London

Big Ben - don't really need to say more.  We didn't go inside, but went into Westminster Abbey which is right around the corner.

The guard at Buckingham Palace.  We weren't there for the changing of the Guard, but drove by on a bus later and it was so packed there would have been no way to get this close.

This is a lake in St. James Park which leads up to Buckingham Palace.  These were beautiful cherry trees.  All of the tulips & daffodils were blooming too.

The Tower Bridge - taken from inside the Tower of London.  Yes it really was that gray and overcast - most of the time we were in London!  And Amsterdam for that matter!   You'll see where some photos have blue sky, but most days it went from blue to gray in a matter of minutes.

This was the building where the Crown Jewels are kept - in a vault that is encompasses most of the 1st floor.  It's part of the Tower of London.    And now on to Amsterdam

Amsterdam

This was our houseboat in Amsterdam.  It was on the Prinsengracht Canal - very close to the Centraal Station and the Jordaan area.  It was really nice - had a "sleeping room" on the left side, bath, kitchen and big living room where there was a wallbed with another double bed.  We could have taken friends..... darn!!

Now onto the important stuff... we went to the Heineken Experience which is the original Heineken Brewery, turned museum.  Admission was 7.50 euro, but included 3 free beers and a gift glass at the end.  Well worth it!!  We almost went back a 2nd time.

And from a different angle.  Very creative.... :-)

Ok, the next few images are from our trip to Keukenkof. a showcase of tulips, hyacinths, daffodils and many other plants that are grown in the area.  It's sponsored by the growers and is a huge garden beautifully landscaped.  The tulips are the main reason I dragged Dave to Amsterdam at this time of the year (and his birthday).  As long as we stopped for a beer at each snack bar, he was ok with it.... thank goodness there were several snack bars around!!

This was part of an Olympic display for the Athens 2004 Olympics.

Beautiful tulips!  There were sooooo many different varieties..

This was inside a huge greenhouse where they had all of the different varieties of things on display.  It was almost overwhelming there was so much.  Dave was definitely overwhelmed by this point - especially since it was raining and they closed the snack bar! The nerve!!  ;-)

There was a little lake there with stepping platforms that went out into the lake.  There were lots of ducks and geese looking for handouts.

This was a windmill at the gardens.  We were able to climb to the top and look out over the tulip fields. 

 This was another windmill in Leiden - where we went to catch the bus to Keukenhof.  We walked around once we got back and had dinner nearby here at a restaurant called the Van der Werf (or Werf for short). 

This was the parking deck at the Centraal Station in Amsterdam.  It was packed as far as you could see with bikes.  Everybody rides bikes there - so much so that you begin to watch for bikes rather than cars when you cross the street.  We had a few close calls.  Our houseboat came with bikes, but we decided we weren't experienced enough! 

Great trip, but sure wish it was warmer there!  And drier!!  We decided that the reason you see little dutch girls with rosy cheeks and pink noses is because it's always cold, rainy & windy there!!