Observation of the first two days: It is still possible to have wonderful “order” while providing complete freedom. Amsterdam is a city known for its somewhat decadent ways. That said, a bit of tolerance goes a long way. “You do you” definitely suits them perfectly, as all kinds of cultures, languages and certainly, lifestyles, mesh.
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| Known as Hercules Seghers, the red-bottomed boat in this pic is our boat away from home for the next few days. |
VM:It is very late Saturday in Amsterdam and this is the first moment we have to stop & collect our thoughts. Bottom line – we love this city! It is incredibly beautiful and picturesque at every turn. Of course, it helps that the weather has been awesome since we arrived. While it is cold, the sun is shining & we have blue skies. Even all the locals comment on the lovely weather.
We arrived mid-afternoon Friday to find our houseboat landlord, Robert, waiting for us. We’re staying in a centrally located boat on an off-the-beaten path canal (http://www.houseboathercules.com/en). And, yes, it is super cool! Our laid-back, Dutch landlord showed us the all the ropes of houseboat living including his incredibly lo-tech, but highly successful invention for covering the portholes at night.
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| Dutch ingenuity at work! Now you see out... |
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| Now you don't! |
After his quick orientation, we headed out to check out a market near us & get a light bite to eat. Our goal was to push through the evening so we could adjust our inner clocks as quickly as possible.
We came across a local flea market and within no time HM succumbed to Amsterdam’s incredible vintage offerings – snapping up a Levi’s denim jacket & a Burberry wool coat. And while the shopping gene seemed to have skipped a generation in our family, I will say they were incredibly well-priced and in mint condition. Best of all, they will be wonderful reminders of Amsterdam when she is in colder Auburn, Alabama winters where outerwear is required (unlike Florida).
Now, if you have your judgment hat on, you might just want to skip this next section & photos. One of HM’s missions for her Grad’cation was getting a tattoo. She tried hard for this to be a “mommy/daughter” thing, but I patiently explained I’ve been 52 years on this earth without willingly alternating my body beyond earrings and birthing babies, and I wanted to keep it that way. Undeterred, HM found a tattoo spot which was well-reviewed by only locals, Waterloo Tattoo (http://waterlootattoo.com/Waterlootatto_1./ARTIESTEN.html). And yes, she got a tattoo to commemorate her love of all our four-legged fur babies, past, current and future. It is small & in an inconspicuous spot, so yep, she’ll have that all her years to remind her of her Amsterdam ‘cation. And like Forrest Gump says, that’s all I’ve got to say about that.
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| Hannah's tattoo artist was a fellow dog lover, with both of his dogs' faces tattooed on his chest. |
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| The most amusing part of our tattoo parlor visit -- a Dutch biker, complete with Hell's Angels jacket, taking care of a Chihuahua, while patiently awaiting his wife as she got a major tattoo on her shoulder. |
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| Chica, as the Chihuahua is called, also enjoys the biker lifestyle, riding in her custom backpack on her human mother's back! |
Afterwards, we went to bundle up & pick up provisions for our canal boat tour with Those Dam Boat Guys (https://www.thosedamboatguys.com). Now, there are a zillion canal tours in this city but I selected these guys for their brilliant marketing. They position themselves as the “alternate” boat tour & they truly are. They pride themselves on small tours where you ask questions, they answer the best they can & meanwhile, they give you a close-up view of all these incredible homes on Amsterdam’s beautiful canals. Rather than being staged and stuffy, they kind of go with the flow. Perfect for us.
Prior to boarding, Those Dam Boat Guys send you directions to visit their favorite spots for provisions whether you want to indulge in alcohol, snacks or Amsterdam’s favorite pastime – weed. So with a bottle of red, a can of Pringles and some sea-salt cashews, off to the boat we went.
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| Touring the canals is a must-do in Amsterdam. |
Captain Dan was a Brit by birth, but Dutch by 6 weeks old. By his own admission, his hippie parents moved to Amsterdam to open a “coffee” shop. Two coffee shops later, they never returned to England. For the undoctrinated, coffee shops spelled with a “c” in Amsterdam don’t sell coffee (remember Amsterdam’s favorite pastime that I just mentioned?) Apparently, the name came from the fact that years ago REAL coffee shops were where you first went to indulge in hash brought here from trading countries like India. Haven’t Googled this, but it sounds good, so we’re going with it.
The good captain was a humorous fellow with entertaining stories and excellent quips. Our fellow passengers were an interesting mixture – a family from North Carolina, a couple from the south of India and a Russian couple where the husband spoke not a word of English.
