David's Diary: Thursday, Sept. 6, 2001

Amsterdam Canal Tour

We had four goals when we came to Amsterdam: see Anne Frank Huis, visit the Van Gogh museum, look for books, and take a canal tour. We have done everything on our list but the canal tour so first thing this morning we headed into the center. We had a wait before our tour started, so we stopped and watched an open air chess game. The chess pieces were as large as Allen.

Amsterdam is built around a series of concentric rings of canals. In the city center you are never more than a few moments walk away from a canal. The canal tour takes you through these narrow waterways and under the numerous bridges that span each canal. You get to look up at the cars and people walking the streets above you, while admiring the facades of the canal side houses. Our tour took us by Westerkerk church with the tallest steeple in Amsterdam, then by the Anne Frank Huis, and onwards towards the train station. The tour includes a short trip through the harbor where you see first hand that Amsterdam is a busy port. With its low freeboard, short beam, and long length, the canal tour boat almost seems to small for the larger waterway. Our tour took us back into the canal belt where we worked our way back to our starting point.

More Bikes

The children talked us into visiting Hard Rock Cafe. Seeing the style and portions of food at HRC, we realize how much we enjoy eating in France and the Netherlands. While we are still getting used to the Dutch custom of always putting French fries out with dinner, food portions are smaller and more varied than standard fare in restaurants in North America.

We catch the tram and visit an Internet Cafe near Dam Square that I noticed yesterday. In order to keep everyone in touch, we spend more than an hour at the cafe reading and writing email. By now it is late afternoon and everyone is tired enough that we head back to our hotel passing bike racks crowed with Amsterdam's favorite form of transportation.

Tram

Our favorite mode of travel has been the tram. Our hotel is located near tram line number two and we have got to know the route into the center of town. The children like riding the tram as they get a good view of things around them, including the interesting people that get on and off at each stop.

We walk back to our hotel along a canal and Allen and I stop at a playground. Allen has energy to burn and he climbs, swings, and runs around enjoying some time off. We have found a really nice deli near our tram stop so Kevin and I make a trip to the deli to buy dinner. We return to the hotel room for a nice family meal.

After dinner, the boys settle down to watch TV in English and Karalee curls up with a good book. Jocelyn and I are ready to see the big city, so we head out for a nighttime visit to Amsterdam. We mingle with the crowds, walk the city, and find a few cafes where we stop and watch the world pass us by.