Amsterdam

As we get settled in Amsterdam for the week, we’re getting up to speed on the horrific fires affecting neighbors and families of friends in Santa Rosa and surrounding areas. As of now, our home base of Petaluma is safe, but we’ve already heard of homes lost among people we know and can only offer support from afar to them and thanks to local friends who are coming together to help those affected.

Where van/RV life shines in access to a wide variety of locations while never leaving “home,” an apartment right smack in the middle of things lets you walk everywhere and plug more fully into the vibe of a town. So far (other than needing to keep a white knuckle grip on the kids to avoid them veering into the path of ubiquitous bicycles) we’ve had fun wandering around the narrow streets and along the canals of Amsterdam. Tomorrow maybe a canal boat tour and renting a Bakfiet cargo bike to extend our range. #amsterdamwithkids #travelwithkids #familytravel

We took to the canals today to explore the city, disembarking in the Red Light district which involved distracting the kids well enough to duck into a restaurant for lunch, and then taking another leg over towards the Artis Zoo, a really nicely done, very open feeling park with beautiful habitats right along a canal. Birds like the egret in the second pic and the lemur in the third seem totally free to wander around. There was even a peacock tying to get some popcorn from Ann while the kids played on the cool playground. Don’t worry, I stopped him. #peacockblock #amsterdamwithkids #artiszoo

I’ve been thinking about this day ever since we made the plan to go to Amsterdam. We love our @yubabicycles Spicy Curry at home, the inspiration for which can arguably be traced to classic Dutch “bakfiets” or “box bikes.” Amsterdam is laced with multi-user (car/pedestrian/bike) roads as well as dedicated bike paths flanking the street, complete with their own signal lights. The city is bustling with riders (a few too many of whom are looking down at their cell phones) and sidewalks are packed with the rest of the bikes. When you consider the statistic that there are as many bikes in Amsterdam as residents (+/- 850,000), the fact that they pull over 10,000 of them out of the canals every year doesn’t seem so crazy. Come along for a ride! (sound up for commentary from the girls) #bakfiets #cargobike #boxbike #amsterdamwithkids #sisterhoodofthetravelingparents #distractingmyselffromsonomacountyfires

Our four full days in Amsterdam are coming to a close, just as we’re starting to get the hang of apartment in the Jordaan neighborhood. Okay fine, I still usually walk the wrong direction out of the front door since “walk two blocks, cross a canal and look for the cafe on the corner” could really be any direction, but we definitely know how to get to a cool courtyard playground filled with bikes and scooters.
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And of course, there’s been some cultural adjustment, the downside of which was buying something called “wazverzachter” to do the laundry and later figuring out - mostly through the stinky softness of our clothes - that it was actually fabric softener, not soap. Then again, the upside was ordering take out at the Afghan restaurant across the alley, onto to find out that they’d just bring it over to our place one course at a time so we could eat at our dining table, located on the street level of the house like most we’ve peeked into in the neighborhood, as if it was in their restaurant.
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Another quirk has been the fact that our entire house is about 12’ wide, owing to the fact that property taxes in Amsterdam are charged based on the amount of street frontage. The result is four floors connected by narrow, *steep* staircases (pic 2). Once nestled in bed at the top, you do *not* want to start wondering if you remembered to lock the front door forty-five 6” steps below!
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Today, we rode the bikes down and explored the awesome NEMO science museum. Tomorrow, we pick up the motorhome and head for France!
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#amsterdamwithkids #bakfiets #boxbike #cargobike #familytravel #travelwithkids #bikewithkids