Biking the canals

One of the things we've both wanted to do since the second we got here was take a boat and tour the many canals in the city. There are always hundreds of boats out on the water, regardless of the weather, and it always looks like so much fun to us, especially the boats that are packed full of people and everyone is drinking wine and eating good food and looking like they're having a wonderful time. Unfortunately, since we don't know anyone here with a boat yet, this party boat ride is not yet an option to us. And since we didn't want to waste our money on one of those gigantic tourist boats where everyone looks like they'd rather be sleeping than be out on the water, we decided to do the next best thing: rent a canal bike!

If you've never seen one, a canal bike is a really small boat that can fit up to four or so people and the people up front power it by pushing the pedals, just like a bike. There is also a very rudimentary turning system (we soon found out this didn't work very well). Well, we brought our snacks of wine, cheese and chocolate onto the boat with us in hopes of a very relaxing hour of fun. But for some reason we didn't realize there would be some actual work involved through the peddling of the boat, and by the end of it we were both sweating as we fought the current to get the boat back in time. It was a gorgeous day and lots of fun, but I think next time we'll have to find a boat where we can just sit and relax!

Taking a break from peddling for the camera

Me smiling - what a pretty day!

A random couple on a boat with their dog - we hope this is us with Fishstick someday!

- Krista