The epic heat wave that is ravaging half of the U.S. seems a world away from Amsterdam, where the temperatures have hovered between 60 and 70 degrees for the past two weeks, with an occasional surge to 75 when the clouds clear at just the right time in the afternoon. We've had a respite from the rains that put a damper on last year's summer, with many nights allowing locals to jam into terraces and patios to dine and drink beer and wine late into the night.
It wasn't supposed to be like this, according to the weather forecasts. Serious thunderstorms were forecast for several nights this week, and they never materialized. Yesterday's forecast called for a 100% chance of rain, and although it was technically correct, the rains were limited to thirty minutes around 12:00. The storms did leave some fluffy white clouds that glowed next to the sun during the day, and shined with a bright pink between 9:00 and 10:00 at night. It's difficult to top the beauty of the skies in the Sonoran Desert - like Forest Gump said, "In the desert, when the sun comes up, I couldn't tell where heaven stopped and the earth began." But the rare Amsterdam evenings like last night have their own beauty.
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| A packed canal side cafe right off of the Amstel |
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| View from the base of my apartment |
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| Sunset behind the Intercontinental Amstel, one of the nicest hotels in Amsterdam |
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| The Amstel, flowing into the center of Amsterdam |
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| Rembrandtplein |
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| FEBO, where you get your (garbage) food from the wall |
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| Looking north from Central Station |
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| Looking south from Central Station |
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