Living in Amsterdam is like living on a small island, water is all around you, never far, never forgotten. Most of the time you’re looking at it from the streets or the bridges, you don’t always pay attention to it, but every once in a while something grabs your attention, from the corner of you eye you see something unusual, out of place.
The other day it was a strange procession of floating cars.
An other time, it’s a boat house.
Most of the time it’s fun and entertaining, but sometimes, the news remind you that the water can also be too close for comfort. Some of the bridges are older than 100 years. They are dealing with a load of traffic that they were not built for. Amsterdam is pushing more money and effort into repairing and maintaining a total of 1,600 bridges, 600 kilometers of quays and banks, and 5 traffic tunnels. Of the 200 kilometers of quay walls in the city, at least 10 kilometers are in very poor condition with an increased risk of collapse. At the beginning of September, a quay wall crumbled into a canal near the University of Amsterdam, in the historic downtown.
But, like everything old, it’s probably its imperfections that give the city its timeless charm.
From Amsterdam with love.
-F-