3/8/13 Amsterdam & it's my birthday...53 today!

The boys gave me a lovely bottle of bubbles & mysteriously Masterchef gave me me a card & a beautiful bottle of bubbles...mmm how did he manage that?

Guess what...it just so happens that this weekend is Gay Pride Weekend, so the boys & I are splitting up for the day. This is Marieke from the tourism information office & she helped to organise my day. Thank you so much & I hope to see you when you get to Australia.

First stop was the Sex Museum...of course...I'm in Amsterdam!

So this is the only photo that I can show you, but it was an interesting museum.

Next I stopped @ the Museum...notice the flag emblem of Holland at the top of the building...the red & black stripes with the 3 white crosses on it, symbolising the 3 things the country fears most...fire, flood & plague. Also not the crooked walls...this was not an illusion, it really was very crooked, almost leaning.

A quick visit to the Van Gogh Museum...no photos allowed...but good to visit.

This is the House of Bols, which started in the 1500's & it is the oldest distillery still in operation in the world. They originally used the distillation as a medicine...but realised that it was the alcohol making people feel better (& not making them better).

They called this alcohol Genever & it is the chief ingredient for cocktails. The tour includes the history & manufacturing process & the range of liquor flavours they now produce. This is the flavour smelling room.

At the end of the tour you get a cocktail of your choice & 2 shots of the liquor to try.

The room is all mirrored with all the bottles on display & the range of choice is endless.

Chin chin!

This is Allan from Amsterdam who is 30 & who very kindly offered to spend the night with me...well it was my birthday? What a darling...he must need glasses, but it was a nice thought...thanks Allan.

My birthday dinner is on this boat cruising around the canals.

First things first...bubbles (before we left the dock).

Aperitif...goats cheese, apricot & almonds.

The Gay Pride celebrations were held on the canals as well. 

They have some beautiful architecture. This is the Science building & it is shaped like a ship...on top are tables & chairs that run on a slope to match the fall of the building.

Entree...delicious.

My first Holland Windmill.

Cappuccino of red pepper soup.

Holland is 40,000 square kilometres & 6 metres below sea level. It has a population of 17 million & 850,000 of those live in Amsterdam...& the push bike number is 1,500,000. They lose so many bikes in the canals that once a month they have a vessel go through all the canals to clean them out. By the way, the number of tourists equals the Amsterdam natives...that's a lot of people.

Our boat was involved in an accident with another boat that ran up our butt...whoops.

So they had to pull up beside us, exchange details etc...& then it was back to cruising.

The hull on this is concrete & above that is brickwork...how does this thing float & I'm sure it doesn't move from the mooring?

So after my delicious dinner I walked it off in the Red Light district. Everyone was still partying & it was very slow progress to get anywhere...wall to wall people!

Another Moulin Rouge, but of a different variety. This is one of the live shows that are everywhere & I thought I'd give it a go...mmm sorry...no photos allowed, but I can tell you it was educational, athletic, interesting & a little bit funny.

The streets of the Red Light District...the girls who are working display themselves in the windows & the guys just wander around perving...it's all very surreal! I had an interesting birthday...thank you to everyone who texted, telephoned, emailed, facebooked & did little sneaky things to surprise me. I have always know that I have a great family & the best, most wonderful friends...I'm not going to get mushy, but I REALLY did appreciate all your efforts...mmwwaaa (big kiss)!!