eleven miles....

we walked a lot. i have my pedometer in my purse, mostly because it's fun to know how far you've gone, and yesterday we walked eleven miles, all over this fair city, in 35 degree weather. i'm quite proud. 

we began with take out scones from.... yeah, de bakkerswinkel. they have clotted cream and jam in "to-go" containers, look. and so the question becomes, if you CAN eat scones and clotted cream for breakfast everyday, SHOULD you? and of course the answer is yes. 

while we walked by this kerk, the bells began ringing. i have a video, if i can ever spare the 384957 minutes it takes to upload those...

on our walk to the amsterdam history museum...

these are preserved leather and wooden shoes (the one on the right is a clog) that were made in the 14th century. amsterdam is atop peat, which preserves things like leather much better than other soils. 

these cushions portray the Miracle of Amsterdam: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_of_Amsterdam. what i like about this series of cushions is the fact that somewhere out there, there's a cushion embroidered with a man vomiting. think about it. 

the oldest known map of amsterdam. ryan was ASTOUNDED to learn that the original dam on the amstel was in... wait for it.... dam square. i thought he was being sarcastic, but it turns out, he never put AMSTER-DAM into dam on the amstel. anyway. you can see dam square, right in the middle. 

there it is. you used to be able to sail your cargo ship right into the center of town. now this canal is filled up. and you can't sail down it anymore. 

this is a close-up of the gallows. the artist painted gallows at both entrances to town. amsterdam was proud of it's city rights, which included the right to execute criminals. what better way to advertise this fact to incoming journeymen??

yeah, they've been skating on the frozen canals for centuries...

the oak figures were carved in the 1400's. they used to stand in the alcove of the old town hall, which is now the central palace. 

in the golden age, a really neat way to show everyone how rich you were was by giving your wife or daughter a dollhouse. these women would literally spend their lives and fortunes having an exact miniature made of their houses. the one in the rijksmuseum (postcard below) would have cost the same amount as a modest canal-side home at the time: 

this is paper sculpture. i want to learn how to do this. 

biking through the ages, haha

these are floor models of city-planned apartments. these are from the early 1800's...

1920's....

1950's...

and 1980's. this actually the interior of a very cool newish apartment complex. we photographed the exterior on our honeymoon!

model kitchen from the 1950's. nice big stove, eh?

this is a replica of the first gay club in amsterdam, which was closed for a long time after the proprietor died, but her niece has now reopened the place. 

apparently, she liked to cut off customer's neckties...

i'm not asking for much. i'll take the little house in the middle. it doesn't need to be the fanciest...

ryan thinks this place looks like the onceler's house from the lorax. 

yes, yes i am. 

this sandwich may not look like much, but in actual fact, there are 3-- yes, 3!-- kinds of goat cheese, honey, thyme and lettuce in this bad boy. 

and it was so delicious. 

ryan had some serrano ham...

lovely, lovely

i think they used zoey as a model for this cat sculpture, hahaha

how much do you love this? i might post a funny thing i see everyday. 

leidensplein

moroccan food at manouche: http://www.restaurantmamouche.nl/. i LOVE moroccan food. love it. this is a little goat cheese and fig pastry on a salad...

and this is the most gorgeous plate of couscous ever!

ryan's....

and i KO'd my plate, and i would have eaten more. oh so good....

picked up a strawberry tart on the way home. tomorrow ryan is going to figure out the casino, and i am going to the jewish history museum. sunday we go to copenhagen, but we'll be back. so don't worry- more scone pics to come.