On our first morning in Amsterdam we decided to take a 1-hour boat tour of the Amsterdam canals. The central core of Amsterdam has many canals in concentric rings, so a boat tour is a good way to get an introduction to the city. It was mostly a pleasant ride but we sat right in front of a rowdy group of friends who talked loudly throughout the voyage, even when the tour guide was giving narration. Oh, well.
A big motivation for our trip to Amsterdam was to visit a yarn store owned by Carrie’s favorite knitting designer, Stephen West. So, in the afternoon we visited his store, Stephen and Penelope, located in the Nieuwmarkt district of Amsterdam’s central core. Carrie bought some yarn, of course, and enjoyed spending an hour or so browsing through the goods.
One of the great things about Amsterdam for an American traveler is that virtually everybody speaks English. For maybe the first hour we were there we would ask people if they spoke English but we soon realized that asking was unnecessary. In almost every situation it was possible to approach someone and simply address them in English.
