The Jordaan

After a lazy weekend getting over jet-lag, today Caren arranged a walking tour of a near by part of Amsterdam known as the Jordaan. The Jordaan once had the highest population density of all of Amsterdam, and has been revived from a poor area of disrepair into a cultural center. Many of the original canals are now filled in streets, but the remaining canals create a beautiful neighborhood lined with trees. There are also homes with tiny inner courtyards known as hofjes, built as charity for eldery women, that have gorgeous little gardens inside.There were many great displays of traditional Dutch architecture and design, and it was a great chance to walk around and see more of Amsterdam.

All attempts to make some pictures upload here failed, so you can follow this link to see all my Amsterdam photos as I take them. Picture album

Shoutout to Lee for providing help on making that link work above.

Lee and I also got to sample his favorite cuisine here in Amsterdam at a place known as Kantjils. Basically, they serve Indonesian food, you choose from a grid of options, they put it in a cardboard box, and microwave it, and give it to you. Lee gets the peanut sauce with vegetables and noodles. I get chicken satay with noodles. Its win win.

-Liz