European Vacation Day 15 - Amsterdam

Today started with a trip into town again, with 2/3rds of the group joining in the bike tour of Amsterdam. We cycled around from 90 minutes over a variety of bridges, past the museums and through the Vondelpark, which was really nice, like a bigger version of the Meadows in Edinburgh, with more trees. I understand now why so many people here cycle, because it is so easy due to the lack of any hills and the fact that cyclists appear to be in charge! Cars stop for you, pedestrians are terrified of you (if you crash into one legally they are at fault, or so we were told), and the road and cycle lane network is very well set up for cycling.

the gang in Amsterdam!  We are at the white a.  [Pic courtesy of Wen E and Andy]

Our bikes all looked the same, rather old fashioned with a very upright seating position. It seems everyone here has one, none of your Specialized or Giant branded mountain bikes or hybrids here. The thing that amazed me from the start was how little effort was required. The last time I had been on a bike was 19 years ago for a school activity trip, which put me off for good (or so I thought). This was a very different experience. The tour itself didn’t give a lot of new information but it was fun to cycle around. Andy took a great picture of us as he passed, had I tried the same I would have crashed for sure.

Wheeee!!!

proof we actually cycled [pics again thanks to Wen E and Andy]

Our camera has been playing up on this trip, to the extent that anti-shake is the only setting that produces decent pictures. We bought a Gorilla pod which has enabled us to get some great self-portrait pictures and night shots. Now the backup battery is running out so most photos of Amsterdam have been taken with my phone to save the camera battery for Bruges. My phone has a better resolution than the camera we had last time we were here – a 1.3 megapixel Olympus which weighed a ton and took 4 AA batteries. It was cutting edge at the time!

After the bike tour we went in search of food. After searching for a while we ended up in a sandwich shop where the guy realised he didn’t have what we were looking for, so directed us to a completely different shop down the road. The helpfulness and friendliness of the Dutch really is top notch. Unfortunately that place was no good either so we ended up in one of the Maoz falafel places, which was very tasty.

This is what a shopping centre should look like

We headed back to the Botel where J had a snooze and I watched the Germany – Serbia match. We changed into jeans and jumpers as it was getting a bit chilly, then headed out again. There was a Greenpeace boat docked at our pier now. Hope they don’t go for the submarine.

Greenpeace boat

We went to the Bolhoed, but they were about to close to prepare for dinner so we failed again. Guess it wasn’t to be. We had a beer then walked to the restaurant for dinner. This was at a big floating restaurant called the Sea Palace, and the food was pretty good. This was our last group dinner and it all went smoothly.

relaxing with a beer on Prinsenstraat

After dinner we got on a canal boat for a cruise. We sat at a table with Ben and Lisa (who had joined the tour in Budapest and got engaged on their first day) and enjoyed an unlimited bar! The cruise was good, showing some of Amsterdam’s architectural diversity. Ben managed an impressive 9 beers, getting his money’s worth! I only managed 6, and just before we got to the end of the cruise I dropped my glass (condensation on the glass, not drunkenness, honest!) and it obligingly smashed on the table, soaking me and J. Typical.

no parking in the canal

quirky Dutch houses

Undaunted, we went to 2 more pubs before getting the tram and ferry back to the hotel (the LAST ferry of the night)

What is it with paying to go to the toilet in Europe? Even when I pay €1 to get into a pub, and €1 to put my bag in the cloakroom, I have to pay 50c every time I need to the toilet? Not cool. If they did that in the UK people would just use doorways on the way home at night...oh, wait.