Riding around in Amsterdam!

We just went for a ride for a few hours around the city. Taking in the sights. Seeing what there is to see, hearing what there is to hear.

Here's another canal picture for you guys. The water really brings a different feel to a city. I can't put it into words but perhaps you know what I mean if you've been to an ocean city or even a river within a city? I really like how the water seems to change color each day.

I wanted to show you the bike lanes here and more bike stuff. I never was able to find where those thousands and thousands of bikes were. I'm not sure if I even told you about it but there was a place, the first day we were here, where we passed by the most bikes I've ever seen in one location. It was more than are in a bike shop! They were all parked and leaned on each other. It looked like a very, very, very large pile of bicycles. I have no idea where all the bike owners were and what they were there to see but it was an incredible sight!


Here in this picture, are two bicycle lanes in the center. On the right side of the right solid line is the sidewalk for pedestrians. To the left of the left solid line is the car lane. There are lots of bicycle lanes like this. Alot of the time, bicycle lanes are protected by a median separating them from the car lanes. And the sidewalk is separated from the bike lanes by posts coming out of the ground! I think the system is genius! I wish we had these back home. I'd ride more!

This is a toddler bicycle! How cute is it!? I love the colors! All of them! I think it's cute that it's all locked up too. I think they teach the value of being responsible with bicycles here early in life.

A youth bicycle. I really like that here, the bicycle doesn't need to be locked to anything. As long as it's locked so it can't be taken apart, people leave the bike alone! That's not to say there aren't bicycle racks and such, because there are, but it's a neat thing to witness. People can even leave their puppies in their bicycle baskets when shopping and no one steals them!

Family bicycles! This one has a cart in front that can carry 2 kids or supplies and a seat in the back for another child. Sometimes, the carts are bit bigger and 4 kids can fit!

The shape of this bike frame is odd but is necessary!

Two seats on the back!

Alot of the time when the children outgrow these seats and carts, they just ride along on their own bicycles right next to their parents in bicycles like the ones in the photos I posted a few pictures up! It's neat to see :)

The store front windows are like installation art here. They really use up a large amount of space and put it to good use with artistic displays. This picture doesn't do justice one bit. To the left was another set up with shades of blue and beautiful blue and black butterflies. To the left of that was a bunch of pinks and magentas. This was the only picture that came out though. So here you go!

I wanted to show you the road set up here on the main roads. It was pretty odd at first and took a bit to get used to. Sometimes you don't hear the tram coming and it gets pretty close but 99 percent of the time the tram driver rings the bell to warn you of it's proximity. That brings me to an observation about Amsterdam. You rarely hear a car horn. In all of our time here, we only heard two car horns and the police siren a few times. It's very quiet here except for the sounds of life: talking in person, laughing, people singing or whistling, bicycle bells, dogs barking from time to time, birds singing.

One of the main roads. Used for biking, trams, cars and walking. Alot of the time simultaneously! 

This is a narrow road. Only one train can pass at a time.

It blows my mind that cars drive on the same road!

Wide road. Two trams can pass.

We passed by a produce shop and couldn't resist the temptation of these beauties! :D They were the most strawberry strawberries I've ever had. Sweet and light, fresh and not dirty! I had no idea strawberries could taste so good. And that's saying something because strawberries are one of my favorite fruits! We also got a starfruit(!) from here that was light green, crisp and wonderful. It's hard to find these back home and even harder to find one so perfect. No picture of the starfruit though :( I should've gotten one!

Well, tomorrow is the last day here! I've got to upload the pictures!