Amsterdam Day 1

After breakfast, we head out on a Jordan led walk following a George Carlin commentary.

Nick standing under a Saint Nicholas statue

Look far to the back to see Melissa

This city is crazy with bikes, no one wears helmets and you see very few near misses.  Melissa and I were extremely nervous about riding the congested streets of Amsterdam and since it was a private tour we could go where we wanted…so after a short trek thru the city we headed on a ferry to the north island without the city congestion.  Both Melissa and I were a little tentative but Nick brought up the rear and coached us. 

In the group picture above it is pretty fortuitous for Jim to be the only one to keep his helmet on.

We stop for some photos and then get back to the ride

disclaimer: this is my version of events…

We were all coming down a bridge incline with some speed and we were making a right hand turn to a new path.  Typically the gap between rest of the group and me, Melissa and coach Nick was expansive…..exceptJim lost a little ground and was right in front of us - coming down the incline of the bridge we were making a sharp right hand turn onto a new path.  I had some speed and was about to make the turn when I saw Jim ahead of me….he had gone a little of course and was pulling back onto the path from a wooded area where he had overshot the turn. This was going to block some of my turning area.  I couldn’t squeeze by him, so I screamed at him and tried my best to slam on the brakes…no such luck…the bikes were pretty heavy and the brakes would slow you down but not stop.  So I just screamed Jim, and as he got more into the path we were definitely on a collision course.  Down I went, took him down and then he fell on me.  Getting him untwined from all the pedals and frame was a puzzle.  But we got up and on our way.  Jim started to ache, my damage was minor but his ribs were sore. 

Jim’s version - I ran into him.

We made our way back to the bike shop and then headed for our canal cruise

We learn that the homes are built at an angle leaning forward with a hook at the top that they can use the pulley to move furniture upstairs. Our captain said as a teenager they would hoist each other up with the pulley to knock on the 4th floor windows to scare their mothers. Boys!

Next up is dinner. This was one of the unplanned nights and it proved hard to find a restaurant that could seat 7 of us on a night when the whole city is about to close its inner circles to all traffic for the next 2 days to celebrate their 750th anniversary. With everyone on their phones researching restaurants with high ratings and walkable, we ultimately end up at Bleu where we had some pretty good food. Hamburgers, steak, Coq Au Vin and endless fries. Oh yeah and followed by gelato.

Now back to the hotel where Jim was in some real pain.  Poor guy, taken out by his wife.