Have you heard that going by bike is absolutely the best way to get around Amsterdam?

Amsterdam is a city that embraces change. In recent years, the city itself has been the object undergoing the most change. A city-wide metro project has left the city's main arteries under construction for years longer than projected, and of course the project has cost much more than was originally budgeted for it; however, the city now has a super-efficient and lightning-quick underground mode of transportation.

Biking in Amsterdam is popular. So popular that the Netherlands actually has more bikes inside the country than people. If this sounds strange to you, just think about the moment that you have a flat tire on your bike and can't get to work. What do you do? You hop on your spare bike of course! Not everyone has a spare bike, but to give you an idea, I live in a household of two, and we have three bikes---one for each of us and one spare one. It's kind of like the car situation in a lot of American households I know!

Around this time in Amsterdam I start looking for things to do indoors once the weather goes from blue sky to gray sky, and this autumn has brought the Amsterdam Climbing Wall (Klimmuur) to my attention. If you too are in need of using up some energy, but it's raining buckets outside...or even if you've just spent one too many afternoons in the Vondelpark to want to go back, the climbing wall is not yet a very well known place; that being said, it IS a very well-frequented place!

While it would be an exaggeration to say that the Dutch do not have a national cuisine, it is absolutely true that the Dutch have nowhere near the cooking skills of their Belgian neighbors. That being said, Dutch pea soup is an absolute delight and pancakes can be a true delight (a tip though: only order a pancake with bacon IN it if you have an iron stomach...if not, try the natural one with butter and powdered sugar).

While the Olympics do not bring anywhere near the madness that the European Soccer Championships recently brought to Amsterdam, there are plenty of top Dutch athletes representing the Netherlands in Beijing for the 2008 summer games. It should come as no surprise that one of the gold medals awarded to the Dutch athletes has been in cycling!

One of the highlights of summer in Amsterdam is enjoying the beautiful weather and being able to do stuff outside. Outdoor activities don't have to be limited to the daytime; the Vondelpark features outdoor (free!) entertainment every weekend during the high summer season. This upcoming weekend is the last of the summer season, so now is your chance to enjoy this free entertainment on a beautiful Amsterdam summer night.

In Amsterdam, there's nothing that the locals enjoy more than visiting a terrace for an afternoon beer or a morning coffee. Fortunately, there are so many cafes in Amsterdam who offer outdoor seating that the options are virtually limitless. If you'd like to experience this typically Amsterdam activity, try it many times at different cafes, you'll find that each terrace is shockingly different from the last one you went to.

The Museumplein (pronounced 'mu-ZAY-um-pline') is one of the center's of Dutch art in Amsterdam offering everything from classic Vermeers and Rembrandts to impressionist, sun-drenched, Van Gogh tableaus from Provence. Spending a day on the Museumplein is a rare treat, especially in the sunshine of summer.

There are many Van Gogh fans all over the entire world; some of his paintings are incontestably the most sought after prints of the impressionist repertoire. For example, his sunflowers rank right up there with Monet's water lilies and his 'Starry Night' is one of the most romanticized landscapes of all time. These are some paintings everyone knows, but what most people don't know is that there were many other periods of painting in Van Gogh's short career or that he also wrote letters that sometimes bore as much of his soul as his artwork did.