In which Amsterdam is still ridiculously photogenic.

Back in March, I attended a work conference in Amsterdam and went down a couple days early to explore. I'd been there once before in 2012, which was a jolly, sunny, springtime jaunt with my parents. A friend generously put me up and let me join her walking tours of the city (thanks!). Over the next few days, I walked its canals in the evening sun (fun), had some great food (fun), got soaked by morning and afternoon rains and winds that literally dyed my feet blue (not fun), aaand spent as much time as possible being inside, warming up. The weather was mostly cold and miserable, the city full of tourists (guilty), and while it is an objectively lovely place, it was hard to be outside for most of it. These pictures are mostly from the first and last days there -- the last day being from a canal tour. It was a gorgeous evening, certainly photogenic, followed by a nighttime stroll through quiet streets, the water awash with window glow.

In which we Holla! in Holland. Part II.

The next morning was set aside for city (ha, first spelled "sitty" -- I can english!) cramming. We awoke to a wild array of architecture over the waters, hopped from one boat to another and did some canal-heavy touristing around and around the Amsterdam. All the quaint little houseboats were fun to observe with their many deck gardens and flowerdy curtains, occasionally with wee faces peeking out from behind them. One fun architectural fact the Bodiless Roboguide shared was that many houses were built with large windows on the ground floor and increasingly smaller windows going up, thus creating the optical illusion of extra-tallness. Another oddity I noticed was that black was a regular house color. In my mind, black houses are usually associated with witches, hauntedness, or Harry Potter, and not cosy, aristocratic dwellings.

The minds of the parentals were blown again and again by the sheer magnitude of Amsterdam’s bicycle population. Multi-storied parking garages for these two-wheeled beasts could be found all over, and all of them full and overflowing. The Bodiless Roboguide said there were over 9000 bikes parked outside the central station daily. We found that pretty believable.

Amsterdwellings were generally very efficient when it came to wall space and doors. Most tall and skinny city homes were able to pack three tall and skinny doors into places where one would normally find just one, thanks in part to tall and skinny staircases.

Back on land, my priority mission was to v-line it to the red heart of the light district for the 2012 World Press Photo Exhibition in the city’s oldest building, the Ould Kerk. Oh man, there are some crazy things going on in the world and some shutterbugs have crazy good timing with their trigger fingers.

Once we all scraped our jaws off the old stone floor, we headed back into the daylight for more wandering, followed by a wonderfully colorful adventure (and I mean all sorts of colors) that very much deserves its own post (--so stay tuned!). This adventure involved not being in Amsterdam for many hours, after which we returned in the midst of dramatic sun setting and partook in what I am certain will remain one of the most incredible meals in our respective lifetimes. Full of course after course of unbelievable delicious rememberings, we snuggled back into our softly-swaying beds and digested our way happily through the night.

The next morning came with much rain and many trains down Memory Lane.   

(For the record, the majority of my August is taking place in cars, tents, sleeping bags, and hammocks down the coasts of France and Spain. Internet access is seldom to be found in these parts, hence the lack of general communication on my part. I'll be back in Hamburg in early September. Oh, the road trip photos to be shared!)