Today we awoke and took in the view of the city from our hotel room. We could see the morning traffic of Amsterdam. Then we headed down for our breakfast. They had an assortment of sausages, bacon, fruits, yogurts, etc.

After we filled up we walked a short distance to catch the train into the city center of Amsterdam.

We had to switch trains along the route and arrived in the city center in around 30 minutes. Unlike the central station in Berlin, this station only has three main train lines that run to it. It is much smaller, but still includes some shopping areas.

When we exited the station we saw the bikes. Hundreds of them. We were both warned about the bikes but you can’t be fully prepared for how many there are. Its not just people on bikes but its the massive three-story bike garage that adds to it.

Amsterdam was extremely crowded. I couldn’t believe it. This crowded on a Tuesday morning. I didn’t want to see what it was like here on the weekends. I understand that the Netherlands are dense but these areas are even more crowded by the tourists like us. We had to weave between people, cars, bikes, mopeds! To get out of the hoards we decided to branch off down an alleyway and ended up seeing some of the more colorful sights of Amsterdam including some sex shops and weed stores. Oh the smells…

Once we got back on track and into the flow with the crowds we ended up in a square in front of Koninklijk Paleis Amsterdam and figured out our next steps.

We both wanted to swing by the Anne Frank house. Unfortunately the tours were booked up for the day, but we still wanted to see where it was.

We crossed many beautiful canals along our way.

I was amazed at all the different languages I heard all around us. It was definitely an experience to remember. After we saw the Anne Frank house we were ready to venture back. We had weaved along the roads and taken in many sights.

After Amsterdam it was back to Deutschland for our next hotel. We are staying in Cologne tonight. In the morning we will visit downtown Cologne and see the Cologne Cathedral. Then we will be on the road to check out beautiful sights along the Rhine River before we end up in the evening in Strasbourg, France.