A Typical Amsterdam Scene. It was quiet in February, and the weather was grey (although it only rained briefly for an hour on one day while we were there). I thought Amsterdam was a 'Practice Venice' as it was built around the canals, not actually on a lagoon! On a canalboat tour we learnt that the houses were restricted in width by early land-planning (I think only a few metres) which explains why they are all so tall and thin (with correspondingly frightening staircases in the hotels, bars and worse, the dope cafes!)