Amsterdam, November 12-14

This is the trip where I learned how to convert kmh to mph.

Our friends Mike and Xavier rented a car and the four of us drove from Kiel to Amsterdam on a Friday morning. We're going along, I'm admiring the German countryside, and Britt says, "hey, do you know how to convert kmh to mph?" I say, "no, not really." So, he goes on to explain how to do it, then he says, "so, how fast are we going?" I do the conversion...100 mph! They're not kidding when they say there is no posted speed limit on the autobahn.

I learned some other interesting factoids: Did you know Amsterdam has more canals than Venice? Did you know the three xxx's you see around Holland are actually meant to protect the country from the three disasters (fire, flood, famine)? Did you know part of the Dutch Christmas tradition is telling children if they are bad they will be taken to Spain and turned into cookies? Did you know in Amsterdam it is actually preferred to have an old junky bicycle, in fact they say "the older the better" (partly due to the high bike theft and partly to the Germans taking all of their bikes during the war)?

I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.... -Melinda