Canal Tour

We took a canal tour through Amsterdam's many canals. If I remember correctly, they have more than 100 canals in the city. The sun was shining when we started the tour (one of the only peaks of sunshine we had on the trip, so timing was perfect)!

Our tour guide:

Glass boat:

If you look closely, you can see the rope extending from a gable on the roof. This rope has a large hook on the end that is used to move furniture in and out of the upper floors of the row houses. The staircases are too narrow, so they remove the windows when they move to get the furniture in and out!

Pirate ship that is now a museum - I knew Ryan would love this picture! :)

Sailboats in the harbor:

Narrow row houses that now sell for $3-4 million euros. They were built very narrow because at the time they were constructed, taxes were based on the width of the house. They houses are very long and usually 4-6 stories high!

Amsterdam's only lift bridge:

Amsterdam's largest (and nicest) hotel: