5 days in Amsterdam

August 31 to Sept 4

Gary & I had a wonderful stay in Amsterdam. With Gary here and work getting more hectic I havn't had too much time with my blog so this will have to be a condense version of our trip.

First our train trip went smoothly for the first time! As a matter of fact it was probably the train I accidently took when I meant to go to Belgium a few weeks ago! Since it was a nice straight 2 hour shot from DD to Amsterdam I bought us first class tickets. It was only $100 euro pp. Gary got a kick out of the posh experience. We didn't have to fight for seats since the first class area was only about 50% occupied. The seats actually leans backa and there were trays to pull down for eating and for the ipad which Gary used to watch a movie. While he was occupied I tried to keep up with all the activites of work. I knew that this was not going to be 100% vacation but Gary did not seem to mind, thank goodness.

We got to Amsterdam by 5pm and took Tram #2 to our hotel. The Zandbergen hotel was on the outskirts of old town Amsterdam but it was right next to a pretty park and the tram goes right in front of the hotel so I thought it would be ok. It had high ratings on trip advisor so I didn't think we could go wrong.

The first thing I noticed about the city was the number of bikes on the road. OMG! There were more cyclists than cars! The second thing I noticed was how beautiful it was with all the old ornate buildings fronting the many canals throughout the city. It reminded me of Venice but very different. Amsterdam was much more vibrant and ofcourse bigger.

It was a 15 minutes tram ride to our hotel. I've read some complaints about the steep stairway up to your rooms which could be bad if you had a room on the 3rd or 4th floor. Luckily they gave us a nice room on the 2nd floor with a big private patio. We enjoyed sitting on the patio having a drink and snacks at the end of the day. The patio faces the inside of a big courtyard which was very peaceful.

I was excited about the fact that the hotel rented out bikes. Gary was skeptical about me handling the busy streets of Amsterdam. I was skeptical about the bike being small enough for me. Both turned out fine. We were smart and started out riding into the huge Vondelpark across the road from the hotel. They call this the "central park" of Amsterdam. I think it's nicer because it has many more ponds and lakes lined with weeping willows with ducks and swans and blue herrings. There were bikes along the paths but not crazy and all you have to do is get off the bike path to find a peaceful area to enjoy the park. People here use bikes as a mode of transportation so it wasn't all recreational for them. I got a kick out of the many ways people use a basket to transport stuff. There were a few sled-like wooden boxes in front of the bike in which a little kid can be a passenger.

We decided to be adventerous and look for a windmill located on the outskirts of the city. Unfortunately the map showing the windmill was not a detailed one so we only had a few landmarks to go by. Not by design we ran into another big park with a huge lake and on impulse decided to explore that park even though it was a little east of where we wanted to be. It was so nice to ride to ride through the tree lined bike paths. No tourists here that's for sure. There was a little cafe next to the lake so we stopped for latte machiano and ice cream. There were benches along the lake that demanded we stopped to sit and enjoy the view. We eventually found the little village of Sloten and got to see the windmill. It was a fantastic sight. Apparently this windmill was the only one open year round. We stopped in to take a tour since neither one of us have either been inside one. Our guide Pancho was very informative and showed us how the windmill is still used today to pump water into the next canal to control the water level. It's amazing how they use a very simple system of dikes and water pumps to keep the city from being flooded. All of Amsterdam is below sea level so if not for these dams and dikes the city would be under water. We got to see all three levels of the windmill. It's amazing that to this day they don't use anything mechanical. It's all wood and wind. In the old days Holland was the premier place for windmills. These mills were working mills for sawmill factories, to make cheese, or to make paint. Now there are only a few left. It was a fascinating tour and we were glad to have found it. Afterwards we stopped in the restaurants across from the windmill for a late lunch. We did go back the way we intended to come and it took half the time. Still, we were glad we did go the long way since it was such a beautiful ride. As Gary said, we got to Sloten by hook and by crook. For me it was a magical day. It was not at all touristy(not mentioned in tour book) but very memorable. Since we got the bike for the whole day we rode into the city center. I knew I would get more nervous as the streets got more narrower and the streets more crowded so Gary assured me we could park the bike wherever we wanted and walk the rest of the way. I was proud that I rode all the way into old town. We did park them at one point in order to explore the red light district. Just like the locals we chained our bikes on one of the iron rails.

The red light district was quite an experience. We went through all the streets in a couple of hours. At first Gary was shy and didn't look too long but by the end of the night he was being more friendly to the girls! I've heard so much about this area but it didn't hit me until I was there. It was one of those scenes where you were appalled but can not look away. It was surreal. Some of the girls were really playing it up, some looked bored and some looked disgusted at the onlookers. At one point we stopped along a bridge and watched a scene of a man negotiating with one of the girls and then went in. We were curious how long he would be in there - 15 minutes. I dared Gary to go ask how much but he was such a chicken. As we walked along these streets there were some pretty strong odor of pot. Actually, you can catch this smell throughout the city. Gary was mad that on his backpacking trip after college, he and Vinny missed Amsterdam because of a train strike. He was thinking of all the partying they could have done in those days!

