Amsterdam

By the time we met our host and settled down into the two bedroom flat on the third floor right alongside Prinsengracht (the Prince's canal) in the Jordaan district of Amsterdam it was past midnight. Three days later we know the area around here pretty well.

The houses in this neighborhood were built in the 1600's. The stairs are tight, narrow and tall - like they were made for skinny midgets with long legs. I had to hug our 50 pound duffle bag to my chest while negotiating the stairs. Evan and Vivian play some sort of complicated game every time we go up or down the stairs. 

Up the canal is the Westerkerk (West Church) with Rembrandt (buried) and the Homomonument (in the backyard). Almost next door to it is Prinsengracht 263, Anne Frank's house. Down the canal the other way from our flat is NooderKerk (north) with a lovely plaza and a tiny children's playground. 

Yesterday we walked to the playground a couple of times. Once a girl struck up a conversation with Vivian in Dutch. A lady sitting on a bench walked over and translated between the two. On a different trip to the park, I heard Vivian chatting with another girl and her dad. "My brother can be very annoying. He doesn't listen well."

Three things stand out about Amsterdam. First, the houses - they are all in a row, brick, three windows wide and four floors tall with a loft above. A beam with a hook sticks out of the peak of the gable (I wish I had used the hoisting beam for our duffle bag). Banks, hospitals, smaller museums, and residences look the same. Strangely, though, it's the furthest thing from a cookie cutter development in suburban US.

Second, the boats. From early afternoon onwards, boats full of Amsterdamers cruise the canals. Usually simple sturdy open boats. People, often still in their work clothes with drinks and food and music. Amsterdam is known for it's work-life balance and it shows. We've taken a couple of boat canal tours but that's like a San Antonio river cruise. If we do this again I'd arrange for a boat beforehand.

Third - when they aren't on their boats they are on their bikes. Here's a photo of the bike parking at Amsterdam Central train station. Men is suits, women in work dresses and four inch heels. People with children in the front and back. Mothers with tiny babies in BabyBjorns. The police and postmen with packages. The bikes, like the houses and boats are mostly the same. Simple black single speed cruisers. Amsterdamers cycle fast and furiously. We worry that Vivian and Evan will step off a sidewalk and on to a bike. At busy intersections in the plazas there are four sets of lights - separate ones for pedestrians, bikes, cars and trams. Jo wondered what women with short skits do differently on a bike. Turns out not much.

If you want to mix both worlds, there's boats with bikes. Like behind Vivian in the photo above.