Sunday, October 07, 2007
Today was another beautiful day in Holland. Craig and I took the train up to Amsterdam and spent the day on a Mike's Bike Tour. Our guide (Sean) was super knowledgeable and I learned a great deal about the Netherlands. For example, did you know that that both gin (from England) and vodka (from Russia) were derived from a Dutch spirit called genever? Or, did you know that the reason the Dutch apartments are so tall and skinny is because the Dutch used to be taxed on only the square footage of a building's footprint? Anyway, we saw a bunch of Amsterdam, including the canals, the Amstel river, a 300 year old windmill, a clog and cheese factory, and a banana-hammocked 60-something man doing hanging gymnastics from a rope in the middle of a plaza (I decided no to take any pictures as I don't want to blind you readers). Here are the pictures of the day...
Craig on the bike tour. I'll do a post dedicated to just biking around here as it really is something special.
Your average Amsterdam street. Can you see the beams and hooks at the top of every building's eave? They use those for hoisting furniture up into the incredibly skinny apartments.
Here's our bike tour group in front of the old windmill along the Amstel. Craig and I are on the left.
This is an ancient sign post reminding the merchants who use to come into Amsterdam up the Amstel to go straight to the city center to be taxed on their goods.
The third apartment down all the way on the left is famous for holding John Lennon and Yoko Ono during their "bed-in". We were even able to read Lennon's writing on the window ("Hair Peace Bed Peace"). Click here for a higher resolution where you too may be able to make out the writing.
One of the few outdoor Van Gogh pieces. This resides in the inner-city's Vondelpark.
Here's one of Amsterdam's many buildings that's sinking into the silt the city is built on. Some interesting wood framing keeps this building from sinking even deeper.
Finally, one of Amsterdam's public urinals along one of the canals. Napolean installed these during his brief rule of Amsterdam because he thought it was disgusting that people kept urinating into the canals. Craig and I performed a field test. They worked well but smelled pretty awful.
Craig on the bike tour. I'll do a post dedicated to just biking around here as it really is something special.
Your average Amsterdam street. Can you see the beams and hooks at the top of every building's eave? They use those for hoisting furniture up into the incredibly skinny apartments.
Here's our bike tour group in front of the old windmill along the Amstel. Craig and I are on the left.
This is an ancient sign post reminding the merchants who use to come into Amsterdam up the Amstel to go straight to the city center to be taxed on their goods.
The third apartment down all the way on the left is famous for holding John Lennon and Yoko Ono during their "bed-in". We were even able to read Lennon's writing on the window ("Hair Peace Bed Peace"). Click here for a higher resolution where you too may be able to make out the writing.
One of the few outdoor Van Gogh pieces. This resides in the inner-city's Vondelpark.
Here's one of Amsterdam's many buildings that's sinking into the silt the city is built on. Some interesting wood framing keeps this building from sinking even deeper.
Finally, one of Amsterdam's public urinals along one of the canals. Napolean installed these during his brief rule of Amsterdam because he thought it was disgusting that people kept urinating into the canals. Craig and I performed a field test. They worked well but smelled pretty awful.
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