A is for Amsterdam

Amsterdam is known for its regal architecture. This is the central station...

But the narrow cobbled streets of this ancient city are clogged with bikes - at least a million bikes - an amazing number considering the population is only 750,000. There are so many bikes that canal barges are used as parking lots...

Although most end up chained to the railings and bridges....

The majority of bikes are relatively inexpensive sit-up-and-beg machines: this is useful because 100,000 are stolen and a further 25,000 are thrown into the canals each year.

Cycling isn't the only form of exercise here and, judging by the number of sex shops and brothels, it seems that most Dutch people are bikers by day and bonkers at night. Sex is around ever corner in Amsterdam and most tourists flock to the Red Light District where ladies-of-the-night flaunt their wares like skimpily clad mannequins in a saucy lingerie shop window. Every visitor comes to gawk at the women but most are just voyeurs. However, in our desire to bring you, dear reader, a true experience of our travels we visited the famous sex museum. We would be censored if we showed you what the butler saw, but there was this very interesting bronze fruit bowl, (or maybe it was for nuts?)...

Despite the Netherland's straight-laced puritanical past, Amsterdam's air is heady with the smell of pot and almost every store that isn't selling sex is selling dope. But there is much more to Amsterdam than biking, bonking and bongs: there are boats, bakeries and bookstores everywhere and, of course, there are bags of bulbs and bunches of blooms. Holland is renowned for its flowers and here are some bulbs and blooms for sale at the famous floating Bloemenmarkt....

Our next stop is Delft where we will be cycling the canals in search of ceramics. But we had better stop this alphabetical rhyming or we will run into a lot of problems when we get to Q,X and Z.