Amsterdam

     There are a few places in the world that I have visited that from the moment I arrived, I felt comfortable. San Francisco. New York City. Vienna, Austria. There was just something about those places where I was calm and in awe from the get -go. Amsterdam was the same way. Old World charm with New World feel. A city with canals around every corner and people on bicycles everywhere you turn. (And if you aren't careful at the intersections, you are liable to get run into by a beautiful woman on two wheels.)

     Of course, my interest in Amsterdam was geared more toward the history of the city, it's canals and dyke system as well as the effects that the rising seas are having on this City in the North. (Of course I had no interest in the Red Light District or the "Coffee Shops". I don't even know what those things are.) If you ever wanted to understand what just a few feet of sea level rise could do, all you have to do is look at the pictures below.

     Amsterdam is a city of water. The canals are the essential ingredient that creates the charm and beauty of this Northern gem. But, if you look...