Amsterdam

We went to Amsterdam!!!

The Montelbaanstoren.
This may have been a light house at some point. It is a tower standing at the intersection of two large canals.

Just a three hour train ride and we where in the city of bikes. No kidding there are more bikes than people in Amsterdam. The roads are more for bikes than cars. People use them for everything, we saw parents with their kids on their bike, guys with their girlfriend on the back, people with groceries and workers with tool kits and a beer! People rode bikes and talked on their cell phone or rode next to a friend and gossiped. Everywhere people on bikes and still there where thousands locked up on railings, bike racks, and light posts. Gummibaer doesn’t like to ride bikes so we opted to see the sights on foot.

The streets where full of people enjoying the sights. We strolled past beautiful buildings everywhere.
This is the Oude Kerk.
The streets are narrow so it is hard to get a good picture and you won’t get anything without lots of tourists in it so I just took the roofline and the sky.


This is a view of the back of the Rijksmuseum.
There is a beautiful park there, it has fountains and playgrounds and a huge grassy area that would be great for a picnic.

After all that walking we stopped for a rest on a bench by the water.
This is one of the bigger canals in Amsterdam, the Singelgracht. It was lined with old homes and lawns leading to private docks, beautiful!

Amsterdam is all about water so to really experience that we stayed in a small cabin on a boat! It was great! Our hosts where a friendly local man, Hans, and his sweet dog. Breakfast was provided on board in a lovely home-style dinning area. Nothing could be better than good tea, good food, sunshine and a view of the city from the water!

Next, we visited the Van Gough museum, a favorite artist of Gummibaer’s and one I also enjoy. The paintings where beautiful! I definitely recommend seeing his work in person if you ever get the chance.

We stopped at a café for some refreshment.
Local beer, and quite possibly the simplest and most delicious sandwich ever. French Brie and cucumbers!

Naturally, there was also Sock knitting!

I turned the heels of my Pomatomus Socks!

And last but not least, I like to look for ordinary things that a tourist might not normally see.

I saw this on a small side street out of the way and it seemed to me to be a picture of a local’s Amsterdam.