Amsterdam Trip 2017. Day 6

FRI MAR 17 (day 6)

Bike day #2

Rode bikes down the Amstel River, out of the city, to the town of Ouderkirk on the Amstel.  It was a cool, breezy, sunny morning. 

Amstel River, windmill

We had the following adventures:

• Stopped in a cafe’ for a coffee (and to use the bathroom, really), and ended up staying for lunch.  They were somehow affiliated with a bank - I guess the place WAS called “The Bank” - and only took one specific credit card, even in the cash machine at the door.  Had to walk down the street to find a real ATM, as we were running low on Euros.
• There was a neat old church with a cemetery.  Grave sites were side-by-each, and people kept them up like mini-gardens or landscapes. On old Jewish cemetery was across the street, over one of those cool, white, wooden, Dutch drawbridges.
• Cool, unsettled wind on the way back.  Rode by windmills, and many, many rowing clubs.  Saw more rowing shells than we had for our entire lives up to today.  Betsy spied some giant wild rabbits hopping around a in a field.
• Took a wrong turn and got totally “misoriented” on the way back.  Google Mapped our ay back.  Even that was challenging, with bike paths vs streets, the long names, etc.
• Back at the apartment, after staying up late and getting up early to rescue laundry, Bob actually took a nap.

This wooden bridge was big enough to carry cars

             

Saint Urbanus Church

Drawbridge, blue sky

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Cemetery plots - small landscape projects

Overview of church + graveyard

Evening - first rain of the trip. We went to an avant-garde jazz concert.  Drummer/percussionist (leader), singer, guitarist.  The music was very restrained, moody, flowing, and improvisational.   The concert was held in a converted church, now the “Orgelpark”  They had 4 or 6 big pipe organs, from various  times throughout history, plus several pianos and other miscellaneous keyboard instruments.  The guitarist controlled one of the organs wit his guitar (and foot pedals, laptop, etc). People seemed to hangout after drinking coffee and wine, but we were hungry…

Snuck into a Thai restaurant just before they closed for the night.  Still raining, so we took a tram home instead of walking.  The rain seemed to have no effect on the cyclists.  They just add a hat of scarf, and hunch up their shoulders a bit.