Day 1 - Amsterdam. The reasons I keep coming back here are many. First and most important - I like the place. It is also a convenient launching hub for excursions into other parts of Europe. And this year there's an international MINI festival that just happened to coincide in timing with my trip. But that's a bit later on.

The day before I took a train up to Seattle to catch the outbound flight. The flight is uneventful, arriving at 8 am. No sleep again. Typical. Thankfully the hotel had no problem with me checking in early and I was able to catch a couple hours of sleep, comfortably. Then out and about to just roam the city with no agenda. Took a canal tour on a whim (the thought of sitting down for an hour was quite appealing by then). It's a cool view of the city. The tiny house between the two normal-sized ones in the first picture below is only about 4 feet wide and yes apparently it's a separate house. How that could be functional I don't know. Doesn't seem to go back much either.

At night the Red Light district is an interesting place to people-watch. Not just the girls in the windows (though they are of course the main attraction here) but the crowds milling about as well. Tourists of all kinds, a few families with young kids, a group of drunk Scottish lads being rowdy, various drug dealers, bouncers at sex bar entrances, etc... All good fun.

Then, a walk to the hotel just in time to watch a thunderstorm roll in. Cool.

Day 2.

Uneventful and relaxing. It began with me waking up to the sound of a massive diesel engine idling. The hotel is right next to the cruise ship terminal and there was a fair sized one of those pulling up right outside my window. The top deck is about level with the 5th floor of the hotel.

The day started getting warm early so I made the decision to head to the beach. But not before making arrangements to get a tetanus shot, the aftermath of a pre-departure disaster I inflicted on myself which I won't go into here. The reason I bring it up at all is that it's a good example of how I approach all risk-taking. The first thing I do is ask myself, if the worst happened could I live with it? If yes then I go on to evaluate the risk/reward ratio. If not then it's end of story. In this case the answer was a definite (and likely quite literal) NO. So no matter how slim the chances, the decision to get the shot done was obvious. It was only a matter of how and how much. That proved quite easy with the help of the hotel's concierge so with the appointment made for later in the afternoon I headed to Zandvoort, a 30-minute train ride away. Leaving the city it was hot and sunny. The non-airconditioned train car was quite uncomfortable until we got moving. The closer we got to the coast however, the cooler and cloudier it became. Turns out the beach is foggy, cold and windy. And pretty much deserted.

Zandvoort is a quaint little resort town, an island of small cottages and a couple high-rise hotels surrounded by a sea of grass-covered dunes with bike paths winding through them. Oh, and a racetrack too but that's for later in the trip :)

The beach itself is lined with a row or bars and restaurants. Some are themed and decorated accordingly. The Safari Club has an interesting fixture...

A rather peculiar statue stands next to a walkway above one of the restaurants. Not the most appealing representation of female form in my opinion but interesting as far as art goes.

After a couple hours relaxing in the wind and fog it's time to head back. Doctor's office is easy to find and the shot takes all of 5 minutes and 65 Euros. Easy. Then another aimless stroll through the darkening streets and emerging crowds. I was definitely in the mood for a beer at a sidewalk table and spent some time looking for just the right place. It is amazing how relaxing and satisfying a pint of Heineken (the real stuff, on tap) can be. Ahhh..... Some things are simple.

Day 3.

Just kicking back and even doing a bit of work before heading to Russia tomorrow morning. This is likely my last day with Internet access for a while. Looking out the window, today's cruise ship is even bigger than yesterday's so I had to go outside to get a decent shot of it.

Did some more wondering around town, got a bunch of info for later when I return. Had a quick bite at a neat cafe which occupies a castle-like structure in the middle of a square.

The food was only OK but the setting is very cool and prices are reasonable. The outside area is a good place to people-watch too.