Pain in the Achilles

I’d wager I’ve walked more in the past 48 hours than Morgan Spurlock did in the entire filming of Super Size Me. It started with a two mile walk around the neighborhoods surrounding my bed and breakfast after I arrived. It hit its most frustrating when I got lost on the already 4.5 mile round trip walk to an apartment I viewed later that day (my guess is I ended up walking at least six miles). It continued yesterday when I went on a somewhat aimless journey toward the center of town – and the throngs of tourists, smoke shops, smart shops, sex shops, and…flower stands – to find an adapter that would allow my laptop to charge in a Dutch socket; this went over six miles round trip. And I went at least another six miles today looking at different apartments.

Implications of this walking include: 1) I’m getting some exercise without actually “exercising”; 2) I’ve been getting a lot of use out of my mp3 player; 3) I’ve been able to practice my basic Dutch skills (meaning “asking people for directions and relying heavily on hand gestures”); 4) I’m beating my running shoes into a pulp, and, relatedly; 5) I am developing a bit of a pain in the Achilles.

I now have three more nights booked at my bed and breakfast (so through Wednesday evening). I do not have an apartment yet. I’ve seen four, one of which was a 500 square foot dump for $1600 per month; one was a drab 800 square foot apartment for $2000 per month; one was an OK, 800 square foot apartment with 1970’s furniture for $2100 per month; and one was a decent 600 square foot apartment for $1600 – I might try to go for this last one. Regardless, it looks unlikely that I’ll be able to move into an apartment before I need to vacate my current residence. So I’ll need to make something happen soon. I’m hoping that couch surfers or some other social networking site will come through for me.

Guess where all these bikes are parked?

Outside the Amsterdam World Trade Center. I'm guessing this means some fairly wealthy people rode their bikes to work today.

This is the architectural style in the nicer parts of Amsterdam (so most of the "traditional" part of the city)

One of the many canals around Amsterdam.

And a rather interesting sculpture in a park.