Cleaning Canals...

The following day we headed back to Amsterdam to help clean the canals with Abbie and Derek. They had special grabbers and nets for us to pick up stuff and separate containers for us to sort the plastic, glass and trash.

We were glad that Ashlynn joined us for part of the day before heading to Amsterdamse Bos for a music festival.

Check out the clog-shaped boat.

The last time I went under this particular bridge was when the canals were frozen and I followed Jimmy and Derek while they were skating.

By the time we went out in the afternoon, the main canals were pretty clean, but we still managed to find some pockets of trash on the smaller canals.

This was the first time I’d ever spotted a barge used for bike parking.

Forgot to ask how it is that some of the locks are closed, but others are open. 

On the right edge of the locks, the bridge house can actually be rented, one of 28 bridge houses converted into hotel rooms. Built in 1673 as the house for the city’s bridge keepers, this room starts at a whopping € 950/night for two people and includes four private boat crossings per night.

Our destination was next door to the Maritime Museum, which was flying the Pride Flag. We dropped off the plastic with the folks from Plastic Whale, a boat company that does daily tours while cleaning the canals and then makes new boats out of the recycled plastic.