AMS Revisited

It seemed to us there were lots of changes in Amsterdam in the 3 years since we last visited.  Our Feb trip was our 3rd time.

The first indication was at breakfast on arrival.  The bakery cafe no longer accepted cash -- Only credit cards with a PIN.  We noticed through the week, many establishments, including supermarkets, have gone that way as well.   So we ended up with cash left over.  If you have a credit card that charges a foreign transaction fee on top of a foreign exchange fee, it can add up.

We also noticed the price increase -- A coffee, small freshly squeezed orange juice, 3 pastries came to 24 CAD.  Nowhere near big city Norway prices (would be double) but high for what we remembered from Amsterdam.  Perhaps along the same line, we noticed a great number of Teslas and other high end cars on the road.

When I inquired about the changes to payment options, I was told that it was considered safer and more hygienic for workers not to manage cash.  There seemed to be more emphasis on employee personal safety this time around, although we didn't notice any increased feelings of uneasiness around the city.   

Another thing was that 1 and 2 cent Euro coins were no longer accepted.  Found that out the hard way when I paid for the use of a washroom at a mall with change and was abruptly scolded.  How was I to know?  It is legal money after all.  Apparently it saves banks millions a year not having to process small coins...

A new venture started just days before our arrival in west Amsterdam called De Hallen.  Super artsy concept and food.  This was our neighbourhood the first 2 visits.  We think they have a real winner here.

We took our first canal cruise and really enjoyed it.  Recommend going on the last one of the day so you can watch the light change over the water as you go.  Makes it more magical.

D "manned up" and finally ate a raw pickled herring sandwich.  He had been working up to it every visit but couldn't do it until this year.  Actually thought it wasn't bad.  He may go for the sliced version, straight up next time.

Iberico ham, spanish tapas, Argentinian food were noticeably well represented.  There seemed to be more chain style restaurants (not fast food) too.  Ate lots of Iberico ham (made me miss Barcelona very much), freshly made Stroopwafels and poffertjes -- Will never go for the packaged kind again after that...

We stayed in a new to us neighbourhood this time around -- De Pijp -- Vibrant and trendy (for Amsterdam).  Would for sure stay around there again.   We don't go to Amsterdam for the food (sorry if I offended anyone) but for the atmosphere.

I almost knocked over a cyclist while walking along a typically narrow road (I apologized profusely).  It took a couple of days before I stopped using my ears.  Bikes can be incredibly silent.  I think I had become so used to noise in all the other countries I'd recently been to and assumed I would hear any signs of impending doom...

Last week, I heard back from a representative of the taxi company I sent my note to about the fare to the airport being charged twice.  She apologize for the experience we had with their driver and offered to transfer the 50 Euro back to us.

I was away and couldn't get the banking info back to her until recently so we will wait and see.  International money transfers out of Canada are a pain in the behind, takes weeks and costs around $35.

Hopefully their system sending it to us is more straight forward.  I cut and pasted my bank's instructions in hopes it will make sense to them.  Either way, I am pleased with the integrity the company has shown.  I wish I had the contact info of the fellow we rode with so I could tell him of the response.

 Our apartment door required 3 keys and they all looked like these.

Lining up for fries...

Huge claws on him.

Found our favourite dutch apple pie -- Cafe Papeneiland.
Fuzzy picture -- Too excited to dig in to re-take.

Final Thoughts AMS & MUC

By all means go to the Red Light District if you want to see it.  During the day, it is pretty unremarkable.  The women working looked tired to us and uninterested.  Their outfits were meant to shine fluorescent under black light so in the day it looks bland.  The age of the women surprised us.  I think we were expecting much younger.  We also had to wonder how many people fall in the canal there at night after a few drinks as it was barrier free.

What about the drugs you ask?  Again, you may get a whiff of weed as you pass a 'coffee shop' but most of the time we didn't.  The people we were able to see inside looked pretty laid back, which is the point.  In the 2 times we were in Amsterdam, we've seen maybe 2 -3 people walk not too straight who smelled like they had partaken.  Stoned people are really quiet unlike some drunk people...

