Amsterdam (128 images)

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If Bruges and Berlin had a child, it would be Amsterdam.
Even after 16 days touring all over Europe, our last stop on the continent still produced the greatest culture shock of any place on our entire trip.
No place is like Amsterdam. Period. Holland/Netherlands has one wild capital city.
The bicycles. O.M.G. The bikes. They were everywhere. It's no coincidence that just about every single photo I have in this gallery has bikes in it, because they are freaking everywhere. Within a few hours of arriving, we made our way to the nearest bike shop where we rented our steel, two-wheeled, 50-pound chariot. The thing was built like a tank, and had the most hardcore chain lock I've ever seen - it was some kind of hardened steel allow impervious to bolt cutters. The guy at the shop said that there are 750,000 people in Amsterdam, but at least 1,000,000 bikes.
The overwhelming number of bikes cannot be understated. Joining the fray on bikes was an experience both exciting and terrifying all at the same time. We rode at least 10 kilometers the first afternoon, and probably twice that the second day, and it was insane. Within 20 minutes, I almost killed a mom and her two kids she carried in her front basket, saw people sitting on the front rail of bikes as passengers like it was a freakin Lazy Boy recliner, women in high heels on bikes, people smoking on bikes, people texting on bikes, people talking on cell phones on bikes, and kids freaking standing on the back end of bikes holding onto their father's shoulders - I could go on and on.
IT WAS INSANE.
Riding on the bikes through the city was fun, but it did get a bit tiresome because I kept feeling bad about screwing up - it was like the first day at a new job. I apologize a lot trying to remember all the rules, forgetting to signal and almost knocking people over. Fortunately the Dutch people all speak English and are very forgiving, light-hearted, and try to teach you the rules when you screw up. It was a blast, and I'm glad I went - but man, what a place. Whew.
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Amsterdam (128 images)

Email: info@JCoxPhotography.comCall/Text: 612-615-4377

Email: info@JCoxPhotography.com

Call/Text: 612-615-4377