Thursday, September 8, 2011

Amsterdam Day 2 (Thursday)

I doodled and painted during the afternoon.
A collaged view from my hotel room window....



I stuck close to our hotel today for 2 reasons:  1) it was raining.  A lot.  2) I, er, needed to be close to a restroom.  That is all that need be said about that.  Since I'm an RN and therefore a walking pharmacy, naturally I had all the over-the-counter remedies for said affliction.  By late afternoon, I was regaining my confidence.  So much so, that I was convinced to go to a Thai restaurant with a bunch of Newtek people.  Perhaps not a completely wise decision, but whatever.
The rain stopped and the evening was absolutely wonderful for being outside and walking around.
Two mounted police stand quietly across the road from a trannie or S&M bar.  
I didn't get close enough to be able to distinguish.  
Actually, I'm not sure I could tell if I were looking in the windows.
I really liked the outfits some of the patrons were wearing, though.

We passed that store again that has the cool masks.
Seriously, any place that has a David Bowie "Ziggy Stardust-era" mask
for sale has my vote of confidence.

I shot photos without a flash.  Sorry.
This is a "love lock" on one of the canal bridges.
It made me wish I had brought the ones that our daughter gave us for the holiday.

This cat is guarding a closed restaurant.

The wall of the Amsterdam Museum of Natural History, circa 1660.
It was formerly an insane asylum.  

A very popular "coffee shop" across the road from where we were walking.

A typical street scene in the Leidsplein-area.
Lots of restaurants and most of the side streets are off-limits to cars.

Here I am with my favorite guy.


5 comments:

  1. I absolutely love Amsterdam too! It's nothing like what one might think, that's for sure. It is peaceful, happy, laid back, friendly, wonderful! I hope that you get to rent bikes from MacBike and get to tour around the city. Perhaps if the weather improves, you can do the Amstel river bike ride - heaven on a sunny day! I look forward to seeing your sketches.

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  2. Jane, I've never rented bikes here. I've always wanted to do that in Delft.
    I might have to try it this time. There are several other tagalongs besides me. Perhaps we can create a posse and swarm the place.

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  3. I actually hadn't ridden a bike in almost 20 years, and then rented one in Amsterdam! Gotta tell you, the first few minutes are a bit unnerving, but almost all the streets have bike lanes. I rode around the Vondelpark for a little while, and did the Amstel river ride and those really went a long way towards confidence building also. And, hehe, I think the red "MacBike" tag on the front of the bikes it a bit like a "caution - tourist!" warning for the locals, so I think they know to proceed with caution around one ;-)

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  4. Yes I take art supplies EVERYWHERE - sometimes I don't use them at all, but to have time and no supplies is horrible. I take a small (10) flat tin of watercolor crayons, a water brush, small scissors, glue stick, drawing pencil, eraser, up to a dozen pens, Pitt, Micron and precis, and if I can fit it in, two journals for different paper, if only one fits - the moleskine water color 5 X 7, generally get something I need along the way. Your hotel room looks just right for journaling.

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  5. Lori, it sounds like we carry about the same things for art-making. Thanks for sharing! Anyone else?

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