October 22, 2014 Amsterdam, "Rodeo Drive"

My sleep pattern is all screwed up.  I fall asleep at 4AM and wake up around noon.  I have breakfast across the Nieuwmarkt Square near where I'm staying at a place called, of all things, Burger House.  It has an "american menu" with eggs, bacon etc. for breakfast and several types of burgers.  But, I find the spot perfect.  It enables me to sit looking out over the square and watch the hundreds of people walking by.  I end up meeting the people at the next table.  I've never met a stranger.  They are brother and sister, with 2 boys about 3 and 5 and they are all over the place.  Seems the brother and sister own the cafe where I am sitting.  We end up chatting for about an hour.  I find out the man is from Israel, while his sister was born in Amsterdam.  Their father was Israeli and the mother was Dutch, though neither have light skin and/or blond hair like their mother.  The two boys are nephews and they were just "watching the brats for a few hours". I find out he did live in Sherman Oaks, California, where he was in the "movie business", primarily as a film investor.  After eight years, he was frustrated and broke so moved to Amsterdam, where his sister already lived.  They were very interested in finding out my trip details.  Their business does pretty well, since they are just two businesses away from one of the "coffee-houses".  A lot of the "stoners" like the hamburger, fries and milk shakes they serve.
After my nice conversation, I venture out to the south part of Amsterdam.  This area, Fashion and Museum District, are where several government and diplomatic buildings, museums and "shopping" areas are located.  I come across the "Rodeo Drive" of Amsterdam called Kalverstraat. Its has all the high end stores: Chanel, DeBeers, plus several speciality clothing boutiques.  These places are just packed with people.  I stroll a few blocks further and come across the Dam Square area where mostly "American" stores are found: Forever 21, Timberland, Harley-Davidson, Apple, Nike, etc. These stores are even more packed than the more "high end" stores a few blocks over.  Some stores have a security person outside just to control the number of people coming and going.  I also came across the Royal Palace, that is a very huge ornate structure that dominates a 3-4 block area.  I wonder what the royals do all day in that huge place.
The Dam Square is also the mecca for all the tourist traps: canal/dinner boat excursions, tour operators and the standard tourist stores.  This is a nice place to visit but don't think I'll come back this way. I'm really trying not to get too caught up in the high volume tourist areas. I'll come back to the museum area probably when I come back from my four day Paris trip next week. Tonight I stop at an Indonesian Cafe.  Its like eating Thai or Malaysian food: noodles, rice and chicken based dishes.  Really nothing special, but I was pretty hungry after walking most of the day.  I head back to the apartment, climb the steep steps on all fours...I find this easier that just walking up.  Can't sleep, so I decided to watch re-runs of Season 2 of House of Cards...I watched until...4:30AM. Love that series.