Weekend Warrior

Since I was here in July and already did the touristo tour of duty, I'm trying to immerse myself in as a local as much as possible.  Last Saturday I took the tram to this awesome area on Beethovenstraat (Beethoven Street) and looked around in the shops.  It's about 5 tram stops from my apartment, so very close.  I don't have a bike YET, but still hope to get one soon.  Jerome, one of my US colleagues, bought a new bike last weekend.  I'm in the market for a used bike for quite a few less EURO than what he paid.  It would be an easy bike ride to the shopping area on Beethovenstraat from my apartment.  Saturday is errands day in Amsterdam.  Most shops are closed on Sunday except for the grocery store.  I like that concept.  I noticed the locals were out on their bikes and making purchases for the upcoming week.  As you can imagine, shopping choices are clearly thought out based on what you can take back on your bike.  This is not an impulse shopping trip at Sams or purchasing enough toilet paper to last for the next 3 months!  Here is a picture of a woman with her young child in it's 'bike seat' out shopping, and then a bike parked with the daily purchases hanging from the handle bars (the tram is in the background).

The grocery store I go to is on this street.  There aren't huge parking lots for the cars, instead the parking scene is simply a row of bikes. 

There are many specialty shops along this street...fish market, cheese shop, butcher, produce stands, coffee shop (not you know what) interesting book stores, upscale clothing stores.  NO CHAINS!  It's wonderful.  One store I went into which was as close to a Target as I've seen reminded me of the Ben Franklins store we had when I was a kid.  They had about everything, but not a gazillion choices like you see in the US.  My favorite of the day was a corner flower market.  I found a bouquet of fresh tulips that had not bloomed yet.  I spent 15 Euro (20 USD) and had beautiful fresh tulips on my table all week long.  That's the best purchase I've made so far.