Shannie was off being a good ctizen today by volunteering her time helping collect donations for the local food bank. Because I’m a cold-hearted selfish jerk, I took advantage of the cloudless skies and 21°C temperatures to put my biking pants on and go for a spin around the country. Today’s route took me North from Amsterdam to a small village called Marken, almost entirely along dikes on The Netherland’s East coast.
Bikely.com map of the route I rode
It was an absolutely gorgeous day, except for the blustery head wind off the ocean that I had to contend with for the ride out. However, this made the ride back home ridiculously fast.
Also, sunscreen would have been a nice idea. I’m, um, a little torched right now.
(These photos may take a while to load, I don’t have any photo editing software on the computer I’m using right now, so they’re all just pulled straight off the camera. Patience is a virtue, etc.)
amsterdam, you big tourist
bicycles, churches, windmill
Queen’s Day is the day where The Netherlands celebrates the birthday of one of their queens by turning the city of Amsterdam into the world’s biggest street party. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE heads out to the streets, canals, rooftops, and anywhere else they can find open space to paint the entire city orange. Of course, being new to the area, we had to put on our orange shirts and partyin’ pants and join the debauchery.
The morning started by meeting at one of my co-worker’s apartments and hitting the streets at around 11 a.m. What followed was a good solid 12 hours of walking around and partying with roughly 1.5 million of my new closest friends. I have NEVER experienced an atmosphere like this before. DJ booths set up on street corners, people peddling their used junk, every doorway selling beer without liquor licenses, and public (VERY public) urinals scattered around in an attempt to keep things somewhat sanitary. The crowds were shoulder-to-shoulder everywhere you went, so all you could do was go with the flow and let yourself be carried along by the vibe. The weather was gorgeous, and everyone had the time of their lives.
I can hardly wait until next year.
(click images below for fullsize)
amsterdam
canals, debauchery, ow my head, party, queen's day, walking
