Cycling in Amsterdam and Nemo

You can't visit Amsterdam without doing what the locals do. We headed out early in search of a bike shop. We got a little lost but eventually with help found the shop called MacBike. We hired three, fullsize for Sue, childs for Sophia and a triple for the rest of us. It was a little nerve racking at first especially the length of my bike but I had heard about the laws and how hitting a cyclist can be a really bad thing to do. 

We headed for the the Waterloopleinmarkt. As if we were ever going to get any bargains in this city. We bought the typical dutch souvenirs of clogs and two little people kissing before moving on.

Cycling around the canals was awesome with the various bridges and  pathways. We headed to the Science Museum called Nemo. It was across the city out on the water built on top of a tunnel. For the kids it was the highlight of the day. Five levels of science you can touch and play with. On one level the kids and I put on a lab coat and we got to do our own experiment with ice salt. Did you know applying salt to ice reduces the temperature of the ice water to -17 degrees but at the same time melts it. Cool. 

We spent the rest of the day biking through the city streets just exploring. We were quite a sight with the two kids in the front. Many people starred and a number of photos were taken. Once Sue was some distance behind us and over heard one foriegner who had just taken a photo of us comment, "Ahh it a rental" obviously hoping to capture a local authentically riding their family around. 

We had a couple of scary moments with the traffic. One occurred when we only got halfway across a road and my bike was way too long sitting out on one side to the traffic and the other end onto the tram line. I could see my front wheel which sticks out and actually got knocked by a passing tram. It was by far our best day in the holiday and well recommended to anyone going to Amsterdam.