Walking around Amsterdam

I've got 11 weeks till I walk San Francisco's Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure® on October 1-3. Sixty miles in three days is no joke, and as Energizer's Keep Going® Blogger for San Francisco, I want to make sure I actually finish the walk instead of wimping out and hitching a ride with the help wagons. But I'm on vacation with Alfie's family in the UK, and when you've got a full schedule of family activities, it's not easy to find time to take long walks. Despite my jet lag, I've been able to wake up early enough to take hourlong walks nearly every day -- I know, not exactly walkathon distance but as my aching leg and butt muscles keep reminding me, I'm not in the best shape of my life and it will have to do for a start.

This week Alfie and I left the kids with his parents and took a 4-day trip to Amsterdam. I was pretty worried that with all the canal cruises and bus tours and museum visits and lounging around cafes and restaurants, I'd fall off my newfound walking schedule and never get back. I needn't have worried.


We arrived in Amsterdam on the same day that all of Amsterdam (and probably everyone in the suburbs) showed up at the City Center to cheer the Netherlands national football team, who had just finished second in the World Cup. The whole city was a mass of orange, and all the trams had been cancelled, so we had to walk to our hotel. We spent the rest of the day walking around the city, trying to catch a glimpse of the team, who were parading around the city's canals. Our perseverance paid off -- we saw them just after the rally finished, as they were being driven away in big tour coaches.


On Day 2, we took a tour of the countryside, and spent 4 hours walking around quaint, picturesque villages like these.



On Days 3 and 4, we walked all around Amsterdam, looking at museums and buildings and monuments in squares. You don't really notice how much you've been walking when you're surrounded by beautiful buildings, cafes and canals like these.




Or these. The city center is so small and compact that it felt silly to take a tram, so we just walked everywhere. At the end of the trip Alfie and took stock of our adventures and figured out that we had actually walked about 4 hours each day!

If only I were rich enough to visit 11 different cities for each of the 11 weeks leading up to the walk, training would be no problem whatsoever.

Please help me reach my goal of $1000! Any amount helps and is greatly appreciated. You can click on the widget below to donate to the Susan G. Komen foundation.