The main canals, bike paths, and coffee shops of Amsterdam
Jeff and I took the train to Amsterdam in mid-November. It was just about a 3-hour journey, which makes it a shame it took us so long to get there.
Amsterdam is a colorful city in many ways: the flower markets and tulips, the streets and street signs, the doorways and bikes, and the people themselves. It is also a fast-paced city, with danger seeming to lurk at every corner, especially for those with a limited attention span and deficient ability to focus. Fortunately, I am still alive to tell the tale.
In stark comparison to the orderly ways of German drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists, the Amsterdam motto just seems to be “Accelerate when you can and go where you fit.” So, yes, you may be on a sidewalk, but beware — cars will go there. Also, like here in Cologne, the trains/”trams” ride alongside traffic in the streets but in places you don’t always expect. So, watch out!
Similar to Venice and Bruges (two of my favorite places), Amsterdam is a city with an elaborate canal system, built up with beautiful, narrow homes that are essentially soldered together one after the other. The city is also known more for its museums, art, and history than its huge buildings and monuments of architectural grandeur. But we all know what it’s most notorious for…and, while we obviously did not indulge in that, its presence was known to anyone with their olfactory senses in tact.
And a tour of the Red Light district was definitely in the top half of my list, along with Van Gogh museum (forgot the exact name) and the Anne Frank house (how cultural we are!). What wasn’t on my list, but that we greatly enjoyed included: a comedy show (in English), Indian food (the #2 restaurant in Amsterdam), and the Sex Museum. Yes, I’ll admit it, we went to the Sex Museum. But, it is an actual museum with educational significance, not a novelty shop. There were plenty of the latter elsewhere.
Here are some photos from the trip, more or less summarizing the experience.
Bikes, Bikes, Bikes
Here is a parking garage … for bikes!
Oh, so very Dutch.
Standing on the back of dad’s bike while talking on a cell phone. How very safe, indeed.
Canal Houses and House Boats
Canal homes and a houseboat.
Canal shot
Canal homes. These really beg for captions, don’t they?
And another…how cool.
And another one…
Houseboat and potted plants. Are you beginning to feel like you’re reading a children’s book?
Canal homes and a houseboat.
Coffee Shops
Seeds on every corner.
Oooh, dying for a reservation!
In case you had any questions.
Love the signage.
Self-explanatory.
Self-explanatory.
Street of temptation.
I love the guy who has caught a glimpse of me from inside the window.
Pancakes and cheese wheels! Oh, and Dutch apple pie.
That is a pancake with bacon!
Buying in bulk?
Cheese wheels bigger than your head.
Opened the trip with some Dutch apple pie!
Last day of pancakes. We had one a day.
So, this is not a pancake, but it is really amazing local food. Peas, bacon and an assortment of pickled items. Strange how amazingly delicious this was.
Cool Doorways and entrances
I want this door on my next home.
I almost fell into about a dozen of these.
Interesting church entrance.
The Anne Frank House
Waiting in the 1+ hour line. I love the expressions on people’s faces.
An amazing and somber place. In walking the floors of the home, you realize how absolutely impossible it must have been to keep quiet.
A view across the canal, opposite the Anne Frank House.
A view of Anne Frank’s house at night. Notice the blackened windows. This was required to help avoid/prevent air strikes at night.
And on a more positive note: flower shops!
Colorful flower markets right outside of our rented apartment. We purchased some bulbs. I’ll update you on the progress of actually turning them into flowers.
In short, Amsterdam was fantastic. Go there — explore, visit museums, eat pancakes.
Three countries in one daaaaayng
Jeff thinks this headline is cheesy, and ignore the fact that “dang” is spelled wrong. But, seriously, on Saturday, I was in three countries on one day without ever once stepping foot in an airplane. That’s pretty DAYNG cool. (Jeff was busy flying to Israel, Greece and France. Lame.)
Saturday, one of the pilot’s wives (Deb) planned an outing, complete with brown rented minivan, to a glass-blowing exhibit on the outskirts of Aachen. I’m pretty sure “outskirts” meant Holland because we definitely entered a new country — new language, new roadsigns, and a new way to say ‘thank you’ (dank u, as opposed to danke in German). The presentation was in Dutch, but we had a nice bilingual gentleman sitting among us who shouted out quick English translations, much to the dismay of a whiny adolescent in front of us, who just thought we were a bunch of noisy Americans. The one thing that really stuck with me is that once the glass is blown, it cools in a 500-degree oven. Not sure if that’s Fahrenheit or Celsius. Either way, it’s pretty smoky. Oh, and the artisan made a glass horse in about 15 seconds. Incredible.
Here he is, spinning a platter.
The glass work was beautiful, and I bought myself a 35 Euro vase off the clearance rack. It matches the new counter-top in our to-be apartment. I love that on the bottom you can actually see the scar left from the glass-blowing tube. Makes it feel more like art, and less like something I bought from the HomeGoods section of TJ Maxx (called TK Maxx in Deutschland, by the way).
On the way to the “outskirts of Aachen,” I moved from minivan to Mini-Cooper with Nancy, Gail and Zukhra. Our GPS took us off-track about seven times, and I was thrilled to hear one of the FedEx wives say “shit.” License to swear! I’d been worried I was the crude one of the bunch. I didn’t hear too many F-bombs, but I look forward to breaking that ice.
Following Aachen, we made our way to the top of a large hill, from which you can see the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. On the way, we got lost again (surprise!), and we actually ended up in Belgium. All the road signs turned to French, there were a lot more horses, and of course, thank you is said “merci.” Thanks, Ms. Henderson, for the four years of French.
Here’s another great view — not sure the country — we found along the way to never-Nederland.
We eventually arrived and met up with the other families. From “the hill” was a lookout tower, from which you can see the three countries we’d already been lost in. Snapped this photo with Gail, and behind us is Holland.
We also partook in more meat, french fries and beer, while some of the kiddos got lost in the labyrinth maze, also at the top of this hill.
We loved the beer from lunch so much, we went back to Belgium to a small grocery store, where we bought more Duvel, cookies, and of course, Belgian chocolate.
Then, it was back in the school bus and home to Germany.
That concluded Saturday. More on Sunday later …
A European Adventure 