Amsterdam - on the bikes

After a very warm night and an early morning wake-up (it’s light here around 5.30am), the day cooled rapidly from around 9am. 

Yum - brekky!

We walked to the local supermarket to get some more cash, then wandered around the canals and bridges here in Zeeburg.  Kiri found the street market and went looking for a belt.  I found the cheese stall to be the most interesting, and they were happy to oblige our request for photos.

On the corner of our street, there's a few parking spots for electric cars where they can recharge at the same time.

Around lunchtime the rain eased so we took Ben’s bikes out and rode into Amsterdam.  No maps, just random changes of direction (which was fun at the end when we needed to know where we were!!)  

We rode past the zoo and I couldn't help myself.  Flamingoes!

This is the Waag, a gate in the old city wall, built in 1488

We stopped at an eatery (or drinkery, as they seemed to have more beer than food!) and we ordered some chips.  Kiri tried one of their beers whilst I had a delicious hot chocolate.  Why are they are so much nicer in Europe?

Back to where we'd secured the bikes

Bubble-blowing in Dam Square

Instead of riding straight home, we decided to take the free ferry across the IJmeer and go home a slightly longer way on the north side of the lake.  This was a really nice ride until we got to the two bridges, when we were faced with a strong headwind.  Ben’s bikes are typical Dutch cruising bikes, with no gears and a back-pedalling brake.  The area around Amsterdam is pretty flat, but the bridges have quite an incline.  I ended up walking for a bit.  Oh, well.  

On the ferry to IJplein.  The trip takes 5 minutes.

Nieuwendammerdijk

The first bridge.  Note the raised section to allow a couple of yachts through

Amsterdam - Canal Tour

After we left our luggage with Ben on his houseboat, we caught a tram to Leidseplein to find our open boat tour company.  The boat was not very big, and the bow and seats were covered in thick cushions.  Kiri and I claimed the bow (there were only 6 other people on the tour).  The weather was perfect – warm and sunny.  Hats and sunscreen needed.  The 75 minute tour was fantastic.  We went down some really small canals where the larger boats cannot manoeuvre, and no roof on the boat meant unobstructed views.  In the end, Kiri just lay like a lizard in the sun and tried (not very hard) to stay awake.   We seriously considered doing the trip a second time.

Concentric bridges!  Six of them!

Ouderkerk tower

Montelbaanstoren - brickwork 1512, wooden tower 1606

On the very wide Amstel River

Amstel River again

It was nice lying back and looking up

Kirily, the lounge lizard

After that we caught a tram to Dam Square and wandered through some of the Red Light District.

Built in 1650, this used to be the Town Hall and is now the Royal Palace

Many of the buildings here are no longer vertical

This part of Amsterdam is known as Little Venice as the buildings lie directly on the canal

By this stage I was beginning to flag.  Considering I'd spent the previous fortnight lying on the couch, I thought I'd done pretty well walking so far.  A couple of tram trips later and we were back at Ben's houseboat with access to our room.  Sitting at the wide open window, leaning out to watch birds and boats up and down the canal - it's a tough life, but someone's gotta do it!!

Ben's Boat'n'Breakfast

After a very long flight from Singapore, we arrived in Amsterdam before 7am.  By the time we’d cleared immigration, collected luggage, withdrawn cash, bought train tickets, headed for the centre and found our B&B, it was almost 9.30am.  That was 36 hours since we left Creswick.  Ben allowed us to leave our luggage on his houseboat, and kindly offered us a cuppa and biscuit in his unit on the boat.   These photos were taken after we returned from a day in the city.  More about that when I can keep my eyes open longer.

Birds around the houseboat (so far): Yellow-legged Gull, Black-headed Gull, Geese (the barnyard variety), Mallard, Coot (with chicks), Great-crested Grebe (with chicks).  I'm happy!

Singapore

With an 8 hour stopover at Changi Airport, we were eligible for the free 2 ½ hour city tour.  We cleared immigration (which means we actually entered the country) and hopped on a coach with two dozen other tourists of various nationalities.  The whole country is about the same size as the Hepburn Shire(!!), and it was around 30 degrees with high humidity – a bit hard to cope with after the Aussie winter weather.  We drove down a very green expressway into the city itself. 

 It was quite noticeable that Singapore is not as strict as Aus regarding seatbelt laws.

The view from the bridge (which bridge?  Dunno. Sorry.)

We got off the bus and walked to the Merlion, the symbol of Singapore.

Kiri and I were both fascinated by the boat-shaped structure sitting atop three buildings.  

Bougainvillaea is everywhere.

Our final stop was at the beautiful park, Gardens by the Bay.  We had half an hour to wander here, and as the light faded the colours on the Supertrees became brighter.  It was a really lovely area.

Changi Airport also has some beautiful gardens within.  The Enchanted Garden,

and the Orchid Garden and the Koi Pond.