Blog: I Think It's This Way» Bye Bye Amsterdam

Bye Bye Amsterdam

Kris — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:39:28 +0000

Today was our last day here in Amsterdam. The week has gone by as all weeks seem to go: quickly. I think all of us feel like our time here has been well-spent, I know for sure that I do. Before I get too far down the road to a teary goodbye, I will do an about-face and let you know about the fun stuff we did today. Oh, before I do that, I’ll point out that I do not know what our Internet situation is going to be in Spain, starting tomorrow. If you don’t see a posting at the usual time tomorrow it probably means that I don’t have convenient network access. Stay tuned, I’ll post something eventually.

I started off the morning with a trip back to the bike shop to drop off my rental road bike and then walked the 4km back to our temporary abode through Vondelpark and downtown Amsterdam. Not much new to report here; the park was just as nice as it was the other day.

After taking care of some pre-departure logistics for a couple hours around lunchtime, Michelle, Lisa, and I headed off to Mac Bike to rent some Amsterdam city-style bikes for a ride down the Amstel River (a similar ride to the one I did on Wednesday). After the ride: to the Puccini chocolate shop for Michelle to re-supply; some OK food at an Italian-style restaurant; and finally a trip to the Van Gogh Museum.

To start things off, here is a map of our 20km bike ride on the city bikes. Click here to see the GPS data and map on the Garmin website.

Casual bike ride route down part of the Amstel River with Michelle and Lisa.

The following pictures appear in the order they were taken today.

Heading out of town on the goofy bikes along the east bank of the Amstel River. Some nice Amsterdam residences on the left.

Stylish looking boathouse with extra adornment.

Amstel River old-school mansion.

A slightly blurry Michelle and Lisa on the Amsterdam machines.

A somewhat less blurry Michelle aboard the Amsterdam tourist special bike.

Lots of rowers out on the Amstel River tonight.

What do sheep think about?

Amstel River windmill near sunset on October 30.

Hazy sunset as seen from the Amstel River near Amsterdam.

Puccini again. Michelle seems happy to have the opportunity to re-supply.

It probably wouldn't be quite right if I didn't have a picture of one of the many drug paraphernalia shops in Amsterdam.

Tonight was Museumnacht (museum night) at the Van Gogh Museum. Since you can't take photos inside I can't really show you anything interesting. There was a DJ spinning eurobeats and chilled Heineken among other stuff. The original artwork by Van Gogh and his life story were pretty interesting as well.

Lost in the Barrens

Kris — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:33:07 +0000

More university for Michelle and Lisa today and another bike ride for me. I’ll cut to the chase, I had another great bike ride, this one being the most ambitious of the three I have done here in the Netherlands.

I left the abode at about 11am and headed out to Noordwijk, a small town on the Atlantic, southwest of Amsterdam. I wanted to see the coast and had read that there was some interesting sand dune stuff out there, hence my decision to go. See the following map for an idea of where I went. Some of the towns I passed through: Rijsenhout; Burgerveen; Noordwijk; Zandvoort; Overveen, and Haarlem. Click here to view my bike ride route and GPS data on the Garmin website.

My bike ride route out to Noordwijk and Zandvoort, returning through Haarlem.

At the end of my ride today, while navigating the busy streets of Amsterdam, I found myself thinking that the traffic here is hilarious, although somewhat scary at first. I know there are more scary and hilarious places in the world as far as traffic goes, but this is what I am experiencing at the moment. On the surface it is somewhat chaotic, but it really does just sort of flow for everyone: cars, bike, scooters, and foot traffic, even without the things we are used to like stop signs, pedestrian rights of way, etc.

The following pictures appear in the order they were taken today. I may add food pictures later if we find something interesting to eat.

More cool euro-architecture out near the airport.

Yep that's a boat up there. As near as I can tell that might be a demonstration launch ramp for these fancy aluminum boats. I spotted this along the canal that starts on the east side of the airport and heads southwest.

A lovely view of the canal near Rijsenhout taken while heading southwest.

Some excellent bike riding road near Lisse.

As I was getting closer to the coast I noticed more flower-oriented businesses, including this patch of sad looking vegetation. This was not far from Lisse if I recall correctly.

The start of my journey through the dunes, or barrens if you will, near Noordwijk on the west coast of the Netherlands.

Incase you weren't sure if there was any sand in the previous picture, this should convince you. The fietspad (bike path) was actually inland from the beach almost all the way. I assume this was done to keep it out of the wind a bit. The fietspad surface varied along its length: asphalt, brick, and dense gravel with shells.

