Amsterdam is not the capital of The Netherlands, but is the most visited city. Like all of The Netherlands, Amsterdam is reclaimed swamp land and below sea level. The land is reclaimed by digging canals. Because water always flows to the lowest point, the canals drain the land. If you need more land, you need more canals.
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A small sail boat in one of the canals. Unlike in the US, there are people working at the bridge all day, so the boaters don't have to call forward. The bridge sees them and opens up. |
Our guide Jan (Ian). We took a canal tour. You get to see a lot more of the city easily, but the windows make it hard to take good pictures. |
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The Netherlands is known for bikes. They bike everywhere. This is not the largest collection of bikes, by the way. |
Two things to notice in this picture. First, the width of the buildings. Families were taxed not by square footage, but by the width of the front of the building. Second thing to notice is the dog in the back of the bike. This dog was lucky. I saw several that had to run next to the bike. Some bicycles have large wooden boxes on the front. They use them for carrying everything: food, TVs, rugs, beds (no kidding), dogs, people, and kids. I saw one with two young kids in the box and they had seatbelts on, too. Sorry I couldn't get a picture. |
Jenny's pimped out bike. We got bikes from Mac's Bike, near the Central Train Station. Jenny is too short for the regular adult bikes and resisted the child's bike. She had to take it. |
A replica of a wooden ship build by unemployed people. They worked with a ship builder and without power tools. They now make ships for a living. |
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With bikes we ended up in a large park.
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There's actually a bird in the water, but it is hard to see.
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Notice the weights on the equipment for benchpressing, etc.
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Locking up the bikes near the flower market.
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While walking one of the pedestrian streets I was approached to help film a TV show. They knew was an American, just be my appearance (I can't see it - I thought I was blending in). They wanted to know if Americans would like this certain food (beef stew, sort of, in a crispy breading coating) that came out of a machine (the ones with the glass doors). It was OK. |
Our one dinner off the ship: chinese, of course. It wasn't our favorite chinese food, but it was OK. |
That night we went to the Red Light District. I was told I had "organized it", but I was just the head instigator. We were supposed to go with the cruise director, but it was canceled due to tour ships docking position, which was near a busy street with skinny sides. I hear some people complain about the cancellation and said we could do it ourselves. People talked with people and we ended up with about 20. Some of the older, less moble folks, took cabs, and the rest of us walked. The whole group was about 2/3 older ladies. There are no pictures because they are forbidden in the Red Light District. The prostitutes stand in windows in skimpy underwear and wait for customers. If you take a picture a guard will throw your camera in the canal. Some ladies were suprised that most of the ladies were very beautiful. I found it funny that the gentleman would glance at the women, since we are trained not to stare at women. The old ladies, however, would stand square in front of the windows and look them up and down. |
The bike lanes in The Netherlands are so well organized. They have stripes, arrows for directions, and their own traffic signals. Also found in the bike lanes: mopeds, some motorcycles, motorized wheel chairs, and these small cars. They sound like golf carts, but have engines, not electric motors. 
