Bikes and books

They have a great culture of bicycling around here. The government encourages their people to bike. The city is pretty compact and like all the older European cities their streets are narrow. It's also pretty flat so biking here is pretty easy. You have to watch out though, I think the cyclists have the right of way and I almost got run over by about a hundred of them. They're on the sidewalks, on the bike paths and in the streets. I see kids in 'boxes' installed on the front of the bikes with their parent cycling them around. Becky, you probably wouldn't do that - no straps!

We got here a couple of days early before the tour starts. They have a fabulous library (bibliotheek). Everyone comes here to hang out. Not only does it have books and magazines, they have rows and floors of pubic computers, ethernet ports for people to come just play games, e-mail, or do home work.

Here's a shot of some of the bikes parked by the library.

This is our hotel. The Grand Amrath. It's only a hundred years and was the center of shipping in Amsterdam. The hotel itself has only been in this building for 3 years. I thought it looked old when I first saw it (and it was) but it's really a beautiful hotel inside! Very modern, I would say 5 stars if I knew what a 5 star hotel was like!