Our temporary neighbourhood had their own daily outdoor market.  You could not only buy fruits and vegetables but also household items as well.  There were some prepared food stalls.  The thing that struck us about the set up was the chaotic feel of it. 

People jostled and you had to be assertive to even pay for your food.  After standing there with money in hand to buy 3 melons, waiting to make eye contact, I had to walk around, wave my money before someone took it.  I didn't notice anyone do this, but it would have been easy to walk off without payment because no one took notice of you.

The presentation of the market was 'rougher'.  We are used to seeing beautifully organized fruits etc in France and Germany.  Here, it was just laid out.  The aesthetic appeal wasn't there.  It was purely functional, which is fine.  Kinda like the food we ate in Munich.

In the Viktualienmarkt (Munich), there were a few places you can buy homemade spicy kosher pickles.  I can only say be careful!  The ones we bought when I bit into it, sent a shock through my teeth!  It felt like I was chewing tin foil on a tooth with a filling! 

D kept laughing because I would say 'Ow' each time I bit into a piece.  Once I swallowed it was fine.  He calls them electro pickles and of course they don't bother him.  My teeth checked out fine at my last dental appointment so I don't know what's going on. 

I'm jumping all around the place here... 

Because the owner of the apartment in Amsterdam was a writer, she provided a good collection of books.   I read two of them:  The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera and Four Souls by Louise Erdrich.  Neither of them were what I would call light or happy reading but if you like delving into the psychology of motivation, give them a go.

Amsterdam does a bang up job with its underground garbage/recycling containers and removal system.  There isn't door to door garbage collection like we have at home.  I'm not going to elaborate on it, it is something to witness in person.

If anyone is thinking of going into the import/export business in Europe, I would suggest they consider importing old bikes into Munich because you'd make a killing.  We saw rusty old granny bikes for sale at 400 Euro! 

Comparatively, we saw very regular (almost Ikea like) furniture for sale in Amsterdam for ridiculous prices ie. put together yourself not real wood chair for 85 Euro!  Yes, this stuff got me all worked up. 

My preferred brand of Slagroom. 

I will not fess up to the total amount consumed...

There was nothing really remarkable about our Munich apartment.

So the only thing I have to offer is a quick sketch of a potted plant

done while D was finishing up his morning coffee.

I am working on a future post about our experiences with apartment rentals in Europe.

Amsterdam Travel Tips

• From a logistics perspective, you cannot get it much easier than Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.  Once you make it to the main gathering area, it is an easy (15 min) and inexpensive train (under 5 Euro) ride into the heart of Amsterdam, Centraal Station.
• The train station area at Schiphol is a mini mall as well, with restaurants and actually useful shops.  D particularly likes the airplane shop (not an example of useful) with its real KLM airplane landing gear in front. 
• We prefer connecting via Amsterdam compared to the other major hubs in Europe like London, Paris or Rome.  Passport control is relatively pain free depending on the time you land.  There are supposed to be lines but it ends up being a big mass of people all over the place.  That has changed as SkyTeam has been introducing their SkyPriority Line of services.  We flew via Paris to Munich and got a chance to experience it and it was fabulous.  I will be maintaining my status level in order to keep this perk. 
• There is a mini extension of the Rijksmuseum on the second floor of the airport.  They were featuring floral paintings this time. 
• If it is your first time at this airport, it may seem unorganized.  In North America, we are used to big signs and symbols pointing the way.  You won't get that here.  But, you can only go one way to get out of gate area. 
• Amsterdam canals are concentric and streets and city districts are built to work with them.  The first time I saw a map of the city, I decided I was going to have to get used to being lost.  As it happens I found it not to be difficult at all.  Everything seems to bring to you back to the center, just like the airport.
• Most shops are closed on Sundays and a lot of them are closed Mondays.
• I love seeing all the different things you can buy at various supermarkets around the world.  Amsterdam has great meat.  You can buy freshly ground jalapeno pepper burgers and many different types of marinated meats.  I found prices to be fairly inexpensive.
• If you are into walking, this is one of the more perfect cities for it.  The views are beautiful.  It can be so quiet and romantic.
• In contrast, the Leidsplein area is very touristy with frequent bad busker music. 

