Amsterdam

(Wet and rainy Amsterdam)

Hey,
I spent 8 hours in Amsterdam! 6 hours walking around. 3 hours walking in the rain.

So I arrived at 6am and it was raining pretty bad. I decided to buy a cuppa and read my bible until the rain lightened up and besides, stores weren't open that early anyway.
At 8am, I set out on my walk. I stopped at Winkels to have a slice of apple cake and tea. When I was done, I went to the washroom with my carry on bag. I opened my bag while I was in the washroom and locked it.
My view from Winkels

Then I went on my merry way. I decided to take a picture of some of the buildings so I stopped to open my bag. and LO AND BEHOLD, the lock could not open. Somehow, the combination had changed! It's a very sensitive lock. A moment of panic and prayer. And I continued walking a little thinking of what I would do. AND, praise God! I saw a hardware store! So I went in and said, "this is a strange request". Man: "there's nothing I haven't heard before." Me: "I somehow changed the combination of my lock and I need the documents inside the bag. I'm leaving in a couple of hours..could you break my lock?" Man: "that is a strange request! Follow me".
So he broke my lock. :)
(Some canal...all the canals kinda looked alike after a while)
And I set off on my merry way again. The apple slice was so filling I couldn't eat anything else. Not even stroopwafels. Although I did buy some! haha. you never know when you'll be hungry again. I also ta-paoed a sandwich for lunch.
The flower market

The route I took lead me past the red light district. There were a few ladies who were out but I guess it was not peak hour.

And then I walked back again.

The Dutch were very friendly. People stopped to help me with my soggy Google map. Sometimes they stopped on their own accord. The food was quite nice. I'm looking forward to going back and trying dutch pancakes. :)

So thank God for his hand and direction.