March 21, 2012
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Amsterdam, Netherlands
No swimming today – not before work and not after work, and given last night’s dinner at my place and the amount of food and (delicious) wine that was consumed, that was not necessarily a bad thing. Of course I returned to my low-carb regime, and quite happily so. My scales are still my best friend at the moment, whenever I stand on them (definitely each morning.)
The picture is of Prinsenhofsteeg, which is a narrow, pedestrian-only alley in between the two old canals, Oudezijds Voorburgwal and Oudezijds Achterburgwal (the one I live on) and it’s a very old little street. One of the houses in this street has a stone above the door showing that it was built in 1576. It’s absolutely wonderful to be living in a part of the city (and country) with such a rich and old history. What I wouldn’t give to see a picture or painting of the canal in front of my house just after that canal was dug, back in 1367… It would be so amazing to - just for a short while – walk around that ancient Amsterdam (or Amstelredamme as it was called then) and see the people that lived in those times and see the houses they lived in. The only thing I wouldn’t particularly look forward to is experiencing the lack of hygiene in those days and smelling the resulting rather obnoxious smells in the crowded city that was Amsterdam in those days… But I wouldn’t be surprised if Prinsenhofsteeg would have looked just about the same (apart from perhaps the electric lights!) The church in the distance is the Waalse Kerk.
