I started with a fancy and free breakfast buffet at my fancy hotel. After a little computer work I grabbed my bike and pedaled away for some sight seeing in Amsterdam. My hotel is in one of the nicest districts of a city that I have ever been in. Not nice in a fancy car and rich people kind of way (though surely this area is out of my price bracket) but just a genuinely good feeling place. I’m not sure if I truly believe in the vibes and energy projected by certain places (I felt nothing when the wizard of the Keweenaw showed me the energy vortex) but I like the feeling of this area. The hotel is on the Apollolaan boulevard that has a nice green park with a number of big sculptures in it. The surrounding houses are amazing looking in an artistic way, the big trees running down the streets keep the place comfortably shaded on these warm sunny days, and the canal running behind the hotel is very pretty. The location is just on the cusp of the busy part of Amsterdam but it is very quiet and calm.

Oh yeah, I discovered that this is the hotel where John Lennon and Yoko Ono had their famous bed in for peace. One floor above me actually. What a strange bit of history to touch on during this trip. Still, maybe the intended peaceful vibes still radiate from this hotel if I were to believe in that sort of thing. 

It was an easy and comfortable ride along bike paths into Amsterdam central. Things got a bit busier as I reached the city center but it never felt the stress and franticness I was warned about. I hopped off my bike to take some tourist photos here and there or pedaled along looking up at buildings. When I hit the water I had to pee rather desperately and could not find any public bathrooms. I cruised the waterfront (pedaled the waterfront mind you, this wasn’t England) and ended up about 3 miles away before I found a secluded enough tree. Once that emergency was resolved I rolled back into town and saw a ferry pulling up to a dock. I hopped on because it was free (the ferry’s are free?!) and ended up across the water from Amsterdam central. I roamed around and found myself at the NDSM Wharf which you should visit if you come to town. It’s an art district in Amsterdam and is definitely oozing creative energy. What an interesting place and much more relatable to me than traditional art museums. The few people around all seemed to be creating something and it felt like I made it there early enough that the tourists hadn’t yet taken over. After some exploring I hopped on another ferry that I was unable to read the destination of. This one dropped me back off in the city center at a different dock than I had left from. 

I zig zagged around the city and stopped by the Soul Cycle BMX shop. Always cool to see a pure BMX shop and this one was exceptionally cool. They had even gone through the trouble of putting my signature model bike up in the front window as they are a Fairdale dealer. Thanks good sirs and if you live in the area you could go buy it and have a rare “normal” top tube bike. 

I enjoyed some more city sights and ended up back at my hotel with an urge to watercolor in my new mini sketchbook. I treated myself to a rare glass of wine on the good-vibe hotel patio that looked over the canal while I sketched. The sun was blazing and I could feel the hot-oven-warmth nearby but I was safely protected from it by a nice slab of shade over my portion of the patio. I sipped my drink while I drew a nonsense cartoon giraffe version of a woman I had seen paddle boarding down the canal. I listened to the conversations around me as I painted. One guy was drunkenly expounding to his friend, “you have to make sure that bitch knows you are in control. I have to make my wife think we’re getting a divorce sometimes just so she remembers who’s in charge.” The vibes of peace and love were obviously not rubbing off on everyone. I can’t comprehend turning relationships into a competitive power-play game for control. I tuned him out and kept drawing– even loudmouth douchebags weren’t going to spoil my day.