July 22

Amsterdam

Sunset and good-bye to the Lif and our cruise......

.....and welcome to Amsterdam!

Bikes....EVERYWHERE
Did you know - there are 800,000 people in Amsterdam, and 900,000 bikes!
60,000 bikes are stolen every year and get this....12,000 bikes are thrown into the canal every year!

Ada, our tour guide shows us the city
At one time these locks opened the canals to the rivers and oceans

Narrow houses
Your taxes are based on the WIDTH of your house!  #7 is the smallest house in Amsterdam....it is the width of the door!

Leaning houses
Because the city is built on a swamp; the foundation is sand & wooden beams.  If the beams get wet they sag and the houses lean, as this one does!

Lunch overlooking the canal

Amsterdam Canal Tour
Photos from the Canal Tour - REALLY cool (literally - it was mid-60s) experience

Cars parked OH-SO-CLOSE to the canal wall (have been known to fall/drive into canal!)

 

The Victoria Hotel - Note house in the middle of the structure!
When homes were being bought up to get the property for the hotel the owner would not sell.....so they built the hotel around him!  He still lives there to this day - though the hotel now owns the house!

Amsterdam Canal Tour