Mrs B -- Cindy - apparently in awe at being married to such a steller guy like myself. :) I just couldn't resist including this shot. grin.....

An authentic windmill -- This windmill was relocated to it's present position, and although it's a tourist attraction, it's still in daily use to grind wheat into flour.

The windmill caretaker -- This is the gentleman responsible for the operation of the windmill. Although HE only spoke Dutch, everyone else in Holland was fluent in English - with English almost becoming the primary language.

the power head -- This is the gear driven by the sails, which are then clutched into a set of wood gears on each side. The gears normally either operate a water pump - or in this case, they turn a set of mills for grinding flour.

another picture of the windmill -- This shows the method used to keep the sails facing the wind - all manually done by the caretaker of the windmill.

on arrival in Amsterdam -- This photo was taken at a bistro on the banks of one of the canals, after first exiting the train station - getting a bite to eat before heading for the center of town.

on the canals of Amsterdam -- This is a typical boat used to ferry passengers through the city. Unlike busses in other parts of the world, Amsterdam offers daily passes for people to travel through the city by boat instead of autos.

similar to the boat we toured Amsterdam -- This was taken while waiting for our boat - and it turned out we boarded the one on the upper left of the picture.

inside "our" boat -- This was taken while underway, crusing the canals in Amsterdam.

the waterway -- Amsterdam isn't just a city of narrow canals. It's also a shipping port with large merchant ships transiting through the area.

a typical canal -- This was taken from the boat we boarded on the tour of Amsterdam.

Like Venice -- Amsterdam is an interesting place - with the entire city comprised of a series of concentric "moats", with the hub centered around the central train station.

unlike venice -- Unlike Venice where the town is sinking, to the point of the first floors being under water, Amsterdam is built higher, with several feet of "room" before the buildings get wet.

LOTS of boats in Amsterdam -- There are roughly 25000 houseboats moored alongside the canal bulkheads in Amsterdam. The city now has an ordinance prohibiting any more houseboats.

lots of water taxi's -- There are many types of boats plying the canals in Amsterdam. Shown here is one type. I found it interesting to see that most are commercial boats, with few (any?) private boats just cruising around the canals.

drawbridge -- This is a typical drawbridge in Amsterdam - using a cantilever sytem to open the gates.

Seven arches -- This is an interesting canal in Amsterdam, where you can see seven arches all lined up in a row. Although the water was brown, it wasn't filthy - more like silt. The city was remarkably clean.

typical houseboat -- This shows a typical houseboat moored to the canal bulkheads. They range from trailor houses on floats, to some pretty ornate places. It's not clear how they take care of the grey and black water - but there's apparently a solution since the canals didn't have any floating debris.

Bicycles GALORE!! -- The entire place is crawling with bicycles. This is a bicycle parking garage, with 3 levels of nothing but bicycles parked so thick you couldn't get another one in edgewise. Unlike other parts of Europe, there are few motorcycles, but a TON of bicycles.

A typical street -- Amsterdam is an interesting place. Prostitution and drugs are legal - but the streets are surprisingly clean. There are reports of pickpockets, but I felt safe everywhere we went. We had coffee in one of the coffee shops where hash and marijuana were items on the menu. (I brought a meun home)