Amsterdam

We road the 08:00 train from Antwerp on July 23rd and arrived in Amsterdam at 10:06 right on schedule. We registered at our hotel which is virtually across the street from the train station and visited the tourist office where hundreds of people wwere waiting with queue tickets to speak with an information clerk. What a city...in whatever direction you walk, you'll find yourself on streets shared with amzaing harmony amongst pedestrians, cyclists, pedal taxis, scooters, cars and electric trams. Canals run around the city in fairly concentric circles with the train station more or less the hub. Each ring of canal shares connecting navigable tributaries, and the streets which ( for the most part) parallel both the concentric and connecting canals rise ever so slightly over their intersections with the canals just enough to allow the multidude of tour boats to pass silently underneath. Despite all the various modes of traffic, the city of Amsterdam differs from other large cities in that cars are not dominating the roads which makes life for pedestrians quite pleasant. You'll hear lots of bike bells and tram bells ringing to warn inexperienced pedestrians to get out of their way, but, for the most part, the roads are well divided, well marked, and a pleasure to walk upon although having a street map is a good aid to efficient navigation. The commercial streets are packed tightly with all sorts of shops, restaurants, and bar/cafes offering their wares and services to the steady and heavy stream of potential clients strolling and rolling by their doors. Most of the buildings appears to be 17th century many of which have shifted from the perfectly rectangular form leaning sometimes left or right and sometimes forward. In some buildings, the architectural deformations have required over the centuries to the placement of non-rectangular doors to properly fill the doorways. The Karpershoek (on the corner near our hotel) is the oldest pub in Amsterdam and serves De Konnick although not in the bollika...the bar tender told me that he didn't have the original glass (the bollika) but assured me the beer would taste just the same anyway....I think he was right.

Antwerp

Made a pit stop in Antwerp to say hello to old collegues and to visit some of the sites which I had never taken the time to see the few times in the past when I had travelled on business to Antwerp. What a beautiful city, and the mega-rennovation of the Central station is now complete and a beautiful success. It was a real thrill to visit the office and see the Antwerp team again. We enjoyed a great lunch with Etienne, Eddy and Anja, after which we started on the 1.5 hour historical walking tour of the old city. We made it about half-way when, by pure coincidence we met Valerie on her bicycle. Michele had wanted to take a closer look at a small stone quasi-bridge near the Steen chateau on the bank of the Schelde, and while we were on top of it, Valerie rolled up on her bicycle on her way to have a look at the river. It's a small world. Per Valerie's request, I have added a photo for Paul's benefit as evidence of the single spire next to the catherdral (which as a side note according to Etienne is not officially part of the cathedral). Before heading back to the hotel, we followed Etienne's suggestion by visiting "The Eleventh Commandment" pub where they serve a delicious Bollika. We ended our day with a wonderful dinner with John and Sylvia at the Pump House.