Amsterdam unfolds like a movie

It was an early start for us today on our second official day in Amsterdam because we had a bus to catch for a city tour, including a tour of a working diamond factory.  So we marched out the front doors of the hotel searching for breakfast.  The place we are staying does not have a kitchen and thus, does not offer a morning breakfast.  But that didn't stop us as we found another hotel with a full buffet.

While we were waiting for the bus, I messed around with the settings on my camera to see if we could create a motion blur picture of a bicyclist, and to my surprise, after a few attempts, successfully locked in the correct settings and lens.  Then it was time to walk as a group to where the bus was waiting for us.  The tour took us all over the city, and the tour guide delivered the highlights in four languages. We even stopped to take pictures of a beautiful windmill.

After the tour we stopped into a bakery for a sandwich and coffee, and decided to go back to the room for a nap. I only got 3 hours sleep the night before and was dragging.   After a quick nap we were ready to see what else was going on with Amsterdam and walked for several more miles, taking pictures, video clips and learning how the Tram works.  Our first driver was a real character. He put on a red clown nose, and was cracking everyone around us up with his wisecracks.  He told us all about the 48 hour pass and how to scan on and scan off the bus, so, we will be using this a lot more in the next two days.

We met up with my colleague, Michele, who had just arrived by train from Paris. She is in Amsterdam with her MBA class on school assignment. It was great to catch up with her and to send photos back to the office.

Tomorrow Stephani will be going on an extensive tour of outer Amsterdam, visiting several windmills. I am planning on doing more timelapse scenes if the weather is ok, and more photography.  It's been so nice having this city for a backdrop, so much going on here, so many stories.

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