Amsterdam, at last

Sorry for the lack of posts this past week - I was in Washington D.C. for the American Library Association Annual Conference, and am just now getting back into full working/blogging mode.  But pictures of that will have to wait, since I left you hanging with the promise of pictures of Amsterdam.  So, without further ado, here is the first set.

A slightly askew view (I think I was trying to be artistic) of one of the awesome electric trams that run throughout Amsterdam. Quiet, clean, quick, and safer than a bicycle ('cause you are less likely to be run over by a silent tram...), you can take them all over town.  We actually only used them a few times after we had been walking all day and just couldn't walk all the way back to our B & B from the other end of town. I sure wish we had something like them here in Little Rock.

The building behind the sign is the Rijksmuseum, which is currently undergoing a many year renovation project.  The sign itself you may recognize from a beer commercial that has been on TV recently.

Although most of the Rijksmuseum is closed during the renovation, they have helpfully moved some of the most interesting paintings and other objects into one small wing, so we were still able to see Vermeer (now one of our favorites) and Rembrandt. It took a couple of hours just to see that, so I can't imagine how much time it would take if the whole building were open; probably an entire day, like the British Museum.

The bloemenmarkt - flower market - was wonderful. So many tulips! 10 euros for 50 tulips! Here, it costs something like $15 for 6 or 7, and they don't last long, since they have had to travel all the way from Holland...  I couldn't buy any, but I did take plenty of pictures. They last longer anyway.

Ah, spring flowers. In Arkansas, we are entering the dead part of the year - it is just too darn hot for anything much to grow or bloom. Sigh.

And, to make you drool on your Friday: Waffles. Waffles...