canals – the stories that I'm telling.

Day 5 in Amsterdam – Paddle Boating Through the Canals!

During our time in Amsterdam we often saw people boating through the canals. It’s a relatively popular form of leisure transit. While locals seemed to treat their boats as picnic spots – spending time meandering down the canals while drinking wine and snacking – we also spotted many (presumed) tourists paddle boating.

After spending a few hours indoors at the Stedelijk, we were ready to get some sun and try out paddle boating.

You can see this video of our exploits:

Overall the process was fairly straightforward. Along the canals there are a variety of kiosks where you can rent a boat. You get a map and some instructions on how to ‘drive’, which canals you’re allowed to traverse, and which kiosks are valid “drop off” sites. From there, you’re on your own. As long as you get the boat home in time, there’s nothing to worry about.

Navigating the paddle boat was definitely a bit more challenging than I’d anticipated but eventually we figured it out, and we loved it. It was so relaxing and calming to boat through the canals and view the city from a new perspective. The rental company’s guide also included some fun facts about sites along the route, so again we were learning.

And on the topic of learning, we also found this article about the history of Amsterdam’s city design. Yes, they are famous for being very cyclist and pedestrian friendly, but this wasn’t always the case. Walking and paddle boating around such a beautiful place, it’s easy to imagine that this place is just magical by nature. But in fact the accessibility of Amsterdam is the result of specific choices made by the people of Amsterdam.

We wrapped up our day with dinner and drinks at a local hangout called Cafe de Prins. All in all, an excellent day in an excellent city.

Check out our photos below!

January 30, 2018

Day 3 in Amsterdam – The Canal House Museum

After visiting the Amsterdam Museum, we headed to the Canal House Museum, known as the “Museum of the Canals” or “Het Grachtenhuis“. The museum is located in an old house along an older portion of canals and it was delightful. While visiting Amsterdam we visited many museums, and we found nearly all of them to be incredibly well-curated.

The Canal House Museum was one of our favourites. They made particularly good use of audio visual effects to tell the story of Amsterdam’s architecture as it relates to the canals and the houses built alongside them.

Here’s bit of information from Wikipedia about the Amsterdam Canals:

Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands, has more than one hundred kilometers of grachten (canals), about 90 islands and 1,500 bridges. The three main canals (Herengracht, Prinsengracht and Keizersgracht), dug in the 17th century during the Dutch Golden Age, form concentric belts around the city, known as the Grachtengordel. Much of the Amsterdam canal system is the successful outcome of city planning. In the early part of the 17th century, with immigration rising, a comprehensive plan was put together, calling for four main, concentric half-circles of canals with their ends resting on the IJ Bay. Known as the “grachtengordel”,^[5] three of the canals are mostly for residential development (Herengracht or ‘’Patricians’ Canal’’; Keizersgracht or ‘’Emperor’s Canal’’; and Prinsengracht or ‘’Prince’s Canal’’), and a fourth, outer canal, the Singelgracht, for purposes of defense and water management. The plan also envisaged interconnecting canals along radii.

As you can tell, the Canal House Museum is the perfect follow up to the Amsterdam Museum. To get a sense of how the museum looks, check out this video:

Th Canal House Museum is a must-see for anyone interested in urban planning or anthropology, or even just those of you who love quality museums. Check it out if you can! See below for a few photos from our visit.

January 9, 2018

Day 3 in Amsterdam – Pride & the Canal Parade!!

We happened to arrive in Amsterdam during their week long Pride festivities. Our second full day in the city was the day of the famous “Canal Parade”. In most other cities, Pride parades take place as a march through the streets, but this parade taps into the city’s fantastic canal network, and thus both the streets and the waterways are packed for the event.

We were cautioned by many people to prepare ourselves for loads of traffic and crushing crowds, but we found those warnings were a bit over zealous. Yes, there were big crowds, but movement was only restricted in a small area. We spent most of this day visiting museums, but we did stop by the Pride events a few times to check out the incredible floats, music, performers, and crowds.

You can learn more about Amsterdam Pride right here, and you can see photos below from our time at the event!