The Dam Breaks

We spent the next few hours cycling around Amsterdam in concentric circles, finishing each swoop at this building right near Rembrandt Square. Every town has one of those places, a focus through with all motion goes, from Amsterdam to Munich to Boston to Northampton, Pennsylvania. But the biking continued, speeding through a city because we are young and because we are able and because, life is just renting energy from the air, taking care of it and making sure to keep it in good hands.

So the rest of Amsterdam, THE RED AND BLASTED CITY, goes...

He has a cogpiece. Is that how they're spelled? Cog-piece? But after I snapped a picture of him originally, he grabbed the cog-piece. I gave him a Euro, stood next to him and he grabbed me.

Our energies a bit depleted, we stopped at a solid Chinese place, which Nils said must be good because it was full of Chinese people. He was right. Good view across the street, too.

Same view on almost every street.

And, as usual, we had to break for our daily cholesterol implant.

And glamour shot.

Amsterdam's a great city for reflection, especially on the main canals, which give lines of sight that shoot forward like long beams of light.

Look, there's a bike behiiiiiiind the statuuuuuueeeee.

Ahhhh...reflection....

In Rembrandt Square, two British or Australian dudes battled a choreographed ninja fight scene for the viewing pleasure of us.

This, with our new friend Ryan, who's a teacher in Wales, was the last picture taken before an unfortunate trip-and-fall incident. Luckily, my face broke my fall and only suffered some temporary reconfiguration, aside from some less-than-stalwart front teeth.

But our journey did not end, my friends. We had to complete our vision quest. And, in the final three posts, you shall be privy to how we achieved it.