Amsterdam(n)!
It may surprise a lot of people, but Amsterdam is a city in The Netherlands. A country of roughly 17 million Dutch beauties. Located above Germany and next to Belgium, it is easy to forget the role this small, sinking country played in the global game of trade and conquest. The Dutch have a really interesting history and it’s easy to forget about them all tucked away up there by the boring Balkan countries. Amsterdam, seen from a map, is a city laid out in very exacting manner in the 1600’s along a series of canals and waterways. It is very mazelike, but surprisingly easy to navigate. With about three quarters of the country below sea level, there is a complex network of dams and levee’s in and around the cities, especially Amsterdam.
We found Amsterdam in rare Summer weather with the sun out an temperatures in the mid 70’s. Apparently, it is nice here like 9 days a year. It was also a huge break from the almost 100 degree temps in Paris. We arrived late Saturday night and by the time we reached our apartment, it was close to 9:30 due to train delays. Our AirBnB host was patient with us keep her waiting, but not so pleased when we did not have the 25 Euros needed to cover our “late check in” penalty. Eh, we said we would get her on the way out. Oops.
One of many canals in Amsterdam.
Our apartment is in the Eastern Docklands area of Amsterdam and is sort of like the East Palo Alto of Palo Alto. In real estate jargon, it is charming and up and coming. Our apartment is really big, with the master bath and bedroom downstairs and a full kitchen and living room up. It was stuffy and needed airing out, but the building is adjacent to a river, so we were at risk from being attacked by Zika mosquitoes and spiders the size of our Smart Car. We were trapped!
As a whole though, everything here is so safe and comfortable. There is a good feeling we both get being here. There is a good atmosphere here. Also, this city is immaculate! The roads are clean of ubiquitous McDonald and Starbuck trash. Everything is so nicely labeled and maps are frequent so getting around is super easy. Trains and busses run like clockwork. People are super friendly, beefy, speak English and are very genuine.
Buildings have settled all crooked. Must be the Space Cake.
On our first morning, we walked to a great place for breakfast called Eastside Café. It was outstanding! I had steak and eggs, Kristin had chicken and waffles. One of the best breakfasts I think I