70,000 plus fans and an entire country sad...

So, Suzanne and I had a great experience watching the World Cup, with 70-thousand, some say 100-thousand fans in the Museum Square in Amsterdam. It was a crazy see of orange, and packed very tight. Surprisingly, the crowd was pretty tamed. A great experience, to watch soccer the way the rest of the world watches the sport. Too bad the Netherlands lost the game in the second overtime...

This is vantage point of where Suz and I watched the game...

--Ryan




Here's a look at a News10 blog post regarding peeps tweeting about the game: World Cup and Twitter.


And, here's a debrief following the loss....

--Suzanne

World Cup fever. Hup Holland. Go NED.

It's here. It's now. The World Cup game is today and the Netherlands are playing Spain. Everyone is in orange, the vuvzelas are sounding, and there is a buzz of excitement all around.

Ryan caught up with some of the pregame excitment in Rembrantplein.

-Suzanne

Anne Frank House... Museums of Amsterdam

So far, we have hit three of the major museums in Amsterdam.

We loved the Van Gogh Museum. He was both a bit crazy and a genius, a painter way way ahead of his time. You really can't appreciate his work in photographs, you have to see the colors and textures in person.

The Rijksmuseum houses some of the best works of Rembrandt including the Nightwatch and Jan Vermeer's the Milkmaid. Once again, these are works of art that are more stunning in person. Before visiting the Rijks, I have to admit I didn't have an appreciation for Dutch 17th Century art until now.

The most moving museum for me, the Anne Frank House. I think most of us remember reading her diary in Junior High School. It was almost surreal walking through the secret annex of the home where she and her family hid from the Nazis. More than a million people visit the home every year to experience her story firsthand. Suz and I rode our bikes to the museum early in the morning, and even so, there was already a long line.

-- Ryan

Speaking of Bikes, I can't explain this

Ok we rented our cool little orange bikes, and thought we were having fun until we ran into these guys and realized they were having more fun than us. The only way I can describe it, a cable car that works on pedal power that is fuel by beer, lots of beer.

- Ryan

Just check out the video...