Skipping stones

Looking at the Roman baths with the Bath Abbey right behind it. I'll give you more on this later.

I was going to focus on our second day in Bath, but I've made a bold decision, one that is difficult for someone as OCD as I can be. I've fallen so far behind that I'm going to skip ahead to Amsterdam. I'll get back to Bath, perhaps in snippets throughout these longer pieces. But we arrived in Paris today, so I'm feeling some pressure here (yes, pressure that is all of my own making, but nonetheless...).

Okay, Amsterdam. Cindy and I left Bath early on Tuesday morning, with a real bonus send off from our Airbnb hosts. They had already let us do a load of laundry there, but then Lydia suggested she could drive us down the hill to the train station. We could hardly refuse...especially since our train left for London at 7:13. We loved not having to take that downhill walk--even without using the steps we'd climbed upon our arrival (which we never went near again 😐).

The train ride to London was uneventful , and we landed in Paddington Station one last time. Sadly, we never ran into that little bear again, but I took one last shot of an architectural detail I'd missed before:

WThey really knew how to make even utilitarian places beautiful back in the day. AND they take good care of them every day.

We had enough time to find our way to St. Pancras International Station, where our passports were processed and we went through an airport-like security check. We were able, however, to keep our shoes on. 😄

We had another uneventful train ride from St. Pancras to Amsterdam Centraal Station. It was interesting to see Calais on the French side of the Chunnel, but the countryside generally looked like our Midwest until we got deeper into the Netherlands, where there were more wetlands.

In the UK, fields were delineated by hedges and low stone walls. What I noticed in the Netherlands was that fields were outlined by canals. This country is ready to lead the world in meeting the challenges of rising sea levels. They've been doing that for centuries and they've perfected (and continue to refine) a lot of technology to deal with the water by which they're surrounded. But that's a whole other topic that I'll save for my brother George sometime.

We arrived at another stunning transportation hub. So far, Amsterdam Centraal takes the prize for grandeur, beauty, and ease of navigation. Here are a couple of pics of the station's interior:

I recommend expanding these if you can so you can see some of the detail in the upper reaches of this place. I'll have photos of the exterior later.

We also found that Amsterdam is chock full of helpful people --and most of them speak English better than we do. After gazing helplessly at the metro information for a few minutes, we approached what was clearly an information counter. The woman working that counter explained the system and then walked us over to the gates to show us exactly what to do. And just how easy was it? All we had to do was tap our credit card (or the card stored on my phone) on the entry gate reader and we were in. And equally simply, we just did the same thing at the exit gate and the fare was paid and we were on our way. The stations are spotless, there are helpful people all over, and the trains are quiet, fast, and frequent. At the other end of our first metro ride, there was another assistant who even walked up to the entrance to show us exactly how to head toward our Airbnb place--and then spent another ten minutes or so telling us what we should be sure to see.

The trams have personnel riding in each car who are there to answer questions and ensure you get off where you want to. The ferries to the northern part of Amsterdam are plentiful and free.

Sorry about waxing rhapsodic over this transport system, but it really is awesome. And then, of course, there are the bikes...you're much more apt to be run down by a bicycle than by a car. There are bikes with two child seats (front and back), bikes with a cargo box on front fitted out for kids, dogs, or groceries, luggage--everything! And they are literally everywhere. (And I can't believe I don't have a picture to post here showing just how thick the streets and sidewalks are with bikes of all kinds!)

Our first evening in town was spent on a canal cruise. Our guide, Captain Jack the Younger, was a wealth of information , and just really sweet and open to questions. He had a lot to say about the water and the engineering that has gone into making the water work for the city and country rather than against them. It's clear that Tommy (that's his real name) really loves and is proud of his country--with reason!

Oh, and he had the boat stocked with all kinds of goodies for our consumption. We went through so many canals and under so many bridges, there was no way I could map our journey afterward. But some highlights:

A church of some sort on Prinsengracht (gracht, btw, means canal)

One of the more unusual bridges; I recall Tommy told us it was a very old drawbridge. Most of the canal bridges don't provide a lot of space for going under them; this one is different.

One of the iconic views of the Herengracht.

Some of the "dancing houses" in Amsterdam; these houses have begun to lean as the posts on which they were built a few centuries ago start to deteriorate. The problem can be arrested, but a survey of a house to see how its structure is doing is very expensive--and then the work that must be done is even more expensive. It's not easy to take care of an old house, and when it's built on wetlands it's even more challenging. But it gets done.

Where we had a bite to eat to fortify ourselves before going out on the cruise. This Hansel and Gretel Cafe, according to its website, has been around since 1876. It seems someone there has been a longtime fan of The Rolling Stones; they had some vintage posters on the walls--not exactly in keeping with a Hansel and Gretel theme, but whatever floats your boat..

And finally, some awesome art near where we stayed:

I know nothing about this place beyond its name, but it seems so ready to draw people in. If we hadn't already had our evening drink we would definitely have stopped in on the basis of this art.

And across the street was this:

I love serendipitous sightings--and that brings up one last image from earlier that same evening:

Yes, this is a lupine! Certainly the biggest one I've ever seen. Look at that stem--much bigger than a pencil.

And with this, I leave you for the evening. Good news: my cold has finally loosened its grip on me. It has hung on for a long time, and I’ve grown quite tired of it.