This place is insane. We’re getting ready to head back out, and have really been here for less than 24 hours… But, wow! We’ve gotten a good feel for it. We started things off pretty Dutchy by renting bikes from the hotel and riding around, at night, in the rain. We thought that riding in the daylight would be easier, since we can see everything and everyone… We were wrong. The other cyclists must have been drunk or otherwise impaired because, compared to 00:30, 10:30 is much more intense! If you think traffic in your city is bad, take all those cars and add in an equal number of bikes, half the number of cars in the form of teams and busses. Then make everything move at full freaking tilt.
From visiting an amazing exhibit on Napoleon, Josephine and Alexander at the Hermitage go drinking beer at a brewery under a windmill and next to canal, we caught a great sense of the town. We even managed to have the most amazing Ethiopian dinner, Mango and Coconut beers included.
What we’ve really learned is that this place, like Paris, needs about a week to do it justice. And that’s not including the activities of the drug tourists.
Our time here is done, we’re on the platform to head south and its been a wonderful birthday.
-J
P.S. an IPA! So much malty beer lately, it was great to get some hops!