hello, i'm a'dam

yelp came in for the assist when the hub went looking for a good spot to have breakfast the next morning.  it was within walking distance, so we got ourselves ready and headed on out. 

although i'm not really much of an art lover, i would have liked to stop in here to look around.  alas, we strode right past it and this picture is all i got.

i'd mentioned to the hub when we arrived in amsterdam that tony geary, AKA "luke" from general hospital, had retired from acting and came to live here full time.  i was low key keeping an eye out for him whenever we went out, and as we got closer to the restaurant we both noticed this man who turned the corner in front of us and strode rather purposefully towards...somewhere.  the hub was marveling at his outfit, and while i was checking out his shoes it occurred to me that i'd probably gotten the tony geary sighting i'd been hoping for.  the man was the right height, had tony's silver hair and even the way he walked was familiar to me.  i hadn't gotten a good look at his face, and i was so distracted trying to figure out if it was him that i didn't get a chance to take a picture until he was almost out of sight. 

still...i'm 97% sure it was him.  another amsterdam level unlocked...yessss.

our restaurant was just up the street from here, and it was super cute and very crowded.  the hostess was really nice though, and seated us at the bar right in front of the espresso station near the door.

there were some really great-sounding cocktails on the menu, but i went with an iced mocha latte instead.

i ordered the "kiwi brekkie," which consisted of two eggs served with bacon and sausage plus potatoes, garlic spinach, a creamy mushroom sauce and buttered toast covered with a housemade tomato relish.  it was so good.

this was the hub's huevos rancheros, and he said it was delicious.

afterwards, we made our way back towards museum row to catch the hop on/hop off boats so that we could cruise through the canals we'd been walking along for the last couple of days.

it was a really lovely day, and there were lots of people out and about taking advantage of the great weather.

another cheesy photo op!  you know i rarely pass these up.

finally, we were on a boat.

just a couple of other boats we saw along the way.

i was a few seconds late snapping this, but it was a cool view while sitting on the boat at water level.

before the boat turned back around, we passed the opera & ballet theater and a big science museum.

we decided to get off at the lookout building.  we'd seen it when we first arrived at the train station and this was the first chance we got to actually go and check it out.

we bought tickets, took the elevator ride up and when we got out, we were treated to this expansive view of the city.

there was a model of the city that told the history of amsterdam in lights and projected text.  it was really cool.

and if you needed to charge your phone, you could place it in one of the charging lockers here.

at the top, you can buy tickets to ride this swing that offered a thrilling view of the city.  the hub tried to talk me into it, but i seem to have developed a bit of a fear of heights in recent years.  no thanks.

we settled for taking pictures instead.

and then we cashed in the tokens that came with our admission tickets for drinks.  more accurately, the hub used the tokens on beer while i ordered a fun "candy shop" cocktail.

we found comfy seats inside by one of the huge windows and enjoyed our drinks while taking in the view.

there was a small window in the floor that gave you a look at what was going on down on ground level.  that fear of heights kicked in again, and the hub had to hold my hand while i stepped gingerly on the glass to take this picture.

once the drinks were gone we were pretty much over it, and we headed back to the elevator to head downstairs and find something else to do.

we spent a little time in the gift shop, goofing around and picking up more souvenirs to take home to the kids.

thanks for the warning.

the hub tried his hardest to score a picture of me at the famous "i amsterdam" sign, but this was the best we could get. 

we hopped back onto the boat and rode it around again until we were back at museum row, and then we got off and walked the short distance back to the hotel.  i got my chance at a nap while he went downstairs to unwind with a cigar, although i was distracted by an episode of my favorite show on one of the channels.

a little while later, we walked down the street to have dinner at the seafood restaurant that was next door to the uptown meat co. that we'd eaten at a couple of nights before.  i opted out of the cocktail and had a flavored sparkling water instead:

we shared an order of shrimp croquettes.  they were delicious, although it seemed to take about four years for them to cool down enough for us to eat them without burning our mouths.

and then we ordered the "fruits de mer royale" platter - all sorts of shellfish served cocktail-style.

this is when i realized that langoustines and giant prawns with the heads still attached actually freak me out a lot.

we were pretty unsatisfied with the terrible service here and ended up passing on dessert in an effort to get the hell out of there as soon as we were done.  it started pouring down rain as we were finishing up though, so we had to wait it out a bit before we could leave.  i'd left our umbrella at the hotel, and neither of us was in the mood to get soaked to the skin. 

when the rain let up a bit, we sucked it up and headed on out, jogging most of the way back to the hotel.  and when my shins started hurting after not even a quarter of a mile, i realized that running isn't happening for me anymore.  how sad.