We all slept very well. Alastair and Sophie only woke just before 9am, so certainly caught up on some much needed sleep. We'd bought some muesli and breakfast things from a nearby supermarket the day before so had an easy breakfast before setting off for the day. The weather was perfect. It was sunny and warm, and forecast to remain so until about 6pm when rain was expected to start and continue through until midday tomorrow.
Right from the beginning, in fact from our first wanderings last evening, we have all been very impressed with Amsterdam. The streets are wide, trams and cycles are the predominant mode of transport, the 4-5 story buildings are very attractive and the canals contribute so much towards the amenity of the area. Everything seems to combine to convey the sense of an environment which is comfortable, safe, clean, informal and quiet. There is so little noise - the trams provide most of what there is. There are few cars and many are electric. The most important thing to be aware of are all the cyclists. They seem to come out of nowhere, and all the streets have cycle lanes on both sides of the road. Crossing a road can be a mission - looking for first cyclists then cars, then trams, in each direction. It takes quite some getting used to.
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| Climbing roses often adorn the frontages of ground floor apartments. |
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| The street level doorways were historically for servants and the doors above the stairways for their employers. |
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| A & S soaking up the sights and sun. |
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So called "Coffee Shops' are everywhere - they sell everything edible or drinkable that can be laced with cannabis.
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| Waffles (on the bottom shelf) are usually layered with cream and chocolate. |
We set off reasonably late, as Sophie and Alastair had a lot of sleep to catch up on. We had a boat trip booked for 1pm, and worked out way slowly to the centre via some nice canal streets. About lunchtime we found ourselves in the red-light district (red lights were used a long time ago to hide rashes and diseases!). A bit weird passing a metre in front of 2x2x2m rooms with a full glass front and a woman dressed only in a tiny bra and pants parading herself inside. We looked for somewhere for a quick bite before our canal trip, but it is an area catering for tourists, and the best Ali and Sophie could find was a pair of pretty bland ham and cheese rolls. We just settled for a muesli bar instead.
On to the canal trip, which was excellent. The two commentators were well-informed and a lot of fun. We covered a lot of ground, or water, in the hour with a different viewpoint from being on the streets above the canals.
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| The "Dancing Houses" |
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| Thought we had to have a Dutch Heineken while onboard! |
We were surprised to hear from the canal trip guide that Amsterdam has only 800,000 inhabitants, we had assumed it was much larger. It certainly feels very manageable. there's no big-city feel at all, it is amazingly quiet and peaceful. Having 60% of their commuting done by bike and only 16% by car clearly helps.
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| A popular car, needing virtually no parking space. |
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| A typical shopping street. |
After the canal trip we found ourselves a nice corner cafe for a late lunch. Nice tasty food on bread bases. Alastair wanted to see some different areas, so we took a wide swinging route back home, bringing our day to 15km. Amsterdam feels very liveable. There's an amazing amount of greenery, with many homes having lovely outdoor space just in front of the houses which they have claimed with seats, and plants in tubs.
I particularly like these outdoor private areas. It is seemingly the norm for residents to plant narrow strips of garden and/or place an array of pot plants, including very large pots, immediately outside their apartment on the ground floor or on the other edge of the footpath. Supplemented with seats, they create a place for residents to gather and combine to give long strips of greenery between the houses and the cycleway or road. We haven't come across this, at least not to such an extent, in any other country. It's a very appealing feature of the city.
By 6pm we were getting a little foot weary and the rain was forecast to roll in sometime in the next hour. And roll in it did! The sky was getting dark when we were still 2km from home, when all of a sudden huge gusts of wind stormed down the street, whipping up dust and leaves, bowling over standing cycles and blasting everyone with grit. It was fearsome. Heavy raindrops started a few minutes later. We ran about 50m before giving away the idea of trying to make it home and sought shelter in the doorway of a bar. With lightning flashing and the rain bucketing down we considered our options. It was at least 150m to the nearest bus stop and we would get drenched it we tried it. The best choice was to jump into an Uber, and it was with some relief when we arrived back at the apartment relatively unscathed 20 minutes later. No-one wanted to venture out for a meal, and given our late lunch, it was easy to settle for bits and bobs of snacks for dinner.
