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A One Week Bike Trip in Holland

Day 7 - Back to Amsterdam

Though we had some doubts we were on the correct path, we followed the marked route and were through Amsterdam and at the hostel at 10:30 AM. We checked in, stored our panniers, then rode our bikes on back streets (the main streets, with no bike paths, were scary - the pedestrians, and getting a tire caught in the tram rails were what I feared) to MacBike. Cost of the two bikes, which I charged to my credit card, for the week was f165, well worth it. Matt would have liked to have ridden his mountain bike, but I know I preferred the big cruiser over my skinny tire bike considering all the cobblestone and brick roads we rode on.

Bikes in Amsterdam

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On the Dam, Amsterdam

We headed to Dam Square to do some shopping, but got lost again (the sun wasn't shining) and ended up heading in the wrong direction. At that point we decided to take the tram (we often used the circle route tram, #20, since we knew the route and were becoming familiar with the stops.) We stopped and got some pizza for lunch (f11.90), and bought some gifts at Magna Palace, which was like a vertical shopping mall. Matt wanted to get some tulip bulbs to take back so our next stop was the flower market, a street filled with flower stalls. None that were priced right were importable, so Matt skipped bringing back any tulip "seeds" (which might have been a wise choice, considering our experience the next day.)

We then went to the Rijksmuseum (f30), which is an impressive place. We could have spent more time than we did wandering the halls and studying the paintings, but we were now pretty tired. We did get to see the "Night Watch" (just as I ran out of film), and read about its history.

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Amsterdam, near the Leidseplein

After crashing at the hostel (we were back in a room with six beds) for a couple of hours, we went out to dinner at a place near the Leidseplein, within walking distance of the hostel. Dinner, at another Italian place, was f56.00. We headed back to the hostel, stopping to watch another group entertaining on the square. At the hostel, now 10 PM and just starting to get dark, we used up some time on the phone card to check and answer e-mail (there was quit a bit that had accumulated) then to bed. Again, all the people in our room were quiet, even though a couple of people came in quite late.

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