We had rented a privately
owned self contained apartment on Prinsengracht.
The main city of Amsterdam lies to the south of the waterway,
with the center, or 'centrum' next to the water. Four
semi circular canals a couple of hundred meters apart
form concentric arcs around the 'centrum'. Prinsengracht
is the third canal from the center. These concentric canals
are linked by radial canals, also a couple of hundred
meters apart.
Our apartment was in
a small cottage built at the end of the garden belonging
to one of the 17th century terraced houses
lining Prinsengracht.
The house was being used
as apartments. The garden was pleasant, the cottage had
one room on the ground floor and the bed on a mezzanine
floor accessed by a ladder. It had very nice big windows.
It was quiet, secure and dark at night,
we could put our bikes in the basement of the house and
had arranged to leave our bike boxes and a suitcase
there while we were touring. It was also ideally situated,
a few minutes walk from the most interesting
areas of Amsterdam.