I had to wake up early and go to Schiphol because Aric was expected to land around 7 am. One of the advantages of my present Amsterdam home is that it took me only about half an hour to reach the airport :-). Aric’s flight landed at 6:30 am and we were back home at 8 am (including immigration, waiting for luggage and customs !)

It was another day with splendid weather, so after resting a few hours we went into town. With a mission..:-) We collect so-called KLM-houses. These are Delft Blue miniature houses, filled with a bit of Dutch jenever. They are given as a present to KLM passengers traveling business class, but you can also buy them. These houses (there are now 93) are copied from original gable houses along the canals of old Amsterdam and other Dutch towns. We wanted to take pictures of the originals. Here is an example. Miniature no 38 is a copy from Herengracht 607.

We started our walk near the Amstel river. With this kind of weather Amsterdam is incredibly beautiful. In the left picture you see a tourist admiring a view of the famous “Narrow Bridge” (right picture)

Here is the Narrow Bridge, only accessible these days for pedestrians and cyclists. You can find bicycles in all shapes and forms in Amsterdam, like this multi-bicycle.

We walked a lot, enjoying the atmosphere. Only too many tourists. Sometimes the smell of marijuana was so strong that you could almost get high without buying it yourself…:-). It is all Amsterdam. Where you can find a “magic mushroom” shop leaning to the church where the coronation of the new king took place, a few months ago.

Our mission was to take pictures of the KLM-houses. Aric took eight, we walked a lot. I took pictures of many other houses, many 17th century (Holland’s Golden Age), but also newer ones. Here is a collection.

After a long day we had dinner at home. With a beautiful sunset. Here is the view from my living-room. What a start of our holidays!