This will be my last post while on this journey. We begin our flight home tomorrow, Sunday, morning.

We arrived in Amsterdam early enough yesterday, Friday, to have much of the day to explore the city under fair weather, which is good because they are calling for rain today, Saturday.

The city is crowded with a high proportion of young weekend visitors. The trains bring in groves from all over Europe…but then this is Amsterdam — certainly a city with laws and outlooks that appeal to the curious, both young and old.

Bicycles — I’ve never seen this many in one place — 600,000 (est) in a city of 760,000. You have to quickly adjust to watching for bicycle traffic as much as car traffic.

More to tell/share and reflect upon later.

15 Comments

  1. Seems I am going to be flying through Amsterdam on a work trip mid-November. I doubt I will see much outside the airport though. Looks like an interesting town to explore, but I have heard THOSE stories. :-)

    • Mark, The city is beautiful although a little dirty in places. I’ve no doubt most of “THOSE” stories are true. In our rambeling walks there were several coffee houses where the odor of cannabis outside the door was strong enough to suspect inside you’d get high by breathing the second hand smoke. Then there was those who were rolling their own in sidewalk cafe’s.

      While I think legalizing prostitution should be discussed as an option, we walked down one alleyway in the red-light district in Amsterdam and found it to be pretty dehumanizing — these lovely young women like slabs of meat behind glass. I believe there’s definitely a better way to handle it but this is done for the tourist.

      If you have any time in November, definitely a place to see which offers a little of everything, but it wouldn’t be high on my list to revisit…except I like to have some time to spend in the Art Museums.

  2. Enjoy your last few hours and have a age flight home. Looking forward to more images and reports.

    • Monte, the flight home was rushed but okay. However, this cold/sore throat/cough germ I brought with me is not! :-)

  3. This looks like a wonderful trip, love your images from it. Hope to see more when you get back!

    • Chris, thanks! It was a fun trip…a bit of a whirlwind with not enough time in many places but still a worthwhile adventure.

  4. You excellently managed to summarize Amsterdam in one image – perfect down to the brown of the dirty channel water.

    • Markus, I think this photo is being a little generous. It doesn’t truly show the crowded steamier weekend tourist side of Amsterdam. But still I’m glad I saw it.

  5. Charming photo. I like the slender storefront buildings. They look like they’re only 20 feet wide. I spent a little time in Taiwan years ago and was amazed and worried at the number of bikes that seemed to be just inches away from our speeding taxi. Hebben een goede reis.

  6. I’ve never been to Amsterdam, but folks I know say it is a modern city steeped in history and interesting politically and culturally. Great shot.

    • Ken, to someone who’s never been there I would say go. But after a first visit the choice of if you would return again is up to your own choices and taste. There are more places I’d like to visit again ahead of Amsterdam. Thanks!

  7. It took me a while to reply, but I’ll just bet that was quite a site to see. I’ve heard the stories as well and, quite frankly, it never appealed to me; however, you brought back some lovely images!

  8. Amsterdam must be an exciting city to visit, I hope you’ve had a lovely time. I like how you incorporated all those bicycles in you image!