Greetings from Matt and Laura

Welcome to the blog of Matt and Laura, two graduate students who were on an adventure in the land of windmills, wooden shoes, dykes, and Heineken - The Kingdom of the Netherlands. During the week, Matt was doing graduate research at TU Delft and Laura was having a blast without him; on the weekend, there was no telling where they would end up. Matt and Laura returned to The States in August 2009, but you can still catch up on their European adventures (and misadventures) here.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Amsterdam (Part 4: Misc)

Having seen the fortification of the US Embassy in The Hague, Laura and I were curious about the US Consulate in Amsterdam. We were not disappointed with the 10 foot tall wrought iron fence, surveillance system, metal clad window covering, and massive concrete brick road blockades. Despite the fact that they are not invited inside and would surely be tried as terrorists for so much as touching the fence, the Dutch have placed a very nice September 11th memorial across the street.

The US Consulte Fortress

The canals of Amsterdam are lined (in areas) with house boats, on which people actually live. We went on a brief canal tour in which they told us that most of the house boats are in fact legal and that they have both gas and water hookups courtesy of the city.