Goodbye Amsterdam

Well our short stay in Amsterdam has come to an end. We will be getting up tomorrow and heading to the airport, taking our final tram ride. The trams are great, once you figure out where they go, which doors to go on and which doors to go out.

We will not miss almost being smooshed by bicycle and Vespa alike in every direction. Had another close call this evening coming back from dinner when a Vespa on the sidewalk came in hot and Stephani had not seen him. Luckily I was able to stop her. It's heartening to see such widespread acceptance of this form of transport, somehow they have managed to make it work. But as a foreigner, and old fuddy duddy, it boggles the mind how millions of citizens can take life in their hands and ride without a helmet. I don't think we saw a single rider wearing a helmet the entire time. Even more shocking when you consider how commonplace it is to get stoned. I mean, look at this guy.

We will miss the friendly people of Amsterdam. We've traveled a lot these past five or six years and nowhere can I recall any city where total strangers will see us confused and offer to help. This morning a lovely woman did this, and we were trying to find a restaurant, any restaurant at 8:30 in the morning that was open and serving breakfast. Her recommendation was a lovely place where we enjoyed fresh orange juice, coffee and toast with sausage rolls. Delicious. Amsterdam is a very friendly city (except for the bike bit.)

We will miss the culture. Our entire time we were surrounded by greatness in art, architecture, environmentally conscious design and an overall chilled out vibe. No, we did not partake in the "coffee", but the relaxed lifestyle was intoxicating.

Waking up to still water each day was wonderful, and the many boats that tour the canal were wonderful to look at. Also the houseboats, which are apparently quite expensive with harbor fees etc. But we could see why people love living on the water. Many nights we could see folks sitting reading a book with a glass of wine or beer, or as we did this evening, saw several boats with large groups of people eating sushi, drinking wine having a great time.

It is one of the easiest places in the world to take great photos. You literally can't go wrong. I had a wonderful time taking lots of photos, doing time lapses and even taking my Drone up a few times. I'd say of all our trips together, we both took some of our best photos.

So long Amsterdam.

The Stockton's.

Next stop. Belfast via London./