Wandering Amsterdam...

Flying into Amsterdam it was a very clear day and as we came in for our landing we flew right over the city and countryside. The land is filled with hundreds of canals and from the air we saw the many dikes holding the sea at bay. (Made me think about Katrina and wonder why the US hasn't consulted more with countries like Holland who have long histories of dealing with flooding and prevention.) Also, from the air we saw the many windmills that are being utilized for power. Between the sight of the canals and the windmills, I knew we were in for an interesting visit. Both Jean and Kim have been to Amsterdam in the past; this was my first visit.

I mentioned canals in the last posting and here's what I mean.

We were on the Brouwer Street canal. Our apartment was on the upper floor of the building behind the tree.

Our view.

Stairs in Amsterdam are the most serious that I have ever encountered or experienced. They were intensely steep and a bit scary. They led to our third floor apartment.

I put these bungee cords across the top of the steps to protect us from falling down as we walked by or for the nighttime wanderer.

We liked our apartment --it had all the comforts except for one thing: there was no door on the bathroom and you accessed it via the bedroom. We had to all agree on having (mostly) our private moments.

Amsterdam is a city to explore and we enjoyed many hours of walking and taking in the sights.

Here's one of better days gone by.

These are tracks so that you can roll your bike in and out of your basement apartment.

Amsterdam has a long history of tolerance and democracy.

In fact, if you caught the John Adam's HBO series, you'd know that Mr. Adams came to Amsterdam to borrow money for the US in the early days of our history.

Just another interesting building...ho, hum.

This heron was so totally nonplussed with all of us excitedly taking pictures of it while having a moment atop this car.

Where to go? Where to go?

How about to a market?

And to, of course, The Tulip Market

From all that beauty to these little gems. They were all around the city. They are men's urinals and are just, "right there" in the middle of it all! What are the implications? What does it infer?
They were gross and we all said, "eeewww".

Let's get back to more beauty!

And then, we encountered this part of town...uh oh. Turn and run!

But, if one, say, were interested, there are choices to be had.

You may be wondering if all we did was walk around and take in the sights. Well, we did have cultural moments (Jewish Museum, Anne Frank Museum and the Van Gogh Museum) and I'll write about them soon. Thank you.