Arriving in Amsterdam was not the thrill I expected. Having visited this city multiple times in the past, I have always been fascinated with its amazing architecture, multi cultured neighborhoods, variety of cuisine, and huge network of canals…. But never have I seen it this populated. Admittedly, I’ve never been here in the summertime. I’ve always preferred to travel to Europe in the spring or fall and now I know why. There were people everywhere …on every street and with every corner you turned, more people! And it was hot! You can imagine …with all those people …combined with the canals full of water… and the sun baking us… It felt like you were smothering at times.

Most importantly… For a city of 840,000, there were literally millions of bicycles. Its their primary form of transportation. Every year, they pull at least 10,000 bicycles out of the canals. And, the bicycles have the right away! Next comes the cars… And finally the pedestrians, …but the scariest part of walking down the street is bicycles whizzing past you …one right after the other going what appears to be at least 20 miles an hour. You have to be EXTREMELY careful not to get hit.

The canals are lined with houseboats.
You buy your boat ( just like we buy a house) and the space it occupies on the water comes with the boat, …but you pay an annual fee for that space as well as property taxes on the boat. The boats are hooked up to city septic.

And, You might be wondering about flooding in the canals, well they have conquered that problem by building 16 different locks that control the water level. Also, the new law requires all boats to be electric by the end of 2026.

But, in spite of the above descriptions, we managed to explore the city and get in at least two good museum visits… Even though the Anne Frank house and the Van Gogh museum were both sold out. We also enjoyed several excellent meals. In fact, I had snails on two occasions.😜

I guess the best part for me was meeting up with two of my buddies that live in Amsterdam that I hadn’t seen in over a decade. And, the saddest part was the disappearance of the “flower market”….which used to be a street on one of the main canals that was lined with fresh flower vendors as far as you could see… and the smell was intoxicating. Now, it is lined with vendors selling trinkets and bulbs.🥲

Heading home was a fiasco…38 hours of travel …and spending the night in the Philadelphia airport made for a rough return. But who could ever complain, when you’re lucky enough to be blessed with such an amazing trip with a best friend.