A few beach-oriented shops about halfway between Noordwijk and Zandvoort. Not sure what this spot is called, but the following couple pictures were taken here as well.

A beach access about halfway between Noordwijk and Zandvoort. Looking southwest.

The beach about halfway between Noordwijk and Zandvoort on the west coast. Looking northwest.

Back on the fietspad (bike path) after the beach photo session. Sorry about the non-horizontal horizon.

Arrival at the south end of Zandvoort after passing through the barrens.

The beach at the south end of Zandvoort. Looking southwest.

Heading north into Zandvoort. It looks like this might be a popular summer spot; there is lots of parking near the beach.

Zandvoort residential architecture.

Heading into Overveen, just west of Haarlem. The ride from Zandvoort to here was short, but really nice.

I should probably try to smile more, but in all fairness I was concentrating on riding my bike with no hands while I took this. I suppose I could genuinely be grumpy; see next photo for possible cause.

Damn teenagers! If we were in Canada I could yell at you and demand that you ride single file. I wouldn't really do that, even if we were in Canada.

Hmmmm, another church. This one was spotted on the way into Haarlem.

Not just another church it seems. This one is pretty freakin big. Apparently this is the St. Bavo church. It is definitely located in Haarlem.

A statue of some dude in the St. Bavo church square.

A stealth windmill for your viewing pleasure. It's stealth because it's black.

An interesting building in Haarlem.

An interesting building on the way back into Amsterdam. I think this is where the Jetsons live.

I'm pretty happy with this photo. I wish I could remember where I took it.

That's a big dog. Viewed somewhere in the south of Amsterdam.

Yep, there are three kids on that bike along with the woman. I think the kids on the back were playing poker or something. Shortly, after this was taken, she fearlessly made a left turn off of one of the busier streets in the city.

Almost back at the abode after about 110km on the bike.

A Normal Fall Day in Amsterdam?

Kris — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:41:35 +0000

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!

When the Cat is Away, the Mice Will Play

Kris — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:12:41 +0000

Busy day here in Amsterdam, hence this long and late posting. I went down to the university with Michelle and Lisa this morning; I was thinking there were some interesting office buildings I wanted to take some pictures of, and the university seemed like a logical starting point for my other objectives (doing a hike and/or renting a bike). Objectives in this case are not make or break types of things since we are on vacation.

Objective #1: Photos of some interesting buildings (by my standards)
There is some interesting architecture here, at least interesting to me that is. Rather than blabbing about something I don’t really know anything about I will just direct you to look at some of the pictures I have included in this post.

Objective #2: Check out Vondelpark
(GPS data including map of my walk route)

This park is located not too far from the Rijks Museum and has a bit of a reputation for lewd behaviour after the sun goes down. I was inclined to think that this park was probably not unlike some of the ones closer to home with similar reputations — almost all of the time the parks are a safe and relaxing place, except for occasions when some choose to get busy, etc. I did a loop around the park this morning on foot and it was as expected, no freaky-deeky action to be seen, except for a guy doing crunches in an exercise clothing ensemble about 20 years past its due date. The loop was just over 3km long and flat as a pannekoek.

My walking route at Vondelpark in Amsterdam.

Objective #3: Rent a road bicycle and get out of the city
(GPS data including map of my bike ride route)

The lap of Vondelpark was a good warm up for a visit to Kaptein Tweewielers on Overtoom to see about renting a road bicycle. We were helped in our decision not to pack our own bikes by exorbitant and unpredictable airline handling costs. As it turns out, renting anything other than a city bike in Amsterdam is a bit challenging. My online research before arrival identified Kaptein Tweeweilers as one of the few options available and they came through with a respectable Trek unit.

Getting out on the road bike was great, in part because I like riding, but also because I am of the opinion that there is absolutely no better way of learning about an area than by getting out on a bike. My 80km loop through the Dutch country-side north of Amsterdam, including some GPS foibles, involved passing through, or by: Uitdam; Monnickendam; Volendam; Edam; and Purmerend among others. Once out of Amsterdam, there is very little traffic and for the most part there are bike pathways (fietspad) everywhere. To sum things up, the riding here is flat, but fun, there are lots of things to see (animals, interesting buildings, the odd windmill, and lots of water (former North Sea now a lake — Markermeer).

My bike ride route (to Edam from Amsterdam).

Coles Notes for riding a bike in Amsterdam:
Be one with the force; stop signs do not exist in many places; pedestrians do not have the right of way; one-way streets sometimes apply to cars, but not really anything else; scooters come in hot from the rear on roads and bike paths; cell phone talking and friend hauling recommended; helmets not recommended for any age; and so on. All of this makes for a challenging, yet entertaining ride in the city.

