Amsterdamtastic

While it was difficult for me to get my bearings while in Amsterdam, I feel the city is much larger than I first thought. Although I missed half of what our tour guide said as he rambled on and on, I remember a few interesting things about this city.

First, he told us how the Dutch live in the city center of Amsterdam and travel to the outside for work. This is much different than other cities I have been to and adds to the charm. The center is much cleaner, full of lovely neighborhoods, and has less motor traffic.

 

The concentric circles of canals are unique to Amsterdam. There are boats and houseboats lined up and down the canals and I think in the summer you see many people traveling through the canals and on the Amstel River that runs straight through the city.

There are many squares throughout the city center, and some nice large green parks. Amsterdam certainly seems cleaner than Prague does, but I am not sure that is a hard standard to beat. I did find it amusing how there were open urinals smack in the center of the square and that I caught one in use.

Apparently, I will take a picture of anything for entertainment purposes. Two seconds earlier, this guy was looking at me laughing. I just really don’t get the whole European peeing in public thing. What is so hard about waiting to find a toilet?

We also popped into the Van Gogh Museum and some went to the Anne Frank house. Van Gogh was a fantastic display of his works and probably the coolest museum I have been to yet. They have the largest amount of his estate displayed and commissioned some of his most popular paintings. And, the Anne Frank house is a very historical place to visit as well and lines for both of these places were miles long.

Who’d of thought that 2 days in Amsterdam could provide so many posts? If not for your entertainment, I like to write it all down so I can remember it where I went and what I did. Sad thing is, there is so much more to share. I will spare you though. This will be the last of it!

 

The debauchery

Of course we took part in the more diabolical side of Amsterdam: it’s sex and drugs.

Ok, well, we didn’t really get all that crazy. But, it was definitely an experience learn about this very prevalent part of Dutch culture.

Walking along the streets it is no secret that marijuana smoking is quite popular. You either smell it drifting out of a coffee shop or from the couple walking in front of you smoking ‘cigarettes.’ Coffee shops are just about everywhere advertising that they will sell you marijuana and most times people go in, buy a soda or coffee (no alcohol is served in these places), and then they sit and enjoy. Of course, there are different types of weed with different strengths so if you go only to try something it is best to get a very mild type as the weed in Amsterdam is certainly some of the best and maybe strongest.

Some tips:

1) Don’t take pictures. Although it is common place to smoke in coffee shops, many people aren’t keen on having their picture taken while doing something that is considered illegal in many other places. And, it looks really nerdy to whip out your cameras and start snapping photos.

2) Know your limits. It seems that novices and pros alike can inhale too much and actually pass out cold. And, apparently it is common place for this to happen several times a day in coffee shops. We witnessed and heard several stories of this happening to people throughout the city. While this is an effect of low blood sugar and eating sugar cubes will bring you back to ‘normal,’ moderation seems to be the key. That and maybe its best to just stick to other components of Dutch culture…

…like the Red Light District.

From the moment we entered this part of town I knew it was going to be entertaining. There was scuffle in the street ahead of me that broke out right as we waked up. There was a lovely, (very) voluptuous, Jamaican woman (whom I think lost part of her clothing), who had a skinny white boy by the neck. I thought, “Wow, they do some exhibitionist shows in the street…that is not what I expected.” And, as I reached to get my camera to get a picture of this, I heard the woman yelling at the man “NO PICTURES! NEVER TAKE PICTURES!”

Tip: Whatever you do, do not take pictures of the prostitutes in the Red Light District or you just might find yourself being strangled by a hooker.

I am not exactly sure how large the Red Light District is but I read somewhere that there is a union of some 20,000 prostitutes in Amsterdam. I am not sure how to describe walking through the streets other than it really was sad to see these women doing what they were doing for a living.

Each woman was in a room, scantily clad, trying to lure one of the hundreds of men walking past into their ‘office.’ It is like a weird combination of shopping for Barbie dolls and trying to save abandoned puppies as all these women have hair and make-up done up as they pose with plastered smiles and saddened eyes hoping someone will choose them.

While I think many Dutch want to be known for things other than sex and drugs, it is certainly a unique part of their culture that is worth breezing by. As it may sound seedy or scare some people off, it really isn’t that prevalent to deter you from visiting Amsterdam. This city really does have so much more to offer.

 

The four hour tour

One of the first things one might notice when arriving in Amsterdam, especially if coming in through the main train station, is that the Dutch are certainly keen on bikes. There were tens of thousands of bikes locked up around the station and would certainly create a nightmare if you forgot where you parked your bike. Probably a nightmare even if you remembered where you parked your bike.