AMS Cont'd

Amsterdam is one of those cities whose reputation precedes it.  For us, it drew us in, again, not out.  Munich drew us out and we found we couldn't spend enough time outside whereas Amsterdam is great in doses and we were happy to wind our way either east or west of the center to get back "home" again.  It's not a negative thing.

People are drawn there for various reasons.  Looking at the walls of people coming out of Centraal Station, there is an expectancy in their faces.  Maybe the city will thrill them in the way they've imagined?  The energy of this particular city at least in the core, is very influenced by travellers.  To feel what the city is for its residents, go around and outside of the core.

We like the Oud West area.  It is residential and a pleasant stroll to the main canals.  My favourite corner and houseboat is located at Elandsgracht and Princengracht.  Plus it is only a short walk to Winkel, where you can find some yummy dutch apple pie. 

Being we like to stay in less touristic areas, we don't bump into too many tourists nor do we hear English.  I was on mental autopilot one afternoon at our neighbourhood grocery store and I thought I was being asked if I wanted a receipt or not (you don't automatically get one). 

So I said no and the cashier just stopped and stared at me.  Then I realized she must have asked me if I had the correct change so I said yes and started rummaging through my purse.  Then she asked me something else and by that time my brain had ceased to process anymore dutch and English wasn't getting spoken by either party so I paid and left.  It was our last day of the trip so I took it as a sign it was time to come home.

We had a ground level apartment with a back yard. 

Outdoor living spaces in Europe are a big deal.

My favourite houseboat.

Should I happen to come across a few million, I would buy one.

On our way to our favourite square to people watch.

I would love one of these houses too. 

It's pretty cool the ground floor has been gutted to be a garage.

We got to witness moving day at the start of the month.

Those steel things at the top of the buildings are for pulleys.

People were hauling couches etc. up to top floor apartments. 

Pretty cool to witness.

Cannot imagine how fun it would be to go to univerity there.

Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmuseum is still under renovations and they are saying it will fully be open in 2013.  We were in the area looking for canal.nl, a company that offers paddle boats (canal bikes) for rent after seeing a few along the Prinsengracht the day before.  The boats ended up looking a bit gross so I passed and we decided to go across the street to see what was showing at the museum.

The open gallery area is over 2 floors and tickets are at a reduced price (14 Euro) because of it.  We were fortunate there were no lines as the small space could definitely be a problem if there were school groups.  It took us barely over 1/2 hr to see all the works.  You are allowed to take pictures as long as you do not use a flash.  A lot of the paintings had what looked like a Plexiglas overlay.

After our visit, we stumbled upon a photography exhibit by Daido Moriyama.  The prints were the size of whole walls!  The grainliness made the photos look much older, as if he was using a manual camera.

Welcome to Amsterdam!

I thought I wrote a review of Amsterdam last year when we rented a houseboat there.  But after searching frustratingly for it (I apologize for all the vague subject labels in blog version 1.0...will endeavor to improve from now on), I only found pictures.  So I must have wrote it up in a dream or something.

We both loved Amsterdam last year.  It isn't all drugs and hookers.  They make up such a minute part of the city, it's almost laughable.  You'd be surprised at how many young families there are.

You'd also be surprised with how most people ride around in granny bikes (one gear only) with an infant in the mini seat attached to the handle bars and a larger kid in another attached seat behind Mom/Dad, all without helmets.  Or the number of families teaching their young to ride along busy, busy streets wobbling away, 3 across. 

You wouldn't find that happening around here.  We are so safety minded in NA, we'd likely judge those parents as incompetent.  But in Europe, it works.  We've only seen one accident involving a tram and a cyclist.  The cyclist was in error.

Cyclists in Amsterdam have a bit of a God Complex.  They will ignore traffic signals and will tear around corners without slowing down.  It takes a couple of streets to get into the groove as a pedestrian.  In reality they can be more dangerous than cars as they can be silent.