Photos from today in the order they were taken.

Michelle and Lisa off to school at the university this morning.

An office building near the university with some handy cut-outs.

More interesting office buildings near the university.

Cut-out action in office buildings must be the new Lululemon pants of architecture.

Oh come on, you could totally fit a few more sewing machines in there if you wanted to.

Film museum at Vondelpark. I think Amsterdam might be in the lead for the most museums per capita.

Tree shadows in Vondelpark.

The main route around Vondelpark in Amsterdam.

A parent and two kids on a bike is a common sight here. Kids mining their nasal cavities for snacks, as this one is doing, are slightly less common.

Benedict de Spinoza grafitti.

Heading out of town on the bike and nearing the first GPS challenge; the route I was following had me going through a no bikes tunnel. Interesting buildings.

This looked like a promising way to avoid the tunnel, but just led to a couple extra kilometers and a nice photo of a pedestrian bridge (next).

Cool pedestrian bridge. The steps on this thing are interesting in that they are kind of uneven layered planks of wood. Can't imagine this would meet North-American building codes.

Looking east towards some traffic on the main shipping corridor to the north of the city.

Ooooh, brick road. It's kind of like cobbles. This is the road heading into the village of Durgerdam.

The church in Durgerdam.

I rode along the top the dike for a good portion of my ride along the water. The village in the distance is Uitdam I believe.

Next up Monnickendam.

I caught up to these guys on the way into Volendam.

If ye be makin yer abode in Volendam, yer roof best be orange. Not sure what the pirate talk has to do with anything, sorry.

Volendam has a fairly vibrant waterfront.

More Volendam waterfront.

The last stretch of Volendam waterfront.

Boat lock at the east end of Edam.

The secret drawbridge entrance to Edam on the east side. No, it's not really a secret, but it is pretty skinny.

Looking west towards downtown Edam from the first drawbridge.

Riding through the old streets in Edam was an experience that does not come across well in these photos. Very cool.

Another drawbridge in Edam.

Houses on a canal in Edam.

I believe this is the main church in Edam.

Moo! If this stupid electric fence wasn't here I'd go for a swim in the ditch.

The fietspad (bike path) near Purmerend heading west from Edam.

Saw lots of sheep today. These ones have their work cut out for them if they are supposed to eat all that grass.

Token windmill photo taken near Landsmeer near the end of my ride.

Do you have any idea what this is? I don't.

The last leg of the bike ride involved a five minute foot-passenger ferry.

Bookends: Pannekoeken and Red-Light District

Kris — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:18:54 +0000

Another day in Amsterdam, with bookends of pannekoeken this morning and a fly-by of one of the red-light districts this afternoon. In between the bookends there was some not so interesting sorting of logistics, namely determination of how to get to the University of Amsterdam and some other stuff. Why the university? Some of us are attending an event there; I, thankfully, am not.

So, onto the events of the day. Ten-minute walk west, over to the intersection of Rokin and Damstraat near the Royal Palace (I didn’t event notice said building — will have to pay more attention tomorrow); two-minute tram ride west, over to the intersection of Prinsengracht and Raadhuisstraat (near Anne Frank Huis); five-minute walk south to the intersection of Prinsengracht and Berenstraat; and voila Pancakes! Amsterdam. This trendy little pannekoek (pancake) eatery served us up some pretty tasty goods (see pictures below).

After scarfing pannekoeken (pancakes) we headed back downtown to the central train station to catch metrotrain #51 down to the university. The central train station seems to be the hub for inter-city travel as well as travel within Amsterdam. It took about 15-20 minutes to get to the university where the weather was crap: windy and rainy. Maybe we are protected from this by the buildings when we are in town. I was not too sure what part of the university we were at, and couldn’t really get a sense of how big the campus was; what I was sure about after my brief inspection, was that Dutch students are just as slovenly as Canadian students in terms of the shrapnel they leave behind in public areas.

Finally, back to town for a quick rest then out again to do some shopping at the neighbourhood Albert Heijn winkel (shop) and tour #1 of the closest red-light district (we finally found it – not that we were looking that hard). We topped off the day with dinner at Burgermeester (meester = master); aside from the pannekoeken, the first good restaurant food we’ve had here.

The following pictures appear in the order they were taken during our activities today. I’m posting this at about 9:20pm Amsterdam time.

Muesli pannekoeken with fruit, honey, and yogurt.