FYI: In a city of just over 700,000 people there are almost as many bikes. Our guide says that bikes are stolen all the time so people spend little money on the bike and a lot on the lock. Over 10,000 are fished out of the Amstel River every year. Not entirely sure how they end up in the river though…

Throughout town you see everyone riding bikes. Everyone. And, they are all riding cruisers. Apparently, you can cart just about anything on these bikes. I saw a dad riding with THREE of his children on a bike, a woman carting around a small tree, and a man swerving through with his date among other things.

We decided to take a bike tour. This was a four hour tour that started in the heart of the city and wound its way around to nearby country side and back and took in sights of all kinds.

About 30 of us rode together and it is absolutely hilarious to see grown adults on a bike and not really know what to do with it. For example, we rode around town single file and the line would split when some didn’t notice the tour turned right and would then lead the back half of the tour straight ahead instead. Crossing streets elicited honks from cars and ringing of bells from native Dutch annoyed with tourist crowding the bike paths. And, I don’t even want to mention how one of my friends blatantly ran into a pole and another simply crashed and burned for no apparent reason.

But our tour guide (from Minnesota! Not at all Dutch) jabbered on about this and that and blah blah blah and made some pretty horrible jokes over and over again. Yet, despite this, I do think it was one of the best ways to see Amsterdam and would do it again. Would probably advise some people to wear a helmet though…

They lined us up at the start of the tour in an attempt to prevent us from crashing into one another. I wouldn’t say it failed horribly, but I do wish I had video captured take off.

We rode out to a windmill in the country. It is actually a place of residence and I am sure they enjoyed the dumb tourists snapping pictures of their home all day long.

Along the Amstel River we rode. We saw idyllic country homes, rowing teams practicing, horseback riders enjoying, and some ponies.

We also stopped at a cheese farm while traveling through the ‘country side.’ It was cute little Dutch couple that showed us how to make cheese, how to make wooden shoes, and then encouraged us to buy both at the end of it all!

 

 

I Am-(ster)-dam hungover

Ha ha.  Get it? It’s a play on words.  I am funny after a weekend binge.

I am totally digging how every new city I visit is better than the one before it.  Each time I go somewhere I am struck by the beauty and instantly want to move there.  First, it was Dresden.  Then I saw Budapest.  Now, it is Amsterdam that takes the (space) cake.

Amsterdam is an absolutely adorable city.  Two days there wasn’t anywhere near enough to explore it all, but from what I saw and experienced it is a city I would very happily call home.   There was such a warm feeling walking around the canaled city.  Everything was so clean, it was stunningly picturesque, and the Dutch are not only very hospitable, but also a good looking group of people!

I think we touched on the major components of life in the Netherlands.  We did a bike tour that took us around the city, through parks, along the river and to the country of windmills, cheese, and wooden shoe making.  We strolled through the Red Light District, visited some authentic Dutch pubs, and made an epic appearance at one of the infamous coffee shops around town.  We visited the outdoor markets, strolled though the shopping district, and viewed the great Van Gogh museum.    We experienced a warmish-close-to-sunny afternoon and a day of rain.  In all I said we did a pretty good job of experience of glimpse of Dutch life.

I will tell you more and share pictures soon!  Unfortunately for me, I have to go to work now!

 

Stay clear of Walking in Snow

Have I mentioned that I am going to Amsterdam for the weekend and that I leave tomorrow?  If I haven’t told you, I’ve certainly discussed it with my students in hopes of getting some advice of where to go, what to do, and what to see.

I love how every single one of them gets this little grin on their face and with a smarmy, cheeky attitude they ask me what I plan to do in Amsterdam, because you know, Amsterdam is pretty famous for one or two things: its Red Light District and its over the counter marijuana.

I am fairly certain they don’t see me as the type to frequent or be keen on the Red Light District, not that I really think I give off the notion of the pot-head stoner type either.  But, I guess whether or not you participate in such debauchery it is just something you have to do while in Amsterdam– and by this I mean stroll through the Red Light District and at least take a puff of something…even if you don’t inhale.

I received the most entertaining bit of advice from Stefan while we were sitting high above the city in his idyllic conference room with a 360degree view of Praha.  When he asked what I was doing this weekend and I told him, his face got stone cold serious.  He says, “Lori, whatever you do, do not do any walking in the snow.”

I told him how I saw it was supposed to be raining, not snowing, so that didn’t seem to be a problem.  He then corrected me and explained that he was talking about a name of marijuana sold throughout town.  He further explained how great he felt until it was time to go.  When he tried to stand he said he felt paralyzed and had to use his arms to place one leg in front of the other to walk…it was difficult…like Walking in Snow…

I found this utterly hilarious, yet Stefan did not as he recalled how it was almost 30 minutes before he felt he could regain the capacity to walk normally.

Considering I am not a big pot connoisseur I don’t plan to walk around baked out of mind all weekend.  There are actually much more things to do than consume illicit drugs, so Mom and Dad, don’t worry.  I promise not to disgrace you!!