Because of all the delicious and artery-clogging group meals, morning runs became highly necessary. My first morning out, I had planned to head to the nearby Vondelpark but had mistakenly ran in the complete opposite direction. And in my crazed quest for luggage packing efficiency, I had opted not to bring my GPS watch.
Big mistake.
To this date I still can't figure out on Google Map where exactly I ended up that first morning.
I had bought my camera along for the run but had forgotten that I took the battery out to recharge the night before. A complete doofus move because there were some really cool statues and doors I encountered during my run.
But thanks to Google, I was able to find photos for two of them.
These were bridge statues near Muzenplein by Hildo Krop, who was the genius responsible for many of the bridge and building statues in Amsterdam.
Very likely these statues are allegorical, but I just found them fun to look at.
So if I may present:
Boy with [Killer] Rabbits
Girl with [Demon] Squirrels
Second morning was much better.Cellphone? Check.
Camera with battery? Check and check.
Right direction? Check.
It was a tad early so I basically had the roads all to myself. And perhaps not surprisingly, there were no other runners sighted. Amsterdamians must get all the physical exercises they need just from cycling.
Entrance to Vondelpark
I then made my way to Museumplein, which was lovely without the crowds.
And I finally got to take a picture of the "I amsterdam" sign without having to duck elbows and selfie sticks.
You know you covet my awesome puke-green socks and neon running shoes.
The Van Gogh museum (right) and the concert hall Concertgebouw (left).
Amsterdam looks so lovely bathed in the dawn light. (What filter are you using? :p) What time was your morning run?
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, I do covet them... So when's the next time you're leaving them unattended?
The animals look fine to me, it's the boy and girl who look demonic. Eee! It looks like they're going to unleash their animal armies upon us.
A good tip is found when I need to orient myself is finding where the sun is rising/setting and then figuring out the cardinal directions from there. I guess it's less effective a tool when the sun hasn't risen yet!
Haha, that's the "6:15am in Amsterdam" filter.
DeleteI just realized that the boy is shirtless, which just adds a whole other level of bizarre. There are so many questions I would ask the sculptor e.g. why squirrels?
Sun orientation would be a good trick if the streets were oriented in a typical grid pattern. But Amsterdam streets follow the canals, which means the streets are often parabolic, which means even if you start eastward on a road, you can find yourself going southbound unknowingly.
Well, it's a lovely filter and I think it'll be a big hit with the kids. (What am I even saying any more.)
DeleteUgh, that drives me crazy about non-grid-based cities. How does anyone get anywhere in an efficient manner? It's also so confusing when you're trying your best to follow a map and you need to go left but then there appears in front of you 3 streets going left-ish and your map only lists one street there.