I’m not sure, but I think we may have lucked out with the weather over the last couple days here in Amsterdam. Today especially, was sunny almost all day with almost no wind. Not the sort of weather I was expecting prior to our arrival.
Michelle and Lisa were at the university again this morning, but were able to get out and do some stuff this afternoon in the nice weather. I started the day with a short bike ride south on the Amstel River. The ride was just long enough to get out of the city a bit and into the country-side. Click here to see my bike route and GPS data.
Bike ride route along the Amstel River.
This afternoon, Michelle and I headed out for a run/hike at Bezoekerscentrum, which is a pretty big park/recreational area east of the airport (Schiphol). This is where Amsterdam’s rowing venue is located. The park also contains the largest hill I have seen so far in the city; it might have been 10-20m at its highest point. I’ve been doing regular hikes on Wednesdays with some of my co-workers; this was our Amsterdam version, too bad the others couldn’t make it. Click here to see our hike route and GPS data.
Our hike route at Berzoekerscentrum in Amsterdam.
We wrapped up the day with another dining outing at Burgermeester and took some photos this time for your viewing pleasure.
The following photos appear in the order they were taken today.
Riding south alongside the Amstel River in Amsterdam. Blue sky was nice to see.
There are many houses in seemingly precarious, low-lying locations along the Amstel River. I guess my opinion of these locations doesn't really count for much; surely people have lived along the bank of the river for ages.
Some guy out for a row on the river. Yes it was shorts weather today.
If you are in Amsterdam and want to see a windmill, head down the Amstel River. I saw two within 10km of the city center.
After riding south along the west bank of the river, I turned around just north of Ouder-Amstel and headed back up the east bank. This nice picture of horsies was taken in this area.
Fancy house on the west bank of the Amstel River (south of Amsterdam).
Another church as seen from one of the many drawbridges in and near Amsterdam.
More Amsterdam office building architecture. You can't see it here, but this one has a moat, perhaps to trap unwanted door-to-door salespeople, or keep employees from leaving.
Michelle screwing around on nice Amsterdam park art. This is near the start of our afternoon hike.
I guess I would be a hypocrite, if I didn't point out that I was screwing around on the park art too.
On our way into the Bezoekerscentrum park for our afternoon hike.
Looking west down the rowing race course at Bezoekerscentrum.
A handy-dandy map of the Bezoekerscentrum park.
Tree-top entertainment for the kiddies, and perhaps adults too at the Berzoekerscentrum. I was too scared to go into the tree-tops.
The view from the top of the tallest hill I have been on in Amsterdam. This is located in the Bezoekerscentrum.
A nice little running/hiking trail in the Berzoekerscentrum.
One of the many nice views along the way during our trek through the park.
A little lake within the park near sunset.
Another view of the little lake in the park.
Hike all done. Waiting for train #51 to take us back to town. The public transit system here is pretty damn good.
Burgermeester!
Great photos again. I think living close to the river doesn’t bother them because the whole country is one mega-tsunami or one inter-glacial warm spell away from having anemones as neighbours. In either event, those tree tops will look pretty good!
Thank you for the Horsies picture! Quit screwing around on the art and get busy with the next post!! OK?
Enjoying this excursion of yours very much. More please.
Well what a couple of enjoyable days of touring. We echo the comments of those previous “commenters”. There are some great pictures and the people in the photos raise the interest level. The Fall weather … what a great time of the year to see another place.
Loved the comment above about the waterlevels What wicked wit. Netherlands is looking at trying to answer some big questions. In the mean time since you have almost made to Amstel pick up some Edam cheese and do another brewery tour in Amstel. What’s with these Burgermeesters? Try some Indonesian chicken satay with peanut sauce. Should be lot’s around.
DiJi
Don’t dis the Burgermeester! They have a rabbit meat burger you know:)