Of dogs and giants

Welcome to Amsterdam!  Try not to get killed by a cyclist.

7.45am
Amsterdam

Well, we're now in Amsterdam and, boy, are we glad that flight's over.  With almost no sleep on the plane, we've been awake now for the best part of 26 hours straight.  Tired and jetlagged but too early to check-in to our accommodation, we seek out our first coffee.

With coffees and a croissant before us, we turn our tourist-eyes upon Amsterdam (well, the part that exists immediately outside the cafe window).  The first thing you notice is that almost everybody here rides a bike.  There's still plenty of cars on the road but they're easily outnumbered by cyclists.  According to the taxi driver who drove us from the airport, Amsterdam has a population of about 600,000 people who collectively own about 2.5 million bicycles.  Yes, that's about four bikes for every person in the city.  Oh, and none of them wear helmets.  One of the unique things about many of the bikes here is the 'wheelbarrow' or carriage that they have built in which are used to ferry around anything from fresh produce to dogs to small children.

The city has dedicated lanes on every footpath just for cyclists and woe-be-tide any unwary foot pedestrian who ventures onto a bike lane without checking in both directions first.  I imagine that getting hit (which we nearly have several times) by a flying dutchman on his two-wheeled terror would be a messy way to die.

The second thing you notice is how tall these people are.  I think I read somewhere recently that the Dutch are officially the tallest people on earth (average per capita).  I believe it.  Now, stick a Dutchy on a bike and you have a 12 foot blonde giant moving at considerable speed without much regard for your safety.

Amsterdam is quite a pretty town especially if you take a wander along any of the many canals for which the city is famous for.  From the well-kept and charming canal houses lining the -ahem- canals, to the abundance of markets and museums, there's plenty to see here.  Begonias, geraniums, pansies etc are everywhere; hanging in baskets off the bridge railings over the canals, from hanging baskets on the street lights, and even fake flowers woven around bike handlebars and baskets.

Also, many of the canals have floating gardens of flowers and some even have veggie patches.  It's all very picturesque and, when the locals aren't trying to run you down, they're quite friendly (and pretty much all of them speak English).

Fortunately, all this beauty is not besmirched by doggy do-do, which it easily could be given that Amsterdammers are about as fond of dogs as they are bikes.  If cars are to cats in this city, bikes are to dogs.  I keep expecting to see a six foot tall hipster dog peddling down Van Wou Straat (sans helmet), texting on his iPhone and leaving behind swathes of unsuspecting tourists skittled in his wake.