An Amsterdam canal scene
My memory of Amsterdam was of a river cruise in drab grey winter weather. What a difference blue sky and winter sunshine can make to any scene. Despite the chill Amsterdam suddenly took on a new picture postcard image of light and colour and life. The scene here is so peaceful yet close by were cyclists and scooters on their designated cycle-way, trams bustling around corners and cars somehow managing to keep to their right bit of road. For a pedestrian it was interesting. Most roads had at least two if not three different sets of traffic lights to accomodate trams, cars and cycles with kerbs in the pavement to show cyclists where to go but to catch out the unwary pedestrian quite successfully. Traffic lights though are fun. Not only do they have stop and go, they also show a count-down second by second and for the visually impaired (or those engrossed in texting on mobile phones) there are two different bleeps. The first set of bleeps is at regular intervals until the lights change, at which point bleeps become faster and close together until the lights change back.