Thursday was going to be our museum day. There were dozens of museums in the city but we chose to do only two mainly because of time limit. We spent 4 hours in the Van Gogh museum. The audio tour really gets you into the details of his art and his tragic life. Van Gogh created over 700 paintings and 1000 drawings in only a span of 10 years. He was dead by age 37 by suicide. From over 1000 letters to his younger brother Theo they have been able to piece together his life. I usually don't last this long in a museum but I really love his paintings and enjoyed looking at them.

After the VG museum we went to Ann Frank's house. I have known about the story of Ann Frank and her diary but to go to the actual house where her and her family hid from the nazis was so impactful. The whole thing was so tragic. We got to see the inside of the building including the hidden bookcase in front of the narrow staircase leading up to their "secret annex". They did a really good job with the museum and it gave us a good idea of what the family went through. I definitely learned a lot more about Ann and her short life. It was amazing that the two families lived in such a small space for 2 years. It was so sad that the father survived only to lose his whole family.

That night we went back to the red light district to see one of the shows there. I wont' go into details but let's just say that it was shocking! You see EVERYTHING. What was more shocking were the old couples in there. Are you kidding me?! What is grandma and grandpa getting out of this?!

On Friday we signed up for a canoe trip around the wetlands north of Amsterdam. Yes, the Hampsons don't do all the obvious tourist things. Anyway, our guide Majel is the sole owner of Wetlands Safari. She does not own the canoes so we had to meet her at the train station where we all hopped on a local bus to get to the hotel that owned the canoes. For $38 euros it included 4 hours of paddling, transportation, drinks at the hotel bar before and after, and a picnic lunch. There were a dozen of us on that day. Let me just say that this was one of the best canoe trip I've ever been on. We paddle right from the hotel and go through a small village. The waterways is only about 10-15 feet wide. On either sides are grassy banks with profusions of flowers that are part of people's backyards. On occasion there are small foot bridges that are only about 3 feet over the water so we were warned to duck very low or you will bang your head.
After about half an hour we cross a main canal way to get into the wetlands. There were mazes of waterways that ranged from 40 feet wide to 3 feet wide, all flanked by tall grassy reeds and cat tails. You really have to know your way around because it would be easy to get lost. We were the only ones on the water so it was so peaceful. The day was cool and partly sunny so it was perfect. Majel said that it's a typical dutch sky to have clouds and that most dutch painting will have clouds in the landscape. At one point we stopped at one of the "island" and Majel showed us the crazy way you can bounce on the ground. Apparently the island was made of mossy tundra that was two feet deep and floating on water. When you walk it felt like walking on a sponge and with water seeping through. I have never seen anything like it! When we jump up and down you could feel the ground sloshing around. Afterward Majel spread out a tarp and pulled a never ending array of food. Various cheeses, sausages, fruits, spreads, breads, carrots, etc. We all dug in and it was the best picnic ever!! Majel says that the milk of the cow is process differently here and that's why their cheeses are creamier. I just know that I never eat cheese at home but love them here. Majel was a treasure of information. She grew up here but spent a year in San Francisco. Throughout the day she shared with us the ways of life here. Her english is pretty good and our whole group happened to be americans. She says that the dutch do not generally like to canoe. They are sailors and prefer the bigger boats! The canals freeze up every 2-3 years, enough so that people can skate on it. She says that the dutch are more long distance skaters, rather than the round skating rinks the americans know. Anyway, when the canals freeze up everyone takes vacation time and go skating. It was also trippy to learn that the homeless people here have a union! That's crazy! You can get $800 euros of unemployment a month and for some, it's enough to live by.

We went through another village on the way back and I loved it. There were so many water lilies in the water. I would say the canoe trip was the highlight of our trip. Gary said it was a tie with our day on the bikes.

Our train leaves on Saturday at 2:30 pm but we managed to squeeze in a walk in Vondelpark, some souvenier shopping (I got my patch!), and a very touristy canal boat ride.

I must say that there was a role reversal on this trip. I have always been the one to read maps and navigate us around. This time I could not get my bearings right and Gary was the confident one with the map. I was very impressed with him and happy to hand over the responsibility to him. The city is not on a grid system so it's not the easiest to find your way.

It was a great trip and we both enjoyed it very much. We were so lucky with the weather where the days were mostly sunny, a nice break from the rainy germany a few days before. Amsterdam has never been on top of my list because all I hear about it is the marijuana and the red light district. It sounded seedy and not highly desirable for a visit for me. I have since found that it's so much more than that. I really love this city and would definitely come back. It's an easy 2 hour train ride from DD so it's an easy weekend trip.