The Amsterdam Experience

Bikes...Canals...Excitement!

Those were my first impressions of the city. Since bicycles are EVERYWHERE and you can't hear them coming...it's quite risky to cross streets (or even step off a curb) without looking both ways at least twice. I was almost taken out several times on the first day alone. I wised up after that and was much more careful! Bike parking is an issue in the city with 10% more bikes than people. I saw double decker bike parks (parking lots for bikes) and heard there's even one triple-decker one close to the train station.

The canals took some getting used to...some of them have no barrier at all on the edge which is somewhat risky for a photographer not concentrating on where she's going. I didn't fall in but there were times I didn't realize how close I was to the edge until the last minute. Most of the canals have a short metal fence to keep cars aware of where they are, but at least one car a week is still fished out of the waters. Oh, and due to a housing shortage, houseboats are prevalent. They are hooked up to city utilities just like the regular houses.


The excitement of Amsterdam came from it's very upbeat attitude, it's open-minded approach to "things" that are viewed very differently in the USA, and mostly from the mix of people from so many different countries...there were tourists from far and wide and they were having fun!