Bebop Amsterdam

I suppose that in the States we would make our dogs and cats disappear and not be seen in the restaurant. Not so around here. This cat had it made at the restaurant where we ate lunch.

A true bebop city trip according to Makaila would be to have absolutely no idea where to go and what to see. If that is so, we were not bebopping. I found an Amsterdam book here I the B&B and it detailed a walk through the best of the canals. It located the above place as "the most beautiful in Amsterdam." Well, you can't ignore that designation. We found the canal and the church and then a red canal boat and here it is.

(By the way.....before this.....we went over to the English Reformed Church where I was thrown out of the courtyard the other day. This time we arrived just as the worship service had begun...and were refused entry. Why? "Because there is worship right now.")

Once again I say....I am beginning to see why my spiritual ancestors left the city.

But, I might try once again....it really is Ground Zero for so much.

We looked at the Grand Stuff, like the former church above next to the Anne Frank House.

We found the nearly hidden stuff like St. Nicholas caring for the sailors...on the side of a building on the second floor.

Spring flowers are showing. (I used an app for this one.)

Somehow in the middle of the day we met Captian Adam. While countless tour operators offer rides along the canals in dignified wooden and brass tour boats seating a hundred people; Captain Adam flouts convention (and probably a few Dutch laws) with this canal boat. We walked by it and chuckled but then we struck up a conversation and a deal. Here are a few of the photos from the canals themselves.

The funny thing was....we had more photos taken of us than we took of the city. We were the only canal boat offering faux leather sofa seats for canal touring. I'm sure a few laws were stretched but Europe probably has more pressing issues than a homemade canal boat that includes a wooden picnic table. "I wanted to make something that no one else had in the city." Said Adam.

Adam got that right.

But the charm of the city comes from the intimate spots to dine and have a drink. 

Like sitting in an alley, behind a church for my dinner. The table was in the alley and the above photo shows the church just to my left as I dined.

I am constantly looking for the details. Like the house address above.

Or the back entrance to the courtyard of the English Reformed Church. (Above)

Or an alley salamander in brass on the wall. (Above)

Or the ornate RC Church tucked in the courtyard across from the English Reformed Church. (The Catholics let me in!)

There are endless ways to look at this city. More canals than Venice they say. Perhaps. It makes the Chamber of Commerce happy.

And me also.

Peace,  Bob