Michelle prior to disposal (into the gut) of her apple, walnut, cinnamon, and calvados pannekoek.

Pancakes! Amsterdam on Berenstraat.

A tender embrace following disposal (into the guts) of the pannekoeken.

Amsterdammer en route to a date with some fries and mayo. Ok, I don't know that for sure; it's just a guess.

Heading back to town from the pannekoek experience on Raadhuisstraat.

Perhaps the marketing genius who came up with this branding is also working on a franchise plan.

Beware of cat! No shoarma or patates if cat not like you.

Amsterdam is either shopping heaven or shopping hell depending on your perspective.

A somewhat obstructed view of Amsterdam's central train station.

One or two bikes at the University of Amsterdam.

A slightly more modern street in Amsterdam. In my opinion not quite as quaint as some of the older ones.

Looking south down one of Amsterdam's red-light districts. Word on the street is that if you try and take pictures of the women in the windows, your camera will end up being swan food. I'm sure some of you were hoping for more, but this is the best I could do.

There were quite a few ducks in the red-light district canal and only a few short steps away you can find some barbequed ducks. Hopefully there is not a connection here.

Cheese bike in Nieuwmarkt a little ways north of our temporary residence. Did I mention that there are a lot of bikes here?

Guest Post – Karne Melk Does Not Equal Coffee Cream

Kris — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:03:10 +0000

Guest Post by Michelle and Lisa:

For those of you who know us, we are coffee first, everything else second people. We successfully purchased coffee at the local supermarket, but forgot to pick up cream for the coffee on this trip. After the first morning of coffee without cream, Michelle boldly told Lisa “Don’t worry, I will pick some cream up for you!”

Michelle travelled to the supermarket with the intention of purchasing wine and cream for coffee. The wine was no problem. A nice bottle of Sangiovese was selected. The cream was a different story…. As a black coffee drinker she was not really sure what to look for and was determined to do it on her own without help (well, Kris was actually along on the trip and was helping, but there was no “local” help).

After comparing the different labels and sizes, it was determined that we had for sure chosen coffee cream.
This morning after making the coffee, Michelle was siting in the front window area and heard a chuckle from Lisa in the kitchen. Michelle wandered into the kitchen and was told “Epic Fail!”. It was buttermilk that had been successfully purchased, not cream for coffee…. it’s a learning process!

When in the Netherlands, do not buy this dairy product for use in your coffee, it is buttermilk, not cream.

Art Can Be Great and Exhausting All At the Same Time

Kris — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 21:48:03 +0000

Day two in Amsterdam. We felt pretty good this morning thanks to the first real sleep in a couple days. With our new found vigor we decided to head out to the Rijks Museum for some upscale tourist action. There is currently a master works exhibit on with works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and many others. We spent about two hours checking out sketches, sculptures, furniture, china, and of course paintings.

Following the art attack we decided that our next destination would be Anne Frank House. On the way we encountered some painted elephants; does every city have painted animals now, and who came up with this idea? We also ended up walking through some super fabulous shopping strip with all sorts of snooty clothing and accessory shops (Gucci, Rolex, etc.) We ended up walking the two or three kilometers to Anne Frank house, which was good, but unintended — the friggin ‘Stop and Go’ bus wouldn’t pick us up on Prinsen Gracht. I imagine the Anne Frank House is likely to evoke all sorts of reactions from people; mine was one of contemplation.

After toodling around more of the city today, I got much more of a sense that it is a pretty big city, not like Victoria where there is just one or two main business areas. There are loads, upon loads of shops, restaurants, and other businesses.

All in all, a great day, but I think I can speak for all of us, we’re exhausted.

I am posting this at about 10pm Amsterdam time.

Our temporary residence in Amsterdam on Raamgracht (main floor of the building just below the bell tower.

Ducks racing on one of the canals near our vacation rental.

Looking towards our vacation rental from the other side of the canal.

Another one... looking towards our vacation rental from the other side of the canal.

Lisa and I near the mushroom shop. I'm pretty sure they weren't selling the mushrooms you might be thinking of.

I give the camera to Michelle for five minutes and this is what we get -- smut.

Bike down! Bike Down! Someone call 911.

For the beer lovers, the Heineken brewery.

Billboard for the master works exhibit at the Rijks Museum.

It took about 30 minutes to make it through the line up of tourists at the Rijks Museum. If you want to go, consider an e-ticket purchased online.

One of many painted elephants around the city.

Ahhhhh, psychadelic elephant attacking Van Gogh museum.

Another Amsterdam elephant.

