gogh museum is in the background.

Mickey snake. Or is it Mickey swallowed by a snake?

The museum is in an old house and loved this above the fireplace in one of the rooms.

Another artist created interesting art eroding areas of the art for effect.

Next was the Rijksmuseum, the national museum of Netherlands.

Lots of drinking horns…

Ships as this was a shopping powerhouse back in the day…

Originally Belgium and Netherlands were one land. When unrest let to a split, artists fled North to what is now Netherlands. It was always known that Belgium was known as a land of heavy drinkers and drinking games and ornate vessels for drinking games. The second from the right is a vessel that looks like a book.

Many paintings including those from Rembrandt. This painting shows the good from Jerusalem burning in the muted background.

Beautiful tapestries.

The ceilings and stained glass were gorgeous.

The museum is actually in two halves, split at the street level. A bikeway cuts through it.

Next we are walking to the Jewish quarter. Amsterdam is beautiful.

The Holocaust museum. What were we thinking? What are we thinking today labeling people and making them less than human?

The Jewish quarter.

The holocaust memorial.

On the walk back to the hotel. This was outside the Rijksmuseum.

Musicians outside the Rijksmuseum.

Early night as we are exhausted.