The flight from ATL to AMS was uneventful. Sharon read a book and slept, Chris watched movies via the on-demand system (can’t sleep on planes). Cedar Rapids (pleasant Ed Helm vehicle), Limitless (reasonably entertaining Bradley Cooper hollywood product), Just Go With It (couldn’t bear it beyond 15 minutes) and Battle L.A. (for shame Aaron Eckhart, OK to watch for the shoot-em-up eye candy, but horrid script, gave it the fast-forward treatment for 30 minutes).
Arrival in Amsterdam … train from airport to huge Centraal train station; tram to hotel in Vondelpark neighborhood. We stayed at the Hotel Zandbergen, a lovely B&B-esque place. An hour of rest and then hitting the streets.
Took the tram to the Old Amsterdam city center and the iconic Munttoren. Just around the corner was the Bloemenmarkt, the flower market with tulips of every color and shape. We grab a bite to eat (including a crepe-like pancake) and some coffee at a cafe. Wander through the Southern Canal Belt neighborhood and, stumble upon an awesome monument to Spinoza, across the Magere Brug bridge, and end up at the Waterlooplein street market. Catch a tram over to the huge Dam Square, and plow through the throngs of tourists there and in adjacent National Monument square. 
Two things to know about Amsterdam at this point. Prostitution is legal. Growing and smoking pot is illegal but it’s not punished so people do it. A cafe is a place to get coffee and food; a coffeeshop is a place to get coffee, food and buy and smoke pot. So as you walk through the streets every now and then you smell something, that we’re told, smells a lot like pot.
Onwards to the Red Light district where scantily clad women stand behind floor to ceiling high windows beckoning you to do business with them. We saw the “Belle” statue, a tribute to the local sex workers which reminded us of R. Crumb, and the condom store with its freaky wares. It’s weird to see that at 2pm in the afternoon, even weirder when in an alleyway only 3 feet wide, and weirdest when directly across from a church. 
Specifically, the old church, or Oede Kerk. No longer an operating church, stone walls leap up to a wooden vaulted roof with painted ceiling, painted in medieval days. Strange things to be see in all six directions, from the gravestones underfoot to the freaky carvings on the wooden seat bottoms in the choir.
Bikes. Bikes. Bikes everywhere. Bikes threatening to kill us poor lost pedestrians. Bikes are outfitted with very large carrying baskets, almost like carts in the front for groceries, and are also set up with extra seats so entire families can ride. 
Back to our hotel’s neighborhood and a nice dinner, and sleep for the first time in 30 hours or so.
Miscellaneous Bonus Pictures:
Oede Kerk Grave, in the floor of the cathedral
Oede Kerk choir seat
Art on the sidewalk celebrating the Red Light District
Condom shop in the Red Light District
Simpsons shaped French ticklers!