On Thursday, April 4 Dom, Peter, and I flew from Pisa to Eindhoven in the southern part of the Netherlands. It was considerably cheaper to fly there and take the 1 hour 45 minute bus ride to Amsterdam than to fly directly to Amsterdam. Once in Amsterdam we made our way to the apartment we rented. Again, renting a one bedroom apartment proved considerably cheaper than two hotel rooms. It is a wonderful city but Amsterdam is just plain expensive.
It was also COLD there. The high temperatures each day were in the low 40s and the lows where in the 30s. In addition, there was a brisk wind. I packed a hat and gloves and wore them most of the time we were outside.
We stayed in the 9 Streets area which is a lovely section of old Amsterdam. It is all canals and pointy topped houses just like in the pictures of Holland. After we met our landlord and dropped our bags off, we went out to wander around.
You can see from the trees behind Peter and Dom that spring had not yet arrived.
Normally this time of year in the tulips are all be in bloom. In fact, I did all the research to take a day trip to see the tulip fields. However, given the weather forecast, I checked beforehand and found out that almost none of the flowers were in bloom. These pots along the street were an excellent example of the state of the flowers we saw around the city.
In old Amsterdam, where there are no canals there are narrow streets. Some of them are pedestrian only but many of them are for bikes and walkers. There are also dedicated bike lanes in many places. It was tricky figuring out where and what to look for when crossing the streets. Dom almost got clipped by cyclists several times.
Our meandering around the Amsterdam streets took us past the flower market (mostly bulbs and cannabis seeds) to Rembrantplein. Below the statue of the great painter are more statues of characters from his famous paintings.
They are wonderful statues.
One of them had a hand out so Peter (and many others from look of the shiny metal) shook it.
It was soon after this that we realized I had led us far astray and we had gone in the opposite direction from our abode. The guys made me turn the map over to Peter and he directed us back to the apartment. After that he was in charge of the map and getting us from place to place.
There is an incredibly wide variety of fronts on the old houses in Amsterdam. Some of them are rather plain but some are quite ornate, like the one above.
While in Rome we had discussed SPQR which I found out means Senatus Populusque Roma (Senate and People of Rome). I saw this bridge pillar in Amsterdam with SPQA!
The style of the pillar fit right in with the Art Deco building behind it.
We saw lots of interesting shops in Amsterdam. One of my favorites was a place called "LouLou!" It was actually very close to our apartment so we used it as a landmark.
Not sure how the meerkats came to be on the side of this van but it is a good example of the laissez-faire attitude towards marijuana in Amsterdam.
Amsterdam has a lot of ethnic restaurants. We ate at an Argentinian steak house on Thursday night. It was pretty darn tasty and better steak than we get here in Italy.
On Friday we took a tour of the Amsterdam canals. It is a great way to see the city and it kept us out of the wind. In fact, it was really warm in the boat when the sun came out.
The plan had been to visit the Anne Frank museum before taking the boat tour but it turned out there were no tickets available for that day. Just another confirmation that one really needs to purchase tickets online, in advance for major sights before leaving home.
There are lots of houseboats in Amsterdam, most of them built on old barge hulls. Some are traditional looking.
Other houseboats are modern in style and look like they are on floats similar to Seattle houseboats.
The canal boat tour took us out into the harbor in front of the main train station. There are all sorts of these small passenger ferries that cross over to North Amsterdam. It would have been fun to ride one. There are a couple of museums over there but we never ventured that far afield.
There are also many other boats moored along the harbor and canals. This was a beautiful classic wooden boat.
After we completed the canal boat tour we walked around some more. We found a busy pedestrian street that was the European version of a shopping mall. Along the way I saw this storefront. It is actually a pay public restroom! As a veteran of trying to find a restroom while traveling, I think this is a great idea.
I had to take a picture of this woman who was feeding bread to the swans, ducks, seagulls, and pigeons. They were all clustered around with the acrobatic seagulls going for the bread in mid-air.
In Dam Square, the center of the city, we found a carnival. There were a number of rides which looked like fun except that it was toooo cold to be up there in the air. There were also carnival games and food stalls. Dom had a hot dog for lunch. Peter had a bratwurst on a baguette with sauerkraut (that was sweet and crunchy) and I had a crepe with sugar and Grand Marnier. Yum!
We decided to visit the Amsterdam City Museum and on the way saw this vehicle. It was a beer wagon with 6-8 guys pedaling away. We saw it a couple more times, always with just men on board.
This is the entrance to the Amsterdam City Museum. It has excellent displays that explain the history and growth of the city. Did you know the Netherlands was once a naval superpower and controlled much of the East Indies trade? You can learn all about it here. Many of the displays are interactive.
Another cuisine Amsterdam is famous for is Indonesian. We had a fabulous meal (a "rice table") at one on Friday night. I am always up for a meal that involves many small dishes with lots of tastes of different things. Our meal included three kinds of satay, a beef curry, pickled vegetables, and lots of other goodies.
On Saturday Dom and I took Peter to the airport and sent him back to Seattle as an unaccompanied minor. He arrived safely and was probably very happy to be sleeping in his own bed after his whirlwind tour of Italy and Amsterdam. We had a great time with him and hope he was not too bored by us old fogies. With two trips to Europe in the past twelve months (Ireland and this one), he is ready to set off on his own adventures in a few more years.
Dom and I spent another day and a half in Amsterdam. So a little more of Amsterdam in the next blog post.
1 comment:
Amsterdam is pretty fun, laid-back, and carefree. It definitely shows in their way of life. Anyway, it looks like you are having fun aboard the boats. It's pretty strange that the place is famous for Indonesian cuisine. This sparks the curiosity of many, indeed. Keep posting! Totally enjoyed reading this post.
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