Canal houses in Amsterdam are interesting. Most of them lean. If they lean forward, this is the way they were built. Ground floor was always a shop and the top floor storage for what ever was being sold on the ground floor with living space for the family between. At the top of the buildings there is a hook extending from the building. This was used to haul goods up to the warehouse attic. Today they are still used when moving or renovating.

 Amsterdamers lose their bicycles all the time and small wonder when they are parked like this as they often are. The one in the foreground has over parked (see the orange tag and the lock seems to have been cut off. If this bike is not claimed by the next time the area is inspected, it will be collected to be resold for about 25 euro at the auction where many buy their bikes. Often people will have more than one bicycle in case they forget where they parked, they can still get around.

 Typical Amsterdam canal view of town.

 Amsterdam "flatiron" building. The streets do not run on a grid but more concentrically but not uniformly so. Streets run next to canals or where canals were originally.

Buildings with shutters were typically warehouses. The shutters kept the light out as it might damage the goods inside.