It was in the 20s this morning, so I did some work and then emerged into the sunlight just after 10 AM, after it was above freezing.
The first goal was to get something to eat. I crossed the canal and continued straight on the main road, towards the large street market.
Just a few blocks in, I found Baking With Passion, where I was able to acquire both a ham/cheese croissant and a mini quiche, maybe the size of a muffin.
I was tempted to try a "cream cheese tea", but I already had a coffee from the bakery.
After eating and wandering around De Pijp a bit more, I descended to the metro to begin today's real purpose: windmills.
Some Google search about windmills had yielded this page, and most of them are (fairly) easily accessible via metro/tram, so I decided to see how many I could visit in a few hours.
First, I took the M52 (blue line) all the way to the north end (Noord), then walked about 3/4 of a mile to find the D’Admiraal windmill.
I could see it in the distance, as I crossed the canal towards a park.
To cross the canal, I went over one of these strange drawbridges. It was unsettling to speculate about the weight of that counterweight while passing beneath it.
The windmill was not open for visits or tours or anything, so I just admired it from afar.
I even took a selfie with the windmill, for good measure.
Looking at the map, I decided I'd rather walk farther, through the Noorderpark (Wikipedia page is only in Dutch, sorry) to the next metro stop, rather than backtracking. It's always nice to have new things to look at.
I'm not sure how long the path ran along the canal, but I think it was over a mile.
Near the halfway point, I was briefly delayed by a bike-tour (thus the helmets) traffic jam trying to get around a broken-down mini car thing. Google suggests they're "moped cars", which explains why they're sometimes on bike paths.
Other than that bit, and some tree work involving a bucket truck, it was a peaceful stroll along the canal.
The tree workers are just past the bridge, here. It's 11 AM, and that's as high as the sun has gotten so far.
Once back to the metro, I took it downtown, switched to a tram, and rode out to de Gooyer windmill.
The plan, if you could call it that, might've included a refreshment at the brewery, except it wasn't open yet.
From there, it was a quick tram ride across the city to the western part, and a short walk to de Otter windmill. It was even more disappointing than the closed brewpub, because the mill and surrounding area were closed for renovation, so I could only see the back of it.
As one might predict, another quick tram ride, just a few stops up, brought me within walking distance of the next mill. Along the way, I stopped to admire a flotilla of houses, and their very secure moorings.
De Bloem windmill is used as an office now, according to that random website, so it wasn't a surprise that it was not open to the public in any way. (Apparently it's open on National Windmill Day, but that's months away.)
This one was also deserving of a windmill selfie.
Of the two potential windmills that I didn't get to... one was rather far out from center city, and was well out of tram range (meaning it was "bus range"), and the other was a solid mile south of the RAI convention center. If I'd had another hour, it might've been doable. But then again, it's only Wednesday.
One more quick tram ride, and I arrived at the Rijksmuseum stop, but today is not Museum Day, so I just passed under it again, out the back and through the garden area.
I grabbed another snack, and went back to the hotel to do some work. Some hours later, I met Munroe for a beer a block or so from the hotel.
We made a plan for the evening, and the sun was already setting as we set it it motion.
We had had a few borrelhapjes at the Loetje cafe, but needed a few more snacks to round out dinner, so we made a quick stop at the hotel, then took a not-so-short tram ride up to the Jordaan neighborhood.
Some cafes/bars/taverns/pubs here are full restaurants, but some don't really have food (or at least, not kitchens), like the Café Kalkhoven we randomly strolled into on the way from Dam Square to Jordaan. Thus, the "light snack" platter had to suffice. I would estimate that it was on the heavier site of "light".
We still had about an hour until our next event, which was a visit to the Anne Frank House, so we explored the neighborhood for a while, then sat outside at another cafe for a piece of Dutch apple pie.
After the Anne Frank house, we took the long way around, along a canal, aiming vaguely back towards the hotel. Some time after 10 PM, we jumped on a tram for the last mile or wo. That got us as far as the Rijksmuseum, where we repeated my path from earlier today. There was some sort of event or gala at the museum, which included a very visible live music/dance situation.
Tomorrow threatens slightly worse weather, so it might turn into Museum Day.
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