Lisa and Michelle near the Van Gogh museum and within attack range of painted elephants.

Raymond the elephant was gentle and considerate.

M is for Michelle.

Kids playing with terd (Dutch for turd). How many words can one derive from the letters in Amsterdam?

Raadhuiss Straat; pretty busy with peeps.

The church near Anne Frank House.

Waiting in line at Anne Frank House.

Ah yes, the age-old art of sign vandalization lives on in Amsterdam; no, Lisa was not the perpetrator.

Nearly back at the abode for a rest, but surely another canal photo wouldn't hurt.

Amsterdam Muziektheater.

Benedict de Spinoza. Someone who had interesting ideas apparently.

Oh god, Michelle is going to want to stop here everyday until we leave.

It's not delivery, it's Dr. Oetker! After yesterday's blog post we headed out at 10pm for some food. Pickings were slim so we went with some pretty run of the mill pizza in one of the bar areas.

We Are Here, Amsterdam That Is

Kris — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:21:19 +0000

Europe is on; after nearly 8,000km of flying today and yesterday we arrived in Amsterdam at sunrise (about 8am) today. It’s October, so not surprisingly we were greated by overcast conditions, a bit of light rain, and temperature of 8C.

Items of note for the day: for what it’s worth, Schiphol (the airport) is pretty nice as far as airports go; trains from the airport to town are pretty easy to deal with; if you’re male you can relieve your self at a handy open air urinal at the central train station; parts of old-town Amsterdam is visually overloading what with all the small shops; Amsterdam before 11am on a Saturday is like a ghost-town; bikes are everywhere, and finally, there are a lot of English speakers here – this is great news for us language-lacking types.

The following photos generally follow our walk from the central train station to our accommodation and any diversions involved in getting there.

I’m posting this at about 7:30pm Amsterdam time.

Part of the central train station in Amsterdam; a good starting point for public transit within town.

A bit more detail of on a portion of the central train station in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam has canals, who knew? Just kidding, isn't Amsterdam somewhat famous for its canals.

Lisa in Amsterdam and road work in what appears to be one of the party strips in the city.

Amsterdam store front and a fitting visual for how we felt after getting off the plane this morning.

Amsterdam old-town street; high density.

Another Amsterdam canal while looking south. Sorry, no landmark names to report on.

Raamgracht Street and canal near where we are staying.

Apparently the fair is in town and occupying a good chunk of real-estate near Madam Tussaude's gallery.

Michelle at the Saturday market in Nieuwmarkt; we were looking for some food for the week/night.

Saturday market in Nieuwmarkt in Amsterdam. Surprisingly fresh looking goodies including seafood, veggies, bread, olives, fresh made crepes, etc.

Crepes to go (chocolate, stroop, and other flavours) at the Saturday market in Nieuwmarkt in old town Amsterdam.

Want mushrooms?

Not too shabby looking veggies. Not sure how local it is.

One of the veggie stands a the Saturday market.

Another Saturday market veggie stand with some interesting architecture in the background.

Amsterdam bike tour going by near the Saturday market.

The Final Countdown For Our Trip to Europe

Kris — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:45:35 +0000

Europe; not as cool as the continent, unless you can time travel.

I loved Europe… when I was in grade 8. I’m talking about the band here, not the continent. Well that was then. Not surprisingly, my interest in hair bands has faded, but I suppose to be fair to the hair I should probably give a listen to their newer music before dismissing them.

My interest in Europe the continent, on the other hand, has not faded. It’s been a long time since I was there last and now the time has finally come to make my triumphant return. I’m sure those europeans will be in the streets waving and throwing stuff in celebration. More realistically, the arrival will likely be much more subdued. Probably the only reason there will be waving or throwing of stuff will be because I am violating euro traffic etiquette in some way.

So in case you haven’t guessed by now, in the not-too-distant future Michelle and I will be off to Europe (the continent, not the band) for a vacation of sorts. More specifically, we’ll be in Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Girona in the northeast of Spain. I personally, don’t have much of an agenda while for while we’re in Europe, but am hoping to do some bike riding and running. We’ve had some great suggestions for places to see, but whether or not we make it those places, remains to be seen.

If all goes well I should be able to fire off some blog posts with pictures and such, but who knows, that could change for a variety of reasons.

Stay tuned for updates.
– Spanish for “stay tuned for updates” according to the Ipod translator; holy crap, Spanish is so easy, it’s just like English.

Amsterdam in relation to London and Paris for those who might be geography challenged.

Map of Spain with Girona's location denoted by the 'A' bubble.