abadideaGood morning to the older British lady on holiday who breathlessly asked us if we really live here in Amsterdam (yes, but not in those canal manors) and if we, too, own bikes (yes)
She agreed Odin is a good boy.
Honestly, there was a lot more Magical Surrealism in my everyday life when I lived in the well-preserved medieval core of Leiden than in Amsterdam. Rembrandt reenactors, horse drawn carriage parades, open air historic boat museum, having to wait to go into my house because a random bride was using the gateway for a photo shoot
AT@0xabad1dea mostly Early Modern, really (if you want a slightly more medieval city center with quayside houses and a Gravensteen I can recommend Ghent)
@at I realize most of the surviving buildings aren't quite medieval, but the dense maze of alleyways sure is...
I have a vivid recollection of walking to the train station from linguistics summer school last year, and seeing a very American, very lost man clutching a guidebook, and offering to point the way to whatever he was looking for. He very defensively told me no. My brother in eagles, your American brain did not evolve to survive in this environment, accept the help