We arrived this morning in Amsterdam, Holland or the Netherlands. I was surprised to know that they call it Holland. Strange country with a personality so unlike the rest of Europe. 60% of it is below sea level. Who would build a country like this? We went on a canal cruise this morning around Amsterdam. So much water, yet so few mosquitoes. The first thing I noticed was the bikes. They were everywhere! There was a bike parking station that was 6 stories high.
The guide said that they go on the front of the bike from 3months to 1 year, then they go on the back of the bike until they are 6 when they get their own bike. Everyone rides old bikes because if you have a new bike, someone steals it. The houses are gorgeous and everyone is different and lots of them are really crooked. They didn't have house numbers so they had to make their houses look different so they had different facades with statues. All of the time they have their windows open so that you can see what people are doing inside. The guide said that if someone has their curtains closed it shows that you have something to hide. A lot of them have mirrors so they can see what the people are doing next door. They are a bit like the side mirrors on cars only bigger. beautiful skinny houses and lots of lovely house boats, which cost a fortune.
After lunch we went for a drive north to Vollendam. Why does everything end in dam? We went to an Edam cheese factory, which was just an excuse to try and get us to buy some cheese. Then we went to a working windmill that was 350 years old. That I loved. It was beautiful with a thatched roof. Those blades go so fast. They can pump 20 000 gallons a minute, just from the wind. Wow! That was a very cool place. Apparently they are freezing inside in the winter. There are lots of sheep in Holland which surprised me as well as heaps of black and white cows.
We then went to a fishing village which used to be on the sea but is now on a freshwater lake. It was cute but very touristy. You could see nets in the water where they catch eels. I haven't quite got my head around this whole reclaimed land thing. How can they have 60 percent of their country where there used to be sea? It was explained but I still don't get it.
After dinner we went for a walk around downtown Amsterdam, from around 9pm-10.30. It was still light. It was much more beautiful than from the boat. Wow, was that an eye-opener. We didn't even go to the red light district but we went down some streets that maybe we shouldn't have. They had cafes that don't sell anything but coffee, with people doing unusual things in the windows. Dope is sold and smoked very openly. I had heard about it but there is nothing underground about the drug or sex trade in Amsterdam. It was a bit scary. But the city certainly was alive. I guess it is Saturday night.
Anyway, this is one country I will definitely put on my come back to one day list. I love it. And the tour guides are actually really funny.
One thing that I have noticed all the way from Budapest to Amsterdam on each of the rivers is how clean the rivers were. Even though they are all in flood, I did not see one pice of rubbish in 2 weeks. Amsterdam was different. We did see rubbish in the canals and in the streets.
Tonight is our last night on the boat and tomorrow we start our way home. I dont quite get how tonight (Saturday) is our last night in Europe and we have one night in Korea, but we get home on Wednesday. I think we lose 2 nights in flying. It is very sad to end this wonderful chapter in our lives but will be great to see family and friends again. I need to go back to being useful again.
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