We woke this morning to the sound of the church bells in Amsterdam in our top floor, sloping flat. We had not seen much of Amsterdam yet, and the lack of bikes and time was going to keep it that way. Last night, we had decided we would take a canal cruise this morning, to get an overview of this city before we caught the train back to Rotterdam. After showers, we breakfasted on yogurt purchased in the grocery store below our room the night before, then headed for the boat tour landing on the canal in front of the Reichs Museum. It was about a mile and a half walk. We enjoyed seeing the city as we walked. No car traffic to speak of, but lots of people cycling to work. The streets are narrow and squeezed between canals and buildings. There simply is not room for cars in this city built long before their invention.
Bike theft is a serious problem both in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. We have been warned about it many times by the natives. We have asked the question, "What do they do with all the stolen bikes if everyone owns one?" many times. The answers vary, but boil down to two concepts. They are sold to new people in town, such as students, or they are stolen just for fun, ridden a little way, and thrown into a canal. As we walked to the boat dock, we passed a floating barge with a small backhoe like device floating next to it fitted with a claw-like grabber. The operator was dredging the bottom of the canal, pulling up bicycles off the bottom. The barge had a pile of rusty, mud covered bikes in its hold and the claw was adding a few more as we walked by.
We reached the dock almost an hour early. I ran to a nearby grocery store for rolls and cheese for lunch. I came back to find Sally engaged in conversation with an older American couple from Florida, also going on the cruise.
The cruise made a circle through the inner city, passing along the canals and prominent landmarks of the town until it hit the main harbor of the city, whereby it entered the canals again and circled back to where we started. Not as intimate a tour as riding on a bike, but a good overview of the city.
We walked the two miles to the railroad station, passing down the main shopping district. It has been the main shopping district for many hundreds of years, although it certainly is different now than a hundred years ago, and likely different than 50 years ago. It has morphed into a mile long exhibition of chain stores residing in old buildings. In our walk we passed 3 McDonalds, 7 H &M stores, 2 Cheese and More outlets and countless other international or national chains. For us, it was a disappointment. If this trend continues, European cities will be just like American cities, devoid of personality, just rows and rows of standardized merchandise outlets. The only attributes the European cities will have over American cities is the quaint old buildings hovering above the modern street level store fronts.
We passed through the edge of the Red Light district, seeing the pot and sex shops, before we emerged at the Central Train Station. We found our platform and walked onto our train just seconds before the doors closed. A restful ride and we were in Rotterdam an hour later, about 2:00 pm. We rented a bike for Sally at the bike shop (they gave it to her for free) and arranged to have cardboard to wrap my bike up with for the train ride to Paris in the morning.
We cycled back to Adri and Stijnie's home. They were both out. We took a nap in our basement bedroom until Stijnie arrived home, then went upstairs and had a delightful visit with her. Adri arrived home about 6:00 pm. We had dinner, then went for a 5 Km walk around the canal in front of their home. Along the way, we saw two windmills and a large lake. I have to readjust my thinking. When I see a large lake, such as this multiple
hundred acre one we walked past, I think "the bigger the lake, the deeper the lake". But here, they are all only 6 to 8 feet deep, as they are just low areas that are not pumped dry. Their surface may be below sea level, as this one was, with the water level artificially maintained, but they are not deep. The lakes have marinas, harbors and lakefront homes as any lake does, they just aren't deep.
Darkness fell as we continued our walk. Later, when Sally and I were talking, we recounted our trip and the fact that not once in 6 weeks have we seen a "sketchy neighborhood", one where we felt uncomfortable or even remotely threatened, day or night. It is quite a contrast to be in Europe for an extended time period and observe the U.S. from afar. During our absence there have been multiple mass shootings, A TV news crew murdered while on the air, a gang shootout in Chicago, multiple policemen killed and multiple people killed by the police. I am far more wary of living in the U.S. than I am of living here in Europe. Other than about half a dozen homeless in Paris, we have not seen a homeless person in our travels. No tents under bridges. No shopping cart pushers. No one begging at intersections. The contrast is remarkable. I am looking forward to returning home to compare these recent observations with a new look at our own country.
When we returned home, we sat for a while to talk and drink tea. Adri brought out his cycling maps for Sally and I to see so we could compare them to our method of navigation.
We had to rise early to catch our train to Paris, so we turned in about 10:30 pm. We were both saddened to leave our new friends in the morning, but so thankful for the opportunity to spend time and get to know them. We encouraged them to come to the U.S. and visit us, but they didn't seem likely to do so. When we return to Europe sometime in the future, they will be at the top of our must see list. Such wonderful people.
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