Observations in Amsterdam....

No, you don't need Uggs here. No need to smoke or own a car either. Parking is over 5 euros an hour, add 33% to that and that is the dollar amount. Yes, a bike lane. I am thinking these Amstedam types are low maintence, the bikes are basic and for the most part very rusted and neglected, must be all the canals and the humidity. Sunglasses aren't a priority, crates and baskets on the front of the bikes, a must. Oh, no helmets,not really necessary as they aren't speeding, but coasting... they work to live, not live to work like the Americans! My sister would be one of a kind here with her red lipstick, the women are very althetic and natural. You won't see chemical blondes here. The population looks fit and I am not seeing people smoking or obsessed with their cell phones, on their bikes like in Stockholm. Its relaxed and calm, comfortable here. Totally a under the radar population.
On the artist fron, the architecture is really stays in the margins of a theme. Tall narrow buildings with almost a western facade, the stairs, the domed hat, all with white trim, just lovely.
The city has a series of canals and probably hundreds of footbridges everywhere with a low profile curve. This in and of itself makes for long short vessels, houseboats and fishing boats all parallel parked along the canals. The water is clean, I didn't detect any smell... not even weed as there are pipe shops everywhere. So there is pot and I never saw anyone smoking, maybe there is worry over secondhand smoke?
Again, no site of a Fitness 24 or similiar gym, its all about the bikes, bikes and bikes.
Food, comfort food, boiled potatoes, cabbage, gravy, fries, sausage, stews and Heineken, which I learned also owns Amstel light. Heineken is the pride of Holland.
The flower market was a must for me, a bit pre season for the variety I was hoping to see but if you love tulips this is the place. Wooden shoes, decorative in the city but very much in use in the country. As my bartender just told me, don't wear socks, they will shape to your feet and keep your feet dry. They are good for the field work.
On a sad note, Queen Bestrix (75% public approval) second son was in a terrible skiing accident in Austria where there was record snow this year. Evidently he was off trail skiing, was consumed in an avalanche, located in 20 minutes, revived but remains in a coma, married with two very young girls. I wish I knew him, he gave up the opportunity of ever being on the throne as he married a common woman... a real man in my opinion! Then again it really was not storybook for Grace Kelley, she spent the final y-e-a-r-s of her life in Paris alone. I wonder how many times she reflected on the Hollywood life of glamour she left?? Regardless, he remains in a coma and most common people here in the hotel just wish they were getting some news, some information on his condition.
Here in Amsterdam it is a relief not to play charades, meaning they speak English and I don't have to launch into my primitive acting skills in an effort to communicate. To few, I'll admit, as a college senior I needed a French tutor to pass French II with a "C". Somewhere in my gene pool, phonics and my ability to retain "other languages" was denied. I have learned, without any restraint, to bypass this handicap and play charades. As Paris Hilton says "Whatever!".
All in all, very practical people here, designer free, drug free??? and approachable.
I look forward to returning at the end of my multiple stop journey, really, how can I live and not buy wooden shoes in that fabulous blue and white delft pattern.
BTW, Holland and the Netherlands are interchangeable like the USA and America.
Thanks for reading my blog.
Joan
Joan