Camping in Amsterdam

As we unpacked our bags, we didn't know we'd be staying for nearly three weeks at Camping Zeeburg. We just couldn't find anywhere else that was less than eight Euro per person a night. Plus we had some great neighbours during our stay!

Zeeburg was on the outskirts of town, a short walk to the light rail that connects the city. The above photo shows only one of the four camping fields, there were also lots of camper car spaces, cabins, a restaurant, bar, shop, kayak and bike rentals available. It was sort of like a little city, with a population base that was constantly in flux. It was fun to watch people come and go during our stay.

When people think of Dutch souvenirs, they may think of wooden shoes, windmills or Heiniken beer. We think stroopwaffles. These delicious honey cakes made a great vehicle for Josh to transport Nutella and peanut butter into his stomach. Luckily, the "stroopies" aren't readily available in the rest of the world.

The city is filled with canals and bridges. Unlike Venice, the water in the canals is refreshed every six days. The system is quite impressive, as are the views! Our camp site was just to the left of this canal.

The population of Amsterdam is around 740,000 people. The bike population is about 700,000. The city is so quaint and compact, it would simply cease to function if everyone drove a car. Bicycle consciousness is the highest we've seen in any city, as a pedestrian one has to look three times before crossing the road! Once for bikes, twice for cars, and a third time for the light rail system that uses normal streets.

We rented bikes for a day and went to the beach and Van Gough museum. However, our bikes were not as colourful as these.

Beautiful statues adorn the squares and canal wallkways.

Since we'd been in Europe for about a month, we decided to make a bit of money to help with expenses. Za has always liked playing with her devil sticks, and she's been making them to sell for about ten years. Each day, we would make a few pair at the campsite and then go hawk them at Dam Square. It was a great way to meet tourists from all over the world, and to watch people try to learn how to juggle. We were supposed to have a permit to sell them, but the cops are pretty relaxed in Amsterdam and we kept a low profile. Over the few weeks we performed, we witnessed cops doing all sorts of non cop-like activities like hugging one another and talking for an hour or two, eating a bbq lunch out of a paddywagon, and playing soccer by the train station.

Josh making a pair of sticks and using his shirt to keep the sun off his face. Maybe we should have taken that turban tying class at the yoga festival after all! There was a hardware store close to our campground where we bought our supplies. Plus, the main material for making the sticks is bicycle innertube. In this town, it was easy to obtain!

After selling a few pairs of sticks, we would go on adventures around town. We liked this sign, and it made for great people watching!

A bar we liked named for a band Josh loves.

Josh took a picture of this neat bridge while he was riding his bike.

The parks throughout Amsterdam were beautiful and picturesque. The leaning tree above was just one of dozens in Wondelpark.

The weather during our stay was gorgeous. Most days were in the mid to upper 70s with lots of sunshine.

We spotted this sculptuure in the middle of a canal.

Hands down our favourite European city thus far! Thanks Amsterdam!