Today we took a canal tour throughout Amsterdam. We learned about the history of the canals, the houses along them, and the expansion of the city. The city has created new canals expanding from the center to allow for development. Many of them used to be heavily traveled for commerce. House boats also litter the waterways. These homes are surprisingly nice and apparently the real estate on the water is high demand.
The tour took us out of the canals into a body of water called the IJ, meaning water in Dutch. It used to be part of the sea but is now separated thanks to barriers.
