if you have never done psychedelics DO NOT do them in amsterdam and especially dont do them in amsterdam by yourself. if you want to do anything just get a gram of weed and smoke spliffs. van gogh museum is the 2nd coolest art museum ive ever been to - the first floor has alot of different impressionists and the 2nd floor is all van gogh, and the neat thing is that the paintings are in chronological order so you can see how he evolved as an artist and went thru different styles over his 10 years or so as an artist. this is one of his earliest works and a favorite of mine. i had never seen it before and when i first saw it i couldnt take my eyes off it for 10 minutes or so. its a really striking painting when you see it in person. now the coolest musuem art museum i have ever been to is right next door to the van gogh musuem - the rijksmusuem - you could easily spend a day or two here. i was there when it was under remodeling and 2/3'rds of it was closed and i was still there about 4 hours. got a real appreciaton for all the dutch artists (especially rembrandt) walking through there. http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/ even if you stick to your 7 hour layover plan i would think you could still hang out downtown for a couple hours and make it back in time. it would be worth it just to walk around the central area for a bit.
i took a pic of that same houseboat when i went in 2005. looks like it was parked in the same spot too!
Many house boats do not move at all. Some move but I think most just stay at the same spot. When you go to the surroundings of amsterdam and travel along side the river the "vecht" you'll see many house boats that never move (and even have a garden)
When in Rome... When in Amsterdam...red light and spliffs. And eat Tulips and buy your girl cheese. Or something.
