Amster, Amster, dam, dam, dam

Right after Berlin, I slept a few hours in Hamburg then left again to go to Amsterdam with my non-law, American friend who is also living in Hamburg.  Since I hadn't seen enough museums in the last week, we went hardcore on the touring and museums :) The highlights:

Oude Kerk and Neiuwe Kerk (Churches):
We toured two churches, not-so-aptly named the old church and the new church (both were old).  Unfortunately we had to pay for both so this limited our other touring opportunities.  They were interesting though.  The Oude Kerk was also the site of an Andy Warhol exhibit, mainly his pink last supper and a few inflatable/video things.  The Neiuwe Kerk was being set up for the museumnachte (more on that later) and under renovation as well so not all of the rooms were visible.  Both are only used for museums now and do not hold services

 Oude Kerk choir screen

 Close up of underneath organ

 Part of pulpit

 Random Warhol influences

Outside of Oude Kerk

Roof of Nieuwe Kerk - wood as to prevent it from being too heavy and sinking on its foundation

Organ

Red bull machines totally belong in churches

Mirror room, wonder why its called that

Amsterdam staircases are awesome/scary

Nieuwe Kerk had wood carvings on the choir pews of popular sayings, both weird and cool

Canal Tour: Rainy, and not the best city wide tour I've done.  However, its a typical Amsterdam thing, so you just gotta do it.

Rijks museum: The national museum of the Netherlands, tells the story of the country through art.  Very interesting, I'd recommend.  We went during museumnacht, which was provided a number of museum admissions for one price from 7 pm on Saturday to 2 am on Sunday.  There were DJs and drinks and other special events at all the places, which I guess increased their desirability to some but I could have done without it.

 Weird smell thing they were doing at Rijks. Not sure the specifics, but there was a long line for it

 Rembrandt was a fave here

Also an exhibit on children's book illustrators

Hermitage: The Van Gogh Museum is under construction so the Hermitage houses this and an Impressionistic exhibit.  We only did VG since we had both seen plenty Impressionistic art before.

Rembrandt House: short exhibit, perfect for the museumnacht. We weren't allowed to take pictures here, so I don't have any to show....just kidding, I snuck one

Anne Frank House: Sunday we toured the house where the Franks hid out and Anne wrote her famous diary.  Very touching, I'd recommend, but get tickets in advance

Food: Amsterdam is a very international city and we ate accordingly.  The first night we hit up an Indonesian restaurant (since the country was a former Dutch colony), which everyone recommends.  We tried to go to Tempo Doeloe, a Fodors restaurant, but it was booked so we went next door to Tujuh Maret. Delicious.  Go there.

We had some English experiences, so Nana would be proud of me.  Breakfast Saturday was at Gewaeght Cafe, where I got a good English breakfast but terrible service (actually terrible service was the norm this trip).  Then tea later at Greenwoods Tea Room.  There we ate the hummus plate, fries with mayo, and the bitterballs (not gluten free, I only had a bite or two).

To be slightly Dutch (beyond the bitterballs), we did buy some Gouda cheese at a street market.  Delish.

Nightlife: While we did not do the *ahem* typical Amsterdam activities, we did have fun at night.  The first night we went to a bar called Casablanca, a karaoke and dance club.  There was a Dutch-Arabic group of women for a bachelorette party that danced with us and everyone had fun with the karaoke.  The second night, we went to a cafe near our Air BnB location.

Walking around: The best part of Amsterdam is its beauty.  Between the canals, the lights, the unique buildings, and the fall leaves, it was awesome to just walk around.