Most will ring their bells but when bikes from both directions are, you will have to figure out who and why they are ringing.  Plus their traffic lights aren't always the same frequency as automobiles so you really do need to look.  D's parents will be heading to Amsterdam this summer (first trip to Europe) and he is worried for their lives.

We arrived on the eve of a long weekend and the number of people there were staggering.  In hindsight, it was very much like game weekend in Munich.  It caught us off guard as we remembered the quiet slow serene Amsterdam that we fell in love with.  Both of us wondered if we'd still feel that way after a week of trying to weed our way through aimless crowds.  Luckily after the long weekend, it mostly reverted back to what we knew.

After stopping for fries at Manneken Pis (not the best, in my opinion, Vlaamse Frites further down the Damrak is better) we weeded our way towards our apartment.  Then it happened.  We took a side road to get away from all the people who were slowing us down too much and ended up at what I believed to be a known intersection.  D felt we should turn left and I felt we needed to turn right. 

For about a minute, we were 'that couple' you see arguing at a street corner, maps out, pointing in opposite directions with people giving us a wide berth.  Normally I get deadly calm when I engage in debates but when you add heat (it was really warm that day), having travelled for 7 hrs already and maybe a bit of dehydration, my patience just evaporates, especially when it was looking like we were running late.  And I hate being late.

And when D gets that certain 'tone' in his voice, somewhere between condescending and know it all, I start raising my voice (how dare he?!).  He actually accused me of suffering from 'pork deprevation' and 'I would be happy to admit I was wrong if I was' (crap).

So I bring out the you 'half German half Scottish bull head' (yes we resorted to name calling).  'I may not be able to locate an airport from the air but I know my street maps.  I think all the beer you drank in Munich killed one too many brain cells...I'm not going to keep standing here looking like an idiot.  I'm going this way.  If the next street is Overtoom, then it's the right way, if not then you are right.'  So with a defiant look, D followed.

The Amsterdam Story

D's boss is apparently still laughing over a story he told him about me in Amsterdam. I thought I had written about it but searching back here it appears I hadn't.

Also found out my subject tags and history search didn't work that well either but that's a different problem for another day.

The story begins in Berlin when I discovered and fell in love with a yogurt made by Movenpick. It tastes like whipped cream and my favourite flavour was mandarin orange/lime combo. I'm sure my cholesterol level shot up with each tablespoon but I didn't care.

In a land where you could buy a pint of beer at a grocery store for .35 euro, spending a few euro dollars per small cup of yogurt was a bit of a stand out. And again, I didn't care. I ate as many as I could. I don't drink milk but am a serious lover of whipped cream and cream in general.

Fast forward almost a year later when we visited Amsterdam and stayed on a houseboat. Imagine my delight (I believe I even let out a small scream of surprise) when I saw a large container of the dutch version of the Movenpick yogurt. Same coloured container, with the same print of the mandarin orange and lime slice on the front. I bought 2 each only costing over a euro each --cheap!

As soon as we got back, I tore open the tub and started scooping it down. OMG, did it ever taste good! D tried a couple of tablespoons and agreed it was so creamy and yummy. In my mind, I was trying to figure out where I could find a houseboat to buy and move to Amsterdam.

I was a 1/3 rd of the way down the 900 ml tub when I said to D I was going to dig down to the bottom to get to the fruit to balance out the creamy taste. So I dug and nothing. There was no fruit. I had manage to almost consume half a tub of whipped cream that tasted like the Movenpick yogurt.

It never occurred to me to google "slagroom" until now. I just assumed it was whipped cream and used up the rest of it (and 2 more containers) in my morning coffee (I don't drink morning coffee but happily did so as a whipping cream delivery system as D called it). Apparently I was doing a dutch thing without knowing.

Some Trip Photos -- AMS & Rome

Hello From AMS

So what did I expect?

I slept a measly 1 hr my last night in Rome and was subsequently sneezed on constantly during the train ride into Amsterdam from the airport and presto, I am currently battling it out with a head cold.

At least my view is good. The picture above is the view from the bedroom window of the houseboat we have rented for the week as I am sipping hot fluids in bed.

I'll post a full trip report once we return home but so far, we are really liking it here.