Amsterdam

Red Sea ......... Barcelona

Washington DC

Amsterdam, December 2002:

The urge to go somewhere for a short break before winter had us hibernating in London, saw us take a four day break to Amsterdam. Barely had the plane lifted off at Heathrow, before we were touching down in Amsterdam.

The coldness (a sudden freezing wind over much of northern Europe that weekend) meant that we didn't sightsee as much as we usually would have. Much time was spent dashing into coffee houses (not of the dope-smoking variety) to warm up our extremities before braving the elements for another short walk or tram ride.

The shots taken were from a combination of foot travel (very bloody brave considering the frostbite potential) and a canal boat trip.

Note the numerous bicycles in photos. It's incredible to see so many using bicyles as their mode of transport, especially considering the weather - they even have their own designated lane complete with low cement strip to separate it from the other traffic.

We both really loved the architecture of Amsterdam - the tall narrow houses with their hooks at the top to lower and raise furniture into the upper floors.

We went to the Van Gogh museum, where two days earlier two paintings has been stolen (not us I swear). I thought it was one of the best singular artist museums I'd ever been fortunate enough to see.

Not far down the road was the Ryksmuseum, Amsterdam's premier art museum. Can't quite make it in the photo below but as we were taking the photo of Mike in front of the main entrance of Ryksmuseum, it started to snow.