this morning i stepped outside to head off to work, and there was a sideways sleet coming down outside.  given that i have a longish bicycle ride to work (on the amstelveenseweg end of the vondelpark), the windy sleet didn’t appeal to me as an ideal riding condition, so i took the tram.

on the few occasions that i take the tram to work, i usually have some kind of reading material to keep me occupied.  this time i didn’t, so i looked out the windows.

what a different perspective!  the buildings look different, more complete.  it helped that the sun kept breaking brightly through the clouds.  since i didn’t personally have to concentrate on not hitting them, the antics of tourists trying to experiment with double-seat bicycles in the middle of commuting traffic was amusing rather than irritating.  i still had to shake my head, though, when they fell over into the street just as the car that had been very patiently waiting for them to find the edge of the road had begun to edge past them.  the tram route took me past the places that i regularly pass on my bicycle, and i saw other bicyclists that i recognize from my daily commute, but they look different from slightly above. 

once a week or so, i’ve started walking to/from work rather than bicycling, but it hasn’t been so notably different as today’s tram ride was.  anyway, i’ll be walking home again today, through the vondelpark, past paradiso, muntplein, nieuwmarkt then home.  the magnolia trees have started opening up… it’s spring!  yay!