Stairway to Europe

One thing became certain during our travels in Estonia, Finland, Holland and France. This is a land of a million steps.

It started immediately, when we had to lug our suitcases up three flights of stairs at the Seven Bridges Inn in Amsterdam. Canal houses are tall and narrow, so staircases tend to shoot straight up rather than ascending in leisurely flights. As I was panting and struggling to get our suitcases to the top, I wondered how the hell the get beds and couches and furniture into these things.

The next day I found out.

I looked out our window, across the Reguliersgracht and saw someone hanging out of the window of a canal house, Above him was a pulley. Below, a rope attached to a large package of stuff that was being hoisted skyward, toward the open window. Most of the canal houses have a pulley attached at the top for this. Makes life a lot easier …

In Estonia, we stayed in a the Old Chapel of Kuninga Apartments, which date to the 1400s. The building has been beautifully restored, but they left a lot of original touches, including a tortuous stairway

And in Paris, we rode on our first elevator of the entire trip. At the hotel. But most of the places where we went sightseeing had other ideas in mind. Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower featured winding, twisting staircases that ascended to great heights.