Amsterdam is a uniquely beautiful city. During the 1100’s Amsterdam was a fishing village along the Amstel River. In the late 1500’s the Amstel River was dammed and canals were built to contain the water. This created waterways for travel and dry land for construction. Construction of the canals continued, in phases, until 1665. The result is an amazingly dense city with water everywhere.
Our first day in Amsterdam was a ride from our boat to the picturesque Dutch village park at Zaanse Schans. We were able to learn about cheese making and how the windmills work. There was also a demonstration on making wooden shoes.
After one more night on the boat we were kicked out of the nest and on our own as we had to be off the boat by 9:00 the next morning. For the first time we had to figure out how to pack all of our belongings (why did we bring so much) onto the bike trailer. Even though we had explained our plan to travel back to Paris on our bikes to our fellow travelers during the cruise, they were all very curious about our packing plan. As Michael struggled to get everything onto the trailer, we consoled ourselves that the packing would get easier as we got more practice. Luckily our first ride was only a few miles through Amsterdam to our hotel.
One of the first things that struck us in Amsterdam is all of the bikes! There are so many bike riders on the street. Every street is lined on both sides with bike paths that are typically adjacent to the sidewalks. And if we were amazed by the number of bicycles on the street, we were dumbstruck by the bike parking. There was jammed full bike parking everywhere from the racks in front of our hotel to the huge bike garage at the train station. Of course Mike had to get into the action and try a local style bike at a swap meet we came across.
One of our favorite things to do in big cities is to take the Hop On Hop Off City Bus tour. Riding in the open top bus around the city while listening to a tour gives us a nice overview. Of course in Amsterdam we also had to tour the canals on a canal boat tour. At the Rijks Art Museum we learned a lot about the history of the Netherlands through their art (I always love to use an audio guide). The most famous painting we saw was Rembrandt’s Nightwatch. We also went to the Tropenmuseum (Tropics Museum) that gave an overview of the Dutch colonization in Indonesia and other southeast Asian countries. On those tourist days I wish we had more stamina. We are worn out long before we see everything.
Michael wanted to take a couple of longer, faster road rides but I decided to do a couple more tourist days. One day I rode the tram that stopped in front of our hotel to the end one way and then back to the end the other way (it’s a great way to see the city). On the second day I did a Rick Steve’s audio tour around the oldest part of the city.
After four days we were ready to move on so we packed up and rode to Gouda. Yes, like the cheese except that in Danish it’s pronounced “Howda” (the town and the cheese). On our second day, we got to see their cheese market that takes place once a week. The cheese merchants set up in the main square to sell their product. I think that the serious cheese business is handled early and by mid-morning it’s mostly tourists.
From Gouda we took the train on a day trip to The Hague which is the town where the United Nations houses the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the United Nations International Court of Justice. The courts are located in the Peace Palace that was built between 1907 and 1913. Funding was initially donated by Andrew Carnegie. They have an informative visitor center but we did not get to tour the palace because court was in session that day.
After Gouda we rode for three straight days to Belgium. The riding was very nice on wide paths along the many canals. We took our first ferry crossing. We really appreciated how the biking infrastructure was integrated in with the sidewalks and streets. In the Netherlands bikes are generally given the right-of-way over cars.
Travel the World Backpacking 
Sounds like you’re having a great time. Thanks for the updates. Jan
Wow! How the heck do you find your bike after you park it? I forgot to mention in one of your previous posts how cool the building was that had bicycles as art all over the outside.