Amsterdam!!

This weekend we went to Holland, and it was a blast.  It's these kind of experiences that make the hassle of living overseas all worth it.   

The first day we explored the city on bike.  I knew Amsterdam is renowned for its bike riding, but I really had no idea to what extent.  I've never seen so many people on bikes in my life (except maybe for China)!  It's not a leisurely hobby for them, it's their primary mode of transportation.  And I saw so many interesting configurations, but was never fast enough to snap a pic.

  I saw a mother pedaling through town with a little girl strapped to the front of her bike and a little girl strapped to the back... they reminded me of Emily and Caroline.  I saw a kid standing on the back of a bike with his arms wrapped around his dad's shoulders, with another kid in the front.  I saw a little girl, probably about 5, weaving in and out of traffic like there was nothing to it.  I saw people toting groceries and flowers and talking on their cell phones and riding in the rain.  

And I'm quite sure I was the only dork in town wearing a helmet.  

It was so much fun to take it all in!

There were more bikes than cars in the city.  We saw stashes of bikes like this one all over the place.

We naively thought that we would just take a relaxing ride through the city and see the sites, but riding there was like participating in the Indy 500, bicycle version.  You really had to be on top of your game and get out of the way of other bicyclists.  There was so much bike, pedestrian, and vehicle traffic... I winced several times riding behind Ben pulling the Burley... tour buses would veer over into the bike lanes, just inches from the trailer, or a truck would almost clip him.  And then sometimes the bike lanes would just disappear.  The Burley was just too wide for this kind of riding.  I'm glad we had a safe experience, but I would probably not do it again with the little girls in tow.  

Waiting at a red light with other bicyclists.  

I had checked out a little guide book from the library, and it gave us a little route we could take to see the sites.  But it didn't mention what kind of neighborhoods they were in.

The third attraction on the list was a church, and I'm not joking five feet across the street was a very interesting window display, if you get my drift.  No picture.  We scrambled out of there.  

One thing pictures can't capture are the smells... in the streets the smell of wine, beer, tobacco,  (in this case marijuana), urine, perfumed women, dog feces, trash... they all combine to make the glorious aroma of Europe!  I hate it but I love it.

If you can't tell, I'm on the center of the bridge here.  Ben testing out his fancy-pants camera.

We were able to hit the Anne Frank house (which we thoroughly enjoyed) and do a boat ride through the canals.  People actually live in these houseboats.  There is a shortage of housing in the city, so people opt to live on the canals.  

Ben trying to act "cheesy"

More shots of the city:

We loved riding our bikes through Vondel Park, nearby the apartment where we stayed.

The girls were tuckered out by the end of the day

This is the charming apartment we stayed in, in the beautiful museum quarter of town:

I don't think this picture quite captures it, but it had a gajillion stairs, well actually 36 to get from the entrance to the main level, then another staircase to get up to the bedrooms.  Caroline was in heaven. Pregnant me, not so much.

The next morning Ben and I took turns going to the impressive Rijks Museum, which houses famous works of various Dutch artists.

  We saw some originals of Van Gogh:

And people were all excited about The Night Watch by Rembrandt. I guess it's his most famous, which I sadly knew nothing about before going here. 

Vermeer's The Milk Maid:

There was a fresh food market just outside our apartment one of the mornings.  It's another thing I love about Europe. 

And that pretty much wraps it up for Amsterdam!  Pics of us frolicking in the tulips are on their way!