We felt like Amsterdam was pretty easy to navigate. Okay, so we had a built in guide, my son. Not only were his pronunciations and recollections spot-on, he had a feel for the city. I have always thought that I had a decent sense of direction -- I usually know north and can find west. In a city like this that had crescent and half-circle canals all through it, I struggled.
Credit to www.orangesmile.com for this map. It is a very simple overview, and it doesn't show every single street -- but you get the idea. It also doesn't show the train, tram and bus routes, much less the streets that some cars are brave enough to drive on and the bicycles and mopeds are using, too.
Has anyone ever said to you, "He can't speak English, but he can understand it." This is something that the rancher at my house has heard before, many times. Keeping that in mind, let me tell you that I cannot speak Dutch, but I can understand it. This sign generally says that there is going to be road work starting on August 18th, and at that time, there will be no bicycles, mopeds, or motorcycles allowed. See? Nothing to it.
*maybe a bit of sarcasm*
They have the coolest license plates.
Here is a train schedule. Some of the trains were pretty nice; it depended on the route. The schedule looks like Greek, but honestly, you could easily decipher this and get to wherever you wanted to be.
Just a sign on the street...
Here is the sign outside the building most of G's classes will be in and around. The whole program is in English, but you could never tell it from looking at this sign.
More about this tour later. We did go see the field where the Ajax
(pronounced "eye-ax") play their home football games. Quite impressive.
And here was the intersection where our hotel was located on Beethovenstraat.
Here were the cute signs that changed daily in the lobby of the hotel.
Please place no emphasis on the fact that this picture is blurry. It is because I was laughing so hard. :)
There were these little nuggets of wisdom on random doors throughout the hotel.
I just love signs.
