Bicyclists stream by in an endless procession along Reestraat, the narrow street that crosses a canal to pass by one side of the famed Hotel Pulitzer. From my breakfast table inside the hotel restaurant, a large window frames a scene of cyclists. Peering out over a flower box of purple petunias, I do what journalists [...]
Bicyclists stream by in an endless procession along Reestraat, the narrow street that crosses a canal to pass by one side of the famed Hotel Pulitzer. From my breakfast table inside the hotel restaurant, a large window frames a scene of cyclists. Peering out over a flower box of purple petunias, I do what journalists do: observe.
With a chill still in the air, a woman pedals by in an elegant long jacket. She has adorned her bike with a wicker basket, flowers woven into the basket’s upper edge.
Another woman pedals slowly with a terrier seated in a basket, the lucky pup’s whiskers blowing in the breeze. A fishmonger glides along Reestraat with a wooden carton secured on the back of his bike. Fresh fish being delivered to a residence or restaurant?
A young couple coasts by, the young man steering the bike and the girl seated sideways on the rack behind. A pair of young women cycle past, beautiful and graceful in the sunlight. Riding by just now: a mother and two children on a three wheel bike, with a wheelbarrow-shaped compartment for the kids.
All of this from my window, within a span of about five minutes. Amsterdam is beauty in motion.
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