Amsterdam

Hey. We just got back from Amsterdam late Monday night. We had a great time. What a unique city. I'm not used to traveling in the winter though. The sun set by 4:30, it was cold and rainy and my natural instinct is to be at home under the covers. But we still managed to see a lot and have a lot of fun.

Before you check out the pictures, go to this Peter, Bjorn and John site and click on the song "Amsterdam" to listen to while you browse. We had it stuck in our heads the whole trip.

Friday November 30, 2007

We finally got smart and loaded some TV shows onto Toby's iPod for the five hour train ride. An apple is the perfect thing to use to prop it up. Ironic.


We arrived at 10:30 PM and phoned to check in with the B&B. We had the choice of taking the tram or a taxi to the B&B and the B&B owner warned us about unscrupulous taxi drivers overcharging us. So we were standing there in the rain, at night, in a strange city, in front of a train station (always seems dodgy) trying to figure out if we should figure out the tram system and try and find our way or to take a chance on a cab. We went with the cab option. I tried to confirm the approximate price ahead of time and some of the taxi drivers refused to take us! I've never been rejected by a cab driver before. Anyway, we ended up getting a nice taxi driver. I think we were overcharged a little bit but we weren't left wandering around aimlessly in the rain either (as we would have been had we taken the tram).

The experience made me realize that no matter how often you travel, you can still feel vulnerable and clueless. It's not a good feeling, but it definitely takes you out of your comfort zone and makes all the fabulous experiences possible.

Saturday December 1, 2007

Our B&B host Paul was very friendly and warm and made us feel at home as soon as we stepped out of the rain into their cozy home. We had the attic room (the stairs in Amsterdam buildings are STEEP!) and our hosts provided us with complimentary blackcurrent gin. Yum. After a few sips, all thoughts of unscrupulous taxi drivers were gone and we were ready to experience the city!


Our B&B was at the southwest end of Vondel Park, which means it was little out of the way of the busy central areas, but we liked the neighborhood and the quiet.

We started the day by walking through Vondel Park. I decided that if I won the lottery I would buy a house here. Possibly this one.




We popped out of the park at Leidseplein, a happening little square with bars, cafes and people. We caught a boat tour from there. You can see the type of boat in the picture below:


I really enjoyed the boat tour. We lucked out with a beautiful sunshiny day and so we had great visibility out of the windows. It was cozy and relaxing to just sit and look and listen and soak it all in.






After the tour we went for bagels. This is the first bagel I've had since we left Canada. Mmmm... bagels...


Next we explored a bit on foot. Toby had read that Amsterdam was hosting the biggest international documentary film festival while we were there so we went to get tickets to a film. Our first pick "Planet B-Boy" (Five B-Boys get ready for the most prestigious dance competition in break-dance, The Battle of the Year) was sold out, so we to tickets for "One Man in the Band" instead.


Sunset was at 4:30.


Then we went to Anne Frank's house. I recently read The Diary of Anne Frank and her story was fresh for me. Seeing the house was eerie and sad but I'm glad we went.



One of the artifacts on display was an Oscar that Shelley Winters won for playing Mrs. Van Daan in the 1959 movie version. I have never been that close to an Oscar and after all those Oscar parties it was a bit of a thrill to be in such close proximity to one.


On our way to the movie theatre we saw this bike parkade. As I'm sure you already know, EVERYONE rides a bike here. It was unnerving because I was always looking over my shoulder, trying to make sure I wasn't run over by one.


We ate an incredibly healthy dinner. First: waffles. We chose the plain waffle with sugar before the movie. After the movie we tried the chocolate covered. OH MY GOD. So good.


Toby is enjoying his waffle.


Hot snack vending machine. We didn't have anything from the vending machine but we did enjoy...


... French fries with mayo. The calories don't count when it's part of a "cultural experience".


Then, to round out the meal we had pizza and coke. It wasn't until we saw the coke in a can that we realized that we haven't seen pop in cans that often (if ever that we remember) in Germany. The pizza was not good. I recall Toby wiping his fingers, pushing away his plate and saying something like "Well, not the best pizza I've ever had. More like warm dough that fills the empty spot in my stomach". Now if that's not a product endorsement, I don't know what is.


And finally, we had some movie snacks. The popcorn was salty (yes!) which was a treat because movie popcorn in Germany is usually sweet. And Grolsch was the beer of choice at the theatre. Before the movie started I could hear tell-tale pops all through the darkened theatre as everyone opened their beers.


The movie we saw was called "One Man in the Band" about people who are one man bands. It was entertaining but a bit sad. The musicians were generally a bit past their prime and going it alone because they were tired of dealing with other band members and wanted complete control. They were obviously passionate about their music but not finding commercial success. If you have the opportunity, check it out.

We've seen these before at concerts and such. Don't worry, Toby's just pretending.


Two doors down from our B&B was a little pub. We tried two kinds of blond beer. We liked them.



Sunday December 2, 2007

We'd used up our luck with the weather on Saturday and faced cold rain and extreme winds on Sunday as we headed out to the Van Gogh museum.


This happened on the way. We were soaked through by the time we entered the museum.


Ohhhh, but was it ever worth it. I love Van Gogh. It was amazing seeing so many of his paintings all at once. They are so different in real life. So full of life and color and energy.



This one really blew my mind. I'd seen reproductions of it before and thought, "what's the big deal?" but in real life it is mesmerizing. I will definitely be back some day.


We didn't go to the Rijksmuseum but here it is from the outside.


We warmed up with tea, hot chocolate and croquettes.


Look at those ominous clouds. Crazy.


We made our way through the crummy weather to the "Heineken Experience", an old brewery and museum. When we finally got there we found this sign:


Here's what the building looked like from the outside.


The tour was supposed to include three free samples, so we hit a nearby pub to at least get the sampling part of the "experience".


Then we made our way to the red light district. There were a few shops selling novelty items, some of which would be pretty handy for a bachelorette party, but I didn't make any purchases. I felt weird seeing the ladies in their windows so I didn't really look at them. But the red lights sure looked pretty reflected in the canal.

On the way home we stopped at the grocery store. I saw this giant marzipan pig (they slice it up and sell it priced by the gram) and the wheels of cheese. We also found salt and vinegar pringles and oreos. Half of both have already been eaten.



We hit the hotel early since it was so miserable out and watched trashy English TV (Cribs on MTV, music videos, CSI). Gosh, it was magnificent. And it got the TV thing out of our system for at least another six months.

Monday December 3, 2007.

For our last day in Amsterdam I wanted to check out the Jordaan district. It was cold and rainy again, not the best weather for walking around, but we managed. The following pictures don't need much description.















So as you can see, we spent our last day wandering, browsing in shops, warming up in restaurants and taking photos. I ate a delicious tiny marzipan pig (Toby went for chocolate). At the train station we saw this double decker bike parking lot. Wow! That's a lot of bikes!


Overall I really enjoyed Amsterdam. After spending a few days their I'm not quite as sure if I would buy that house right after winning the lottery. I might have to think about it. I loved the cosmopolitan air, the multiculturalism, the bikes, the beautiful architecture and the Dutch people seemed lovely... but it's such a busy city. I think it would take while getting used to the claustrophobic feel of the canals. Perhaps I need to give it a second chance? Hopefully sometime soon...