I love the lights on the canals at night. 

While M and A went to Germany with a few friends of theirs from other departments, C and I decided to spend the afternoon wandering around Amsterdam. We just wandered the streets in the old city center, leaving the more touristy hotspots for when we head into town with a larger group.

It was wonderful walking about in my home town. I needed a quiet day of just walking about and getting a feel for Amsterdam again. We ended up having dinner at one of my favorite placed from my childhood: the Pancake Bakery, which is just a few blocks up the canal from where I used to live. We also made it to the Noordermarkt, a large street market that is held every Saturday on the square in front of the Noorderkerk and along a street nearby as well - across the canal from where we used to live.

Royal Palace at the Dam square in Amsterdam. 

Market at the Noorderkerk (which is in the background)

Interesting wares at the market. And NO, we didn't try any.

Drug store with traditional advertising: a "gaper".   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaper

Warehouses along the Prinsengracht

They're right. Their pancakes are truly the BEST.
Hearing Simply Red playing in the background over dinner last night gave me and instant flashback to childhood dinners with my family. 

Westerkerk, on the Prinsengracht. Around the corner from the Anne Frank House

After-Dark windowshopping at it's best. 

Nieuwekerk, at the Dam in Amsterdam (you can see the edge of the palace on the left)