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  | Amsterdam |
Amsterdam was our first port of call so we spent some time struggling with jet lag and getting acclimated and so forth. We never actually left the city, so all comments that follow apply only to Amsterdam and not to the Netherlands at all. We were, in fact, told at one point that the rest of the Netherlands was quite different, almost a different country.
We stayed quite close to the central part of Amsterdam, which is a pretty but busy place -- or perhaps we should say that it is pretty busy! Each day we walked for some hours, exploring the various roads and canals and getting used to both an urban environment (to which we were unaccustomed) and a daily exercise regimen.
| Walking around central Amsterdam is pretty exciting in itself. The roads are shared by pedestrians, bicycles, buses, taxis, and trams (trolleys). There are sidewalks for pedestrians, bicycle ways and lanes, tram lanes, and areas for vehicular traffic. This in an Old Country city, with the attendant narrow streets, and criss-crossed by canals which are not only bigger than the streets but in continued use today. On several occasions we took the tram to save our legs for touring, and it was quite efficient and clean. | Traffic |
| Canals | |
| Trams |
We felt quite safe in the city, even in the more seamy sections that make up the very center of town. We would venture to say that we felt safer than we would have in the equivalent section of any U.S. city we have visited. Of course there are some aesthetic risks to travel in these areas -- on various occasions we found ourselves embarrassed after looking into particular shop windows, and we don't embarrass easily.
Despite our dietary restrictions (one of us was stuck on a rigorously low fat diet) we had a number of very good meals. Most of the food places in the very center of town sell various high-fat "impulse" foods, but the variety is incredible and with a little care we ate quite well.
While in Amsterdam, we saw Damm Square, the Anne Frank House, the Rikjsmuseum (Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Picasso, Monet...), a 15th century Portugese-Israelite synagogue, the Vondelpark, and more. Unfortunately, time is short just now and we'll have to describe these places later!
