Wednesday, July 18, 2012

07-17-12 Amsterdam, Last Full Day

 Rain starting to spatter windows
OOOPS...LAST 12 PHOTOS OF THIS SET SHOULD BE THE  FIRST;  GOT OUT OF ORDER SOMEHOW. SCROLL WAY DOWN TO THE PHOTO OFFSET TO THE LEFT BELOW THE  TRADITIONAL "BREAKFAST" PHOTO WHICH SHOULD BE THE FIRST. 
This is a parking garage for bikes...it holds 2,500, and there are bikes everywher

This is a parking garage for bikes...it holds 2,500, and there are bikes everywher

Floating Chinese restaurant


There are 2,500 houseboats in Amsterdam's canals (they stricty limit the number)

The base of a tower. I couldn't get it all in in one photo, and with my head not being able to move up or down (or sideways) it made it a bit difficul

Here's the rest of it



I really had to do a lot of adjusting to be able to see some of these

You'll note most of the buildings are very narrow. There was a law regulating width a long time ago. Only the wealthy could have wider houses


Bridge adornment. I like it.



Hey, more bicycles




A houseboat with a floating garden. Please ignore the reflection from my window.



Nearing the Ann Frank house


Lines of people and they aren't even close to the house yet


Sorry, I'm not sure which of these two house was Anne Frank's

A wealthier house, obvious from both decoration and width.

Looking into a houseboat's windows

See the open window on the 3rd floor? Someone is moving in or out. Almost every building has hoists (barely visible here, unfortunately) to lift furniture



No idea what it is...a church, I'd imagine...but I liked it

Off the canal cruise and back on the crowded streets

Nothin' says "comfort" more than a pair of wooden shoes



Wooden tulips. Pretty, though.


Dom Square ahead

She was doing a number with a hoola hoop to loud canned music

Dom ("Cathedral") Square

Notice Madam Tussaud's. Crowd gathered around a street performer 

I always feel guilty when I do not know the name of a monument which obviously means a great deal to the people of the city

Audience volunteer getting a kiss for helping bind the performer


One section of the square seemed given over to "living statues," who moved a lot

"Roman Warrior" raised his shield to cover his face when I started to photograph him without paying him for it

Batman hardly stood still

Death, just waitin' around

The palace, I'd guess

The pipes, the pipes are callin', from glen to glen, across the valley wide



Waiting again for Tram #14, without the downpour this time

There, see? Right there above the waiting shelter...#14


A tram money taker actually being civil!

This square was rain-drenched and empty yesterday, now it's bustling. That's my hotel in the background





Did I mention the Dutch apparently have a thing for bicycles?

The little diner about two blocks from my hotel which has the second-best soup I can ever recall having eaten (the first was in Paris)

Love it. Oh, and are those bicycles I see there?

Yep.

PHOTOS SHOULD START WITH THIS ONE: Breakfast, and the first glass of milk I've had since leaving the States
Boarding Tram #21 for Central Station and the boat cruise

Interesting notification system tells you 3 stops in advance. This was the first tram I've seen that had it.

Lots of just street scenes to follow


Central Station (railroad, of course)

Not a river, but whatever it is is abustle with canal cruise boats

This one's mine

From inside the boat

2 comments:

Miriam S Pia said...

OK, I read part of your blog post and when I got to the part about how you miss who you used to be but no longer are I felt so moved that I just glossed over the rest. I checked out some of the pictures and skimmed over others.

Many of the "white man's paganism" of the West has the 3 main stages of life. Being a woman I learned that one best: Maiden, Mother & Crone. Well, when I became a mother unlike some women, my 'Maiden ego' did not go down without a long and nasty battle intermingled with aspects of my identity which have not changed because there has been no need to change. In that respect, I think I can at least sympathize and maybe even 'understand' what you mean.

Dorien Grey said...

Thanks, Miriam...it's nice to know others understand what I say.

Best,

Dorien