Netherlands & Belgium 2022 - Day 2 / Amsterdam

Steps today : 28 472 / 18.39km

Day 2 was a day just to loiter in Amsterdam with no set plans.

I say no plans, but that is not entirely true - I always have my customized Google map with dropped pins in various colours of all the things I want to see and do, so when I say we have no plans, it really means: the only thing planned is what I call "finding the dots".  Once done (seen, photographed), I change the dot colour to black so as the days go along I can easily see what's left.

We got to the ferry a little before 9AM, and it was busy with commuters - all on bikes of course! This caught my eye of a doggy in a basket with a roll cage - cute!

First dot to check was the Cuyperspassage, a new through-tunnel that links Central Amsterdam with the River on the other side of the train station. It's really neat looking, like 2 mismatched tunnels were stuck together (pedestrians on one side, and cyclists on the other) but because it was so busy I never really got the shot I wanted that showed this effect. 

Here's a picture I took on when it wasn't so busy a few days later.... 

       

And an attempt to get a picture of the tiled side... 

Of course, I had to get a picture of the bike-parking. None of the pictures I took really did it justice, it's one of those sights you can't easily fit into a picture.  It has to be seen in person to appreciate the immensity!  It's bikes bikes bikes as far as the eye can see..... are there even this many people in Amsterdam?

Next was "Operation Cat Boat" a floating cat shelter along the canal. Why an operation? because I only ever saw cats on it once, during my first visit to Amsterdam when we actually went inside. On subsequent visits, I never saw another one!  This time...  FINALLY success! TWO!

Next, a trek to find the Hidden Tiny Houses... they even have legit addresses!

Time for a coffee break after this, so I suggested we go to Rembrandt Square to see the Night Watch Statues. Turns out they are gone. Removed in 2020 over some payment dispute between the artist and the city. Too bad, ah well, at least there was a cat!

We strolled around a bit more, no real destination in mind...

And ended up at the Waag where we stopped for a drink and a snack....  that I shared with the bee.

We strolled around some more, still not hungry enough for lunch...

.... and eventually ended up at Dam Square, where sadly the National Monument was under reno and completely blocked off. Not as scenic a view as we hoped! I didn't even take a picture.

It was getting pretty hot by then, so the outside tables at one café were filled up by sun-lovers...  being shady people, we opted to sit in the nice and non-sunny tables of the café next door! It was so funny - we had the entire place all to ourselves. Europe is full of sun lovers, which we are NOT.

Another reason we picked this place, is that we knew it was on a World Web Cam, so we messaged my mom to say we were there so she could see us. When my mom and I went to Amsterdam in 2018, we did the same thing and waved to Frank at home.

She got a screen shot, but of course not when we were looking in the direction of the camera!

We had a drink, charged our phones for a while, then finally head off to have lunch - it was already 2PM

We went to the Pancake Bakery for lunch, a touristy staple for us on every trip to Amsterdam, but we both agreed this would be the last time. The novelty has worn off and while the food is good, it's not worth making a special point to come here anymore after having it a few times already....  Especially if we have to wait in line! You all know how I feel about that!

After lunch, I knocked another "dot off the map". The Huddesteen (Hudde's Stone). The last of Amsterdam's original sea level markers still in its original place, dating back to 1684.

And then, with that heavy lunch still roiling around in my belly, feeling too full and sluggish we set off to yet another café so I could push it down and get some help digesting with a Grand Marnier.

I was able to move again after that helping hand and so we just spent the rest of the evening wandering across the city, ending up on the other side of town at the "Skinny Bridge" in the south.

It was around 5:30 by then and we were STILL full, so we nixed the idea of more food and headed back northwards. We walked around the Science Center (Nemo) for a while, got a shot of the Fancy Ship Replica, then it was back on the ferry and an early night in. I could have done more, but had to force myself to stop...  I am not very good at conserving energy for later, but I tried!

Today's map: