Tuesday, Puppy had to work, so we decided to go back to Amsterdam because Mrs. Puppy had never been there and none of us (except Mr. Puppy) had been on the walking tour yet. This time, just to show us how diverse it could be, Amsterdam was really hot and humid with not so much as a breeze.
We made it in plenty of time for the 1:15pm walking tour and followed our guide, an Aussie named Julian, through the town. We learned many interesting things on the walking tour, all of which I had planned on relating to you, and most of which I forgot immediately. I can tell you that Amsterdam's color of choice is orange because that is the color of their royal family, which makes me wonder if their royal family is color blind or if all the other colors had already been taken. I can also tell you that I was not exaggerating about the traffic in Amsterdam last time, whenever Julian stopped to gather us around for some fascinating information, he would always have to say, "Please come up on the sidewalk, do not stand in the street, if you stand in the street you will DIE." I do highly recommend the walking tour, however, while the walking tour of Amsterdam is free, the guides work for tips only, so keep this in mind if you're planning on joining one.
So, our plan for the day had been to eat lunch, take the 2 hour walking tour, go to the Rijksmuseum, find some cheese for Puppy, possibly go to a coffee shop, eat dinner, and head back at a reasonable hour.
~SuperNova says, "Plans are like dreams; they are nice to have but don't always come true."
Julian's tour was well over 3 hours. It was 4:30pm when it was finished. I asked him if it would still be worth it to go to the Rijksmuseum, since it closed at 6pm. He said that the Rijksmuseum was undergoing renovations, and recommended we see the Van Gogh museum instead. I am proud to say that with Nancy D's amazing map reading skills, we found the museum and tackled all 4 floors AND made it to the gift shop before it closed. We found an Indonesian restaurant for dinner (Amsterdam is known for its diversity, so you can find any type of food; however, Indonesian food is recommended since Amsterdam has had such a long history with Indonesia, what with sea trade and all) which was lovely, particularly because we finally were able to sit down. (With the tour and the museum, we were up walking in the heat from 1:15pm to 6:30pm.) The cheese shop was closed, but we found a tiny one on the main drag to the Central Station and still were able to get some aged gouda for Puppy. We made it home at a more reasonable hour at least, 12:30am.
Some notes about Amsterdam:
*It is a diverse city that welcomes all races, religions, and sexualities and shows equality for all by not, in any way, discriminating against who gets run over by a bicycle.
*It is a lovely city that I would highly recommend you to visit. However, DO NOT bring your grandparents or children. Here is an excellent test - if you can sit through 9 1/2 Weeks with a particular person without experiencing any discomfort (besides the usual discomfort that comes when you realize she has some serious man-hands), then you can travel with that person to Amsterdam.
*Do not limit yourself to looking both ways when you cross the street; your head should be in a constant swivel back and forth as you cross. Many times I would look to the right and see that it was safe to cross and 1 second later I would look again and be nearly taken down by a tram that was hiding behind a little girl.
*Do not wear your best shoes. In an effort to discourage hard drug use in bathroom stalls, Amsterdam had the brilliant idea of having men pee in public. There are these little stalls right on the side of the street, shaped like half a yin-yang or a spiral, put on a concrete slab, where men can step in and pee against the side. No, no drain, just onto the wall, then onto the slab, then into the street. Yes, eewwwwww.
*Do NOT take pictures of the ladies in the windows of the red light district. It's not allowed and they are not afraid to take you down. People will believe you when you tell them about it, you do not need photographic evidence. Let that shot go.
*DO take the walking tour, try some coffee, go to the museums, try the food, and ask questions (they speak great English)! It's wonderful place to visit.
Showing posts with label Amsterdam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amsterdam. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
July 15th, Amsterdam
EVERYONE should go to Amsterdam! This is what I have been told many a time. So here was my opportunity to finally visit this much talked about city as it is only a 2 and a half hour drive from Geilenkirchen, where Puppy lives.
We had to be up and out the door by 10am in order to make the 1:15pm free guided walking tour. Now you might think that getting 5 girls ready and out the door by a specific time was an impossible task, but there we were, heading down the road. Hurray for excellent travel companions! For lunch, we stopped at a Big P (if you see a sign on the highway with a capital P, that means "park" which in turn means food and gas and bathrooms, I am frequently on the hunt for a Big P) and I got a lemon Fanta and a curry chicken wrap and paprika flavored potato chips and it was very good, not at all what one might expect from a gas station. It was an overcast, windy day and when we finally arrived I was glad that I had worn long pants.
*SuperNova Travel Tip: Research the weather where you are going. Many people end up packing and dragging around stuff they will never use/wear because of the infamous phrase that plagues us all, "just in case." Now, I always wear long pants on the airplane no matter where my destination is because in an attempt to keep people in their seats and unable to move the average temperature on the plane is kept at a brisk 40 below zero using arctic breezes flowing by your feet. (If you generally run hot and think the plane temperature is a little warm, then you are probably the guy who always sits next to me and opens his overhead air vent to full blast and I'd just like to say that I loathe you.) However, there is no need to pack 2 of every kind of outfit because "you never know." No, you generally do know and in the off chance the weather is unseasonably warm or cold, remember, you can always pick something up there (see: SuperNova Travel Tip: It's a first world country).
When we arrived at the parking area in Amsterdam (you park in a huge parking garage just out of town and then take the train in so you don't have to drive through the craziness of the city), we rushed to the station to catch the train to go into downtown to catch our tour. We got on the correct train and while we were trying to figure out which stop to get off at a very helpful Dutch woman who overheard us informed us that the train was actually under construction and wouldn't take us where we needed to go, so we would need to get off and take my traveling nemesis, the bus.
When we finally arrived downtown we had long missed the walking tour. So Puppy, who'd taken the tour before, did her best to recreate it while we dodged bicycles. I have heard a lot about Amsterdam but I had heard nothing about how the Dutch are constantly trying to kill you. The Netherlands is exceptionally bike-friendly, so there are millions of them going in all directions AND there are cars AND there are buses AND there are silent trains NONE of which slow down for any reason whatsoever, in fact I suspect that they speed up when they see you. Perhaps you are thinking that if I just stayed out of the street then I wouldn't have this problem, but we had to jump out of the path of a car while walking through what I thought was a city square. I was actually almost hit by a train! There was no horn or bell, in fact, I think the driver was disappointed that I noticed it coming.
We looked in a few shops, dodged vehicles, stopped for ice coffee, and then went on a boat tour of the canals which had an automated woman's voice who would explain sights as we floated along in Spanish, French, and English which would have been very interesting if I didn't develop narcalepsy and fall immediately asleep (see: Jet Lag). After the boat tour, we had dinner at Shuripuni, a spiffy Indonesian restaurant in the Bloemen Markt and then Nancy D, Pat-Pat, E and I had coffee at a coffee shop. After that we were really ready for dessert and stopped into a cute restaurant on the river where E ordered creme brule and french fries. By the time we made it back to the car it was after midnight, so we didn't make it back home till about 3am. We all slept really well that night though!
We had to be up and out the door by 10am in order to make the 1:15pm free guided walking tour. Now you might think that getting 5 girls ready and out the door by a specific time was an impossible task, but there we were, heading down the road. Hurray for excellent travel companions! For lunch, we stopped at a Big P (if you see a sign on the highway with a capital P, that means "park" which in turn means food and gas and bathrooms, I am frequently on the hunt for a Big P) and I got a lemon Fanta and a curry chicken wrap and paprika flavored potato chips and it was very good, not at all what one might expect from a gas station. It was an overcast, windy day and when we finally arrived I was glad that I had worn long pants.
*SuperNova Travel Tip: Research the weather where you are going. Many people end up packing and dragging around stuff they will never use/wear because of the infamous phrase that plagues us all, "just in case." Now, I always wear long pants on the airplane no matter where my destination is because in an attempt to keep people in their seats and unable to move the average temperature on the plane is kept at a brisk 40 below zero using arctic breezes flowing by your feet. (If you generally run hot and think the plane temperature is a little warm, then you are probably the guy who always sits next to me and opens his overhead air vent to full blast and I'd just like to say that I loathe you.) However, there is no need to pack 2 of every kind of outfit because "you never know." No, you generally do know and in the off chance the weather is unseasonably warm or cold, remember, you can always pick something up there (see: SuperNova Travel Tip: It's a first world country).
When we arrived at the parking area in Amsterdam (you park in a huge parking garage just out of town and then take the train in so you don't have to drive through the craziness of the city), we rushed to the station to catch the train to go into downtown to catch our tour. We got on the correct train and while we were trying to figure out which stop to get off at a very helpful Dutch woman who overheard us informed us that the train was actually under construction and wouldn't take us where we needed to go, so we would need to get off and take my traveling nemesis, the bus.
When we finally arrived downtown we had long missed the walking tour. So Puppy, who'd taken the tour before, did her best to recreate it while we dodged bicycles. I have heard a lot about Amsterdam but I had heard nothing about how the Dutch are constantly trying to kill you. The Netherlands is exceptionally bike-friendly, so there are millions of them going in all directions AND there are cars AND there are buses AND there are silent trains NONE of which slow down for any reason whatsoever, in fact I suspect that they speed up when they see you. Perhaps you are thinking that if I just stayed out of the street then I wouldn't have this problem, but we had to jump out of the path of a car while walking through what I thought was a city square. I was actually almost hit by a train! There was no horn or bell, in fact, I think the driver was disappointed that I noticed it coming.
We looked in a few shops, dodged vehicles, stopped for ice coffee, and then went on a boat tour of the canals which had an automated woman's voice who would explain sights as we floated along in Spanish, French, and English which would have been very interesting if I didn't develop narcalepsy and fall immediately asleep (see: Jet Lag). After the boat tour, we had dinner at Shuripuni, a spiffy Indonesian restaurant in the Bloemen Markt and then Nancy D, Pat-Pat, E and I had coffee at a coffee shop. After that we were really ready for dessert and stopped into a cute restaurant on the river where E ordered creme brule and french fries. By the time we made it back to the car it was after midnight, so we didn't make it back home till about 3am. We all slept really well that night though!
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