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| According to Captain Dan, the water level in Amsterdam's canals is now controlled by a state-of-the-art system, but it once was managed manually through locks like this one. Nowadays the lock keeper's home (pictured here) is an off-the-beaten path hotel room which rents for $1,500 a night. |
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| The homes in Amsterdam are literally holding each other up, this is why they are built right next to each other. But settling is definitely a real thing and many of them are visibly tilted and wonky, especially these six which are called the Crooked Sisters. |
Once we made it back, and per a recommendation from Captain Dan, we went to dinner at a wonderful spot named Bleu (www.restaurantbleu.amsterdam). We highly recommend it for its cozy atmosphere and incredible fare, especially the zucchini/sweet potato soup to start. Perfect after our chilly boat ride.
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| Stroopwafels get a thumbs up from us! |
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| Fresh herbs straight from the farm. |
We made it back at 11pm & went straight to sleep until we finally stirred today at 10am local time. We headed to the train station to figure out our train tickets to Paris and also to see the tulip fields on Monday. Along the way, we were sidetracked by a Saturday market because of the enticing fresh produce and delicious smells. There, we sampled our first warm Dutch stroopwafel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroopwafel). It’s a bit like a chewy waffle cone filled with a honey/caramel mixture. All I can say is WOW. I had low expectations as I like sweets but not really sweet things, but this had just the right amount. Needless to say, we gobbled it up in minutes.
All sugared up, we decided to take the free ferry that crosses the river to experience the highest point in Amsterdam at the A’Dam Lookout building (https://www.adamlookout.com). Unlike the nuttiness of
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| EVERYONE takes the free ferry across the river -- pedestrians, motorcyclists, bikers and even mini cars! In true Dutch orderliness, no one shoves or honks. Everyone just coexists. We chatted with this sweet Dutch family as they headed to the city side for a Saturday outing. And yes, those kids are as charming as they look! |
places like the Empire State Building or the John Hancock building in Chicago, we were up at the top within minutes. Again, everything is super orderly in Amsterdam. Due to our beautiful day, we were blessed with incredible vistas every which way.
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Stunning day in Amsterdam!  |
By this point, we were ready for real food and headed to the Negen Straatjes area to eat and check out their shops. One of my books had recommended a gastro bar named Ree 7 (http://ree7.nl) and it did not disappoint. |
| The original Dutch West India Company building. Hard to believe one of the greatest cities in the world was kind of "birthed" from here. |
Once recharged, we walked to find the original office of the Dutch West India Company. Although you really didn’t know that’s what it was by looking at it, we both agreed it was cool to see the spot that was the catalyst for Dutch colonization of the Americas, especially our own New York City!
Afterwards, we enjoyed strolling around and window shopping. Amsterdam is a creatively inspiring place. Their graphics and design ideas are just cool.
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| Beautiful design is everywhere. |
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| Even the train station features awe-inspiring tulips! |
Next, we decided to figure out the very cool but very confusing Amsterdam tram system. While the locals have been extremely friendly, we couldn’t find anyone to help us quite figure this out. We finally made our way home after a couple of false starts. The ride itself is super fun. Due to our Disney-centric family, it reminded us very much of riding the monorail. In fact, Amsterdam feels somewhat like a movie set with incredible facades everywhere you turn. I’ve been struck by how clean everything is and how beautiful the buildings are. There just doesn’t seem to be any neighbors who aren’t doing their part to keep the neighborhood up!
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| It looks like a facade in a movie set... |
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| But it's a really cleverly designed building! |
A hole-in-the-wall Thai spot steps from our boat beckoned for dinner (http://www.raanphadthai.nl/home/eng). Recommended by our landlord, we’re so happy we listened. Chicken sate and pad thai were made directly in front of us in an open-air kitchen in a place with about 12 tables. It was yumola.
Afterwards, we made our way to Amsterdam’s famed redlight district & didn’t even make it more than two minutes. Even though all the guidebooks suggest you see it, as I suspected, we both found the entire scene incredibly depressing. It is definitely a party spot with lots of locals and tourist visitors, both young and old. And it's not just men. There's just as many women visitors filling the streets and bars, but it is just yucky. As I said, I admire the Dutch and their “you do you” attitude, but this is simply sad.
To cheer us up, we made our way home via the famed center of the city, Dam Square, followed by the beautifully lit bridges and canals & were thankful to find our warm, welcoming houseboat waiting for us.
Tomorrow we visit the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum.
HM has gone to sleep & will need to provide her color commentary later!
RANDOM PICS OF THE DAY
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| Amsterdam's bike culture is impressive. There's just under a million people who live here, but according to Captain Dan, twice as many bikes. And judging by these parking spots at the train station including an under cover garage and open-air lot, we believe him! |
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