Amsterdam!
Amsterdam, the Netherlands (jan 30- feb2)
We took in the usual touristy sites …the Van Gogh museum – love Vincent Van Gogh! - the museum now has a new spiffy, modern looking wing which showcases art by artists influenced by Van Gogh …the red light district, always interesting, the women looked less sad then I remembered them from last time, not sure why? And why red light you might ask? Apparently red light enhances your appearance (good to know!). We also stopped by the Anne Frank museum which too has been renovated and spiffed up (I guess it has been 10 years!), always a moving and sobering place to visit and of course a trip to Amsterdam is never complete without some strolling along the canal lined streets taking in the tall doll like houses – tall because property tax or something like that used to be paid by width, not height!
On the food front we sampled FEBO – vending machines with hot food, such as burgers and Krokets - not too bad actually (just have to take the ones most recently replaced), fries with mayo (always good), Dutch pancakes,stroopwaffle cookies (yum), pea soup (which tasted like soap – I asked them to change it and it still tasted that way!), raw herring and of course! Indonesian food (great in Holland!) – we went for a progressive Indonesian meal where 18 small dishes are served each getting progressively spicier. The theory is if you just eat dish 18, it will be too hot, but the dishes get progressively hotter then you won’t notice the really spicy ones as much. That’s the theory anyway, I think I made it to like dish 14. Our last dutch meal with Darryl we went to a ‘Dutch’ restaurant where they served different things on mash potatoes – called stomp or stump or something like that – massively heavy, but actually really good.
Amsterdam is just flooded with bikes, although I might add … not a helmet in site! They also have an excellent system of bike paths. So on day two, we decided to tour the city via the excellent bike paths and rented fiets (bikes) – mine was pink! Bikers rule in Amsterdam, they are everywhere, all the time and yes they have the right of way (vs. walkers anyway) so you seriously need to watch out if you stray into a bike path. Back in my Rotterdam days, the best way for students to get bikes was to hunt out a druggie, who would soon set you up (with most likely something they had just pinched from someone else). I remember buying one for 12 guilders – it got stolen like a week later. Easy come easy go. Apparently they have done much to crack down on bike theft and buying bikes from druggies is supposed to give you bad karma (oops!). We were still given two mighty locks each from the rental shop.
We explored the eastern docklands by bike. It’s a very new, very modern, very futuristic looking part of Amsterdam. It has some funky looking red bridges and an interesting row of flats, each with a different façade.
It’s been more than 10 years (can’t believe it) when I was last in Amsterdam and at school in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. There was some difference, but much the same and many a site brought back memories from the past. Amsterdam was and still is a very unique place on this planet!! A thriving and legal red light district with tax paying prostitutes, brownie laden coffee shops and ‘smart shops' (shroom room) - all signs of a very open minded society. Apparently, there have been a few incidents in recent years (one being the shooting of a filmmaker who made a controversial film (I vaguely remember reading about it in Vancouver) that have led to heavy debate about the balance between individual freedom/rights and the laws of the country and the collective.
We took in the usual touristy sites …the Van Gogh museum – love Vincent Van Gogh! - the museum now has a new spiffy, modern looking wing which showcases art by artists influenced by Van Gogh …the red light district, always interesting, the women looked less sad then I remembered them from last time, not sure why? And why red light you might ask? Apparently red light enhances your appearance (good to know!). We also stopped by the Anne Frank museum which too has been renovated and spiffed up (I guess it has been 10 years!), always a moving and sobering place to visit and of course a trip to Amsterdam is never complete without some strolling along the canal lined streets taking in the tall doll like houses – tall because property tax or something like that used to be paid by width, not height!
On the food front we sampled FEBO – vending machines with hot food, such as burgers and Krokets - not too bad actually (just have to take the ones most recently replaced), fries with mayo (always good), Dutch pancakes,stroopwaffle cookies (yum), pea soup (which tasted like soap – I asked them to change it and it still tasted that way!), raw herring and of course! Indonesian food (great in Holland!) – we went for a progressive Indonesian meal where 18 small dishes are served each getting progressively spicier. The theory is if you just eat dish 18, it will be too hot, but the dishes get progressively hotter then you won’t notice the really spicy ones as much. That’s the theory anyway, I think I made it to like dish 14. Our last dutch meal with Darryl we went to a ‘Dutch’ restaurant where they served different things on mash potatoes – called stomp or stump or something like that – massively heavy, but actually really good.
Amsterdam is just flooded with bikes, although I might add … not a helmet in site! They also have an excellent system of bike paths. So on day two, we decided to tour the city via the excellent bike paths and rented fiets (bikes) – mine was pink! Bikers rule in Amsterdam, they are everywhere, all the time and yes they have the right of way (vs. walkers anyway) so you seriously need to watch out if you stray into a bike path. Back in my Rotterdam days, the best way for students to get bikes was to hunt out a druggie, who would soon set you up (with most likely something they had just pinched from someone else). I remember buying one for 12 guilders – it got stolen like a week later. Easy come easy go. Apparently they have done much to crack down on bike theft and buying bikes from druggies is supposed to give you bad karma (oops!). We were still given two mighty locks each from the rental shop.
We explored the eastern docklands by bike. It’s a very new, very modern, very futuristic looking part of Amsterdam. It has some funky looking red bridges and an interesting row of flats, each with a different façade.
posted by Steve N' Ali @ 1:02 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home