July 20: Amsterdam arrival 3

More explorations around the streets and canals.

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An endless series of bridges looking centerward along the Reguliersgracht.

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A joyous little flowery scene.

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"This is a natural bike lock. Oh, you haven't heard about them? So you're, like, still using one of those corporate metal bike locks with the huge amount of embodied energy? I guess I'm not surprised."

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Having continued east along the Prinsengracht, I soon bumped into the Amstel River itself, much wider than the concentric canals. The Prinsengracht continues beyond as the Nieuwe Prinsengracht.

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Looking back west along the Prinsengracht from the same point, a swarm of houseboats is suddenly evident.

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A cool old Renault on the Amstel.

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And a bikebarrow !!

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The Amstel is crossed by multiple drawbridges to let large vessels by. What a cool mechanical system!

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Along the north side of the Herengracht west of Utrechtsstraat: another temporary structure that looks beefy and elegant enough for permanence.

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On Nieuwe Spiegelstraat just off the Herengracht, a chunky cascade of building masses in a nice selection of Earth Tones.

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A ten-gallon windshield.

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Further down Nieuwe Spiegelstraat, past the Keizersgracht, a lovely wood and stained glass storefront. I always wonder how it is to maintain a smooth wooden façade like this against the weather.

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Finally after more than two hours of exploring, I arrived at the Hans Brinker hostel on Kerkstraat to meet everyone.

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From there we walked back toward the heart of the city to take a boat tour of the waterways. Here, an infinity of apertures along the Keizersgracht between Vijzelstraat and Leidsestraat.

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I love the cheery red of this corner tower and window trim.

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These facing towers flanking Leidsestraat remind me a little of good ol' Aleksi and Pohjola, or any number of similar arrangements in Helsinki.

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An aerodynamic old rig on Kerkstraat.

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At the corner of Heiligeweg and Kalverstraat in the pedestrian core of the old city: this was certainly the most fabulous scaffolding screening I'd ever seen.

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Back by the Centraal Station, looking over one of the parked tour boats. — Free running and parkour always look so tempting, but I'm sure I would just break every bone. I have enough trouble negotiating sidewalk cracks.