So we ventured out of our new "home country" for the first time to spend the weekend in Amsterdam (The Netherlands). First dilemma we had, evidently Baxter, our 12 pound dog, needs a dog passport. Seriously??? Anyway, it was already Saturday morning so we packed all of the documents required to get him into Germany and hoped for the best. I don't know who inspects the aforementioned pet passports, but no one asked us for anything all weekend. Amsterdam is only 2 1/2 hours from where we are currently living so it was an easy trip, other than the coffee machine incident. Got checked into the hotel, got a local map, and off we went. We walked all over the city, checking out architecture, local art, a special Rembrandt exhibit, and finally boarded an indoor boat for a canal cruise of the city. The boat tour was great, and a nice break from the brisk day we had ventured out on. On the way back to the dinner and the hotel, we walked by a store that had a display of some very funny t-shirts. The kids were cracking up at many of them...more on that later. There were extensive cheese shops, a few marijuana stores (no kidding), some souvenir shops, and some upscale shopping as well in addition to tons of great smelling restaurants. We found a good Argentinian restaurant for dinner, headed back to the hotel, got the kids settled, and printed tickets for a tour of Anne Frank's House for the next day. Morning two: most of Europe is pet friendly, but even with Baxter in a backpack with just his little furry head sticking out, Anne Frank's house is not. We knew this might be a possibility, so once there and denied, we broke into two groups. C and I went into the house/museum while Josh and H went to the coffee shop next door. C and I toured for about an hour, then switched with Josh and H. If it took them an hour too, it would put us right at check out time of the hotel, which was about a 30 minute walk away. We decided as a group that C and I would head back to the hotel, get us all set to check out, request a late check out, then we'd all regroup there. As we headed off, C asked me if we could go back to the funny t-shirt place to get a T-shirt for his birthday, that we all laughed about most of the previous night. If you have ever been to Amsterdam you know that the city is a myriad of winding streets, "ring" streets, a million people on bikes who pay no mind to street signals or right-of-way, and lots of canals. Nothing is straight or grid like. In my opinion, it is one of the cities one is mostly likely to get lost in without a map. I knew roughly where the t-shirt place was and was fairly sure I could find it within a block or so, so off we went in that direction instead of towards the hotel. Now, picture this, my blond haired, blue-eyed 11 year old, my little 12 pound fuzz ball of a dog wearing a doggie jacket (since he was shivering the day before), and me-blown dry, dressed normally, you get the picture, walking along...Anyway, we were about a block or two off according to the map and my estimation of where we saw this tiny t-shirt joint the day before, so C and I ventured one more block north and then headed east. Have you ever been to the "red light" district in Amsterdam??? If so, I am sure you are saying no anyway, but I can now not only say that I have been there, but that I also brought my innocent 11 year old and my dog too!!! Holy smokes! I took my first born down an alley of buildings with large panes of glass and women dressed in incredibly revealing outfits (that is really overestimating those straps by calling them outfits), sitting in the windows, or slithering around on bed like shelves, or with their rear ends shaking in the windows at passers by. One woman was sitting in a chair, reading a magazine (I think), with bent knees and her stillettoed feet spread far apart, wearing the stilettos, thigh-high stockings, garters, a patent leather looking thong, a matching strappy patent leather looking torso thing of some sort, and a look on her face that was just slightly less surprised than mine. Talk about using the art of distraction. I still am not sure what, if anything C actually saw, but he didn't seem to notice any of it. I have NO idea how that is possible, but we can usually read that kid like a book. There were no looks of surprise, no little smirks or grins, no comments, nothing...I, on the other hand, was so shocked and had so many things running through my head, that I couldn't tell you the exact name of the street or exactly where it is, but I bet I could get you close...never again. I love Amsterdam, but I will stay off of anything starting with "Konigs" something. I am still reeling thinking about that adventure though Josh has had quite a few giggles about it today! XO
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