Amsterdam

Part of our crazy inexpensive plane tickets involved a long layover in Amsterdam.  We booked a hotel close to the airport since we had a lot of luggage and would be arriving in the afternoon and flying out the next morning.  Since it was such a short amount of time we wanted to make it count.  We also kept in mind what we though Wren would enjoy.  We decided to book a private cycling tour since Amsterdam is famous as a cycling city. 

We had some flight delays getting there so by the time we arrived at our hotel (near the airport) after collecting our bags (the baggage was SOOO slow!) we had 5 minutes at the hotel to drop things off, grab long sleeve shirts and try to get to downtown Amsterdam to meet our tour guide.  We were a little late but the tour was great.  We learned a bit about the history of Amsterdam. 

It was originally swampland but they decided it was a good place for a port city so they build canals to drain the land.  The problem was the fluctuating sea level caused the land to be unstable so they built dams and levies to control the water level. 

The city was quite small and mostly a port until the East India Company was founded (1600's).  The idea behind the East India Company was that if people invested in a ship and it sank, they lost everything.  If it managed to bring goods and spices from other countries, you had a huge profit.  So a company was created that invested in many ships and if a ship sank you didn't loose your whole investment because the rest of the vessels were profitable.  The success of the company created much growth in the city mostly for warehouses but also for residences and the supporting businesses in the city.  It also created a new type of investing.  We visited the building of the original offices of the East India Company but the pictures are not so spectacular. 

Jeff and Wren ready to ride!

The buildings with the red shutters used to be warehouses.  They are all houses or shops or combinations of the two now.

This used to be the tallest building in Amsterdam and is a great landmark as we rode around the city.

Pretty canal.

Family picture at the park.

There is a bike path through part of the Museum.  The ceilings were beautiful.

The tiny house.  It is 1.5 meters wide, you can pretty much touch both walls with outstretched arms.

Some things you need to know about architecture in Amsterdam.  The houses are very narrow (see picture above).  The houses are taxed based on how wide they are facing the canal so the houses and warehouses were build very narrow and close together.

The ground is still pretty squishy so the houses are build on wooden posts that go down 20 to 30 meters (that's 60-90 ft) to get to solid ground.  The posts need inspected periodically and replaced.  This maintained is expensive which makes the housing costs of the older houses along the canals very high.

They have very narrow and steep staircases so the front windows are always large.  Every house has a arm extending outward from the top with a large hook on it.  This is to lift furniture or goods (when they were warehouses) to the upper floors because the stairs are too small and steep.  Many of the houses lean slightly outward to make this process easier.  There is a picture below that this is easier to see.

Pretty canal.

There are house boats along many of the canals.  They were installed after WWII due to a lack of available housing.  Most of the boats are permanent instillations and are hooked to city water, sewer and gas.  You have to by the boat parking spot and the boat.

This picture you can see the hooks clearly from the two dark houses in the center of the picture.  You can see the one with the light shutters is leaning forward towards the street so that items being raised from the hook are less likely to hit the windows below.

Pretty church and a pretty sunset.

Amsterdam was a very pretty city.  It was crazy busy and the number of cyclists out and about was crazy.  Navigating the cycling traffic, trams, cars and motor scooters was something that Jeff and I were glad we had a guide for.  It was nice to get a little history of the city and people as well.  Amsterdam seems like a very child friendly city.  There were many playgrounds and a huge park.  I think it would be very nice to go back again when we have more time to enjoy the city.  They cycling tour was a fun way to end vacation (followed by a fantastic dinner).  Tomorrow we had back to Boise.  It has been a wonderful trip! 

I'll try and follow up with some tips on travel with a toddler, or at least say what worked well and poorly for us.