Here in Amsterdam now.  The keyboard is english style so I can write quickly again.  We got in late last night about 8:30 at the airport and it took until 10 to get to the hotel then an 11 oclock dinner.  We were surprised at the town as most of the bars closed at 1am which of course was too early as we got a late start so we decided to hit the sack early and do the museums today.  A note:  it is true what they say about the coffee shops here in Amsterdam, there is legalized use of marijuana which I found to be a culture shock.  I asked to look at the "menu" last night just to see what it was all about but I had no clue what I was looking at, it was all just garble to me and I didn't want any anyway.  It is a very interesting town, I enjoy the canals everywhere especially since you can sit outside and look out over the water with nice boats and houseboats everywhere.   Today I think I will get a real perspective on the archetecture.  We plan on visting the Van Gough musem, the Heiniken brewery, and the mairtime museum today and perhaps the zoo if there's time. The next update will likely be from Sao Paulo.