Take our word for it...

So we made our trip to Amsterdam. We live in The Netherlands, so of course we had to see Amsterdam. For the last two weeks I had been reading up on the museums, canals, architecture, stores and restaurants. There is a lot to see and we had our day planned. We took a train (about 2 hours) to Central Station in Amsterdam. My travel book said that pickpocketing runs rampant in the train station so we should make a beeline to the exit, which we did. Next came downtown Amsterdam. Joe and I have experienced many big cities including Chicago and Atlanta. Both pretty busy and crowded, but not in comparison to Amsterdam. We were trying to follow the map, fight the crowds, not get mugged and stay out of the red light district! Well, we failed. The red light ended up being our first stop. We of course got the heck out of there, but what we did see was pretty sad. And it was only noon! Outside of the red light it wasn't much better. Once we got out of the crowds in the downtown area we were able to see some areas that hadn't been contaminated too badly. The canals and architecture are beautiful and the museums are amazing. We were able to visit the Anne Frank House which was the best part of our trip. It gave an interesting perspective on the holocaust and the war that we don't often see. Overall, we had a really great day, but our suggestion...look at our pictures, read about the museums and call it good. Don't put Amsterdam on your list of cities to see in Europe.