Brinda's Head West!: Amsterdam

Our leisurely Sunday was spent taking a canal cruise to see the sights of the city from a boat. But first we walked to a new place for breakfast! On the way we passed a building that had this interesting artwork...ladders near the top and a statue of a person at the end of the ladder sticking out from the building. No idea what the building was!

This breakfast spot offered monkey face French toast with Nutella. These are the kids doing monkey faces to match their breakfast!

This particular company we found had a kids kit that included a pair of foldable binoculars, a pirate eye patch and a booklet. They were supposed to have their own audio tour for the kids cruise and do a scavenger hunt. Unfortunately the audio tour kept repeating itself and didn't seem to be linked with the booklet. Also the kids were having trouble keeping the earbuds in their ears, so that was abandoned fairly quickly. But they did enjoy looking through the booklet and seeing the sights!

These were taken at the beginning of the cruise with Avery giving her best impression of a pirate.

The kids got to use my point and shoot camera for pictures so you may see some fingers.

Avery took this lovely pic of her pirate eye patch. And the one below of Daddy and Gavin.

Gavin took this one - I cropped his fingers out. I also left out pics of the people at the table nearby, the controls for the earbuds (they were several), and other random pics.

I did include some pictures that I took too!

Replica of a pirate ship that can be toured. When we were near it we could see people waving from the windows inside.

A toy house - not sure if it was in someone's yard or what. Too small for a child to go inside though.

I was intrigued by the architecture of the houses and other buildings. You will notice at the top of each building there is a hook sticking out.

A look down the canal with the seat reflecting in the window.

I was also enjoying all the interesting details on each building.

The hooks were used to move furniture or other large items. Many times they would use it to haul things to the top floors since the stairways were so narrow. Much easier to get it in from the windows instead.

Basilica of Saint Nicholas with the Sea Palace to the right. The Sea Palace is a replica of a restaurant in Hong Kong.

Nemo Science Museum and the backside of the museum. Hard to see but the windows are the cafe at the top floor.

One of the other canal cruises.

Montelbaanstoren is a 16th century defensive tower which was once part of the city walls.

Stowaways!

These are dancing houses which have shifted over the years. Originally built on stilts which sunk a bit in the mud. They have since been reinforced so they will not sink further but they cannot be moved back to their original upright position.