Amsterdam is rather unique. It is certainly the most schizophrenic city I’ve ever seen. The serene canals are lined with clean-lined brownstones that remind me of Boston’s Back Bay and you can spend all of your time visiting world-class museums and other sites of cultural and historical significance. In fact, you can stroll for hours across bridges and cobblestone sidewalks and completely forget that you don’t go to Amsterdam’s Coffeeshops for coffee and the Red Light District isn’t selling light bulbs.

By a random scheduling coincidence, we were in Amsterdam at the same time as my good friends Tom and Raul. They explained the trouble that one can get into in Amsterdam and we promptly went out to find it. Now, if I ever write a book about this trip I’m sure that I will consult with my fellow travelers and expand on this portion of the program, but for now I will keep this entry censored for the general public.

Here is what I can say: Vermeer is one of my favorite Dutch masters and getting the chance to see View of Delft at the Rijksmuseum was very exciting…yup, that’s about it.