Around Amsterdam

Our trip to Amsterdam was already a bit shaky when Aislinn got run over by a bicycle.

We had bolted out of the apartment early that morning to catch the train. No time for breakfast, but that's okay because these wonderful European trains always have a little cafe on them. Ummm, not this train. This almost three-hour train. The kids were not impressed as we doled out meager rations of the ginger cookies I'd tossed in my purse on the way out the door.

The train was slow, and stopped at every location between Brussels and Amsterdam. This was a far cry from our catered, hi-speed train to Paris.

Getting out of the train station, I saw something I had never seen before: thousands and thousands of bicycles. This is not an exaggeration. I wish I had gotten a photo. Picture your elementary school on the first day of spring when everyone excitedly rode their bikes to school after the long winter (this analogy is only useful for my Canadian friends). The bikes stacked practically one on top of each other in the rack, different colours and sizes. And then multiply this hundreds of times, along the sides of streets and bridges, and in multi-level lots specifically for this purpose.

Then picture just as many bikes, but on the street now. There are lanes for cars, lanes for the tram, lanes for bikes, and finally a sidewalk for walkers. I applaud their environmental friendliness, but it adds a whole new level of challenge to walking around.

We avoided the bikes and negotiated the tram system to get to our hotel. After checking in, we got on a tourist boat to see the sights from the canal:

The kids, who could have fun in a paper bag, amused themselves while waiting for the boat:

We got off at the Albert Cuyp Market. There were the standard tourist booths and flea market items, but what interested me were the fabric stores. I loved the thought of buying some great fabric and making a fabulous skirt when we got home, to remind me of the trip. The first two stores had great prices -- 3 and 4 euros per metre -- but nothing caught my eye. The next store had gorgeous fabrics, in stunning colours and patterns. It also had framed magazine pages showing their fabrics on the fashion runway, draped into beautiful dresses on even more beautiful models. At about 75 euros a metre, I couldn't justify my Amsterdam skirt.

Phil wanted to check out The Heineken Experience, which is a self-guided tour of interactive experience on four levels, in the old Heineken Brewery. Here is a photo of everyone standing outside what was not actually the entrance to the Experience.

Here is the actual entrance, about 12 seconds before Aislinn got run over by a bicycle.

In the midst of a discussion on whether it was worth paying a whopping 16 euros each to go in, I crossed the bike lane to take this photo. Picture this. There is the building. Then a sidewalk in front of the building. Then a bike lane. Then the other half of the sidewalk. Yes, the bike lane runs directly down the middle of the sidewalk.

I carefully crossed and told the kids to STAY THERE while I took a photo. Aislinn, always the epitome of parental respect, tried to follow me, and stepped right into the path of a 6-foot-tall cyclist traveling at a good clip. Needless to say, they both went down.

Miraculously, Aislinn had nothing more than a scratch and some grease stains. The cyclist was gracious as he untangled himself and his bicycle from her, and carried on.

At this point, Aislinn was a puddle of blubbering mush, the other kids were cranky and I'd had just about enough of visiting Amsterdam. So Phil's parents went off for another boat tour, and the rest of us walked to Vondelpark for a drink:

Ahhh, now we were feeling much better.

On the walk through the park toward the hotel, we came across an outdoor concert -- a groovy African band, and hemp-burgers (veggie burgers with hemp seeds). Great tunes and delicious food, and our day had completely turned around.

The next day, we checked out the NEMO Children's Science Museum (giant boat-shaped structure):

The kids could have spent the entire weekend there. The biggest hit was a water-treatment activity, where the kids took rainwater to about 9 different stations to clear it of dirt, germs, calcium, etc.

The bubble display was also really fun:

We caught the train back late that afternoon (picking up food for the ride back!) and were happy to get back to Brussels, where you hardly ever see anyone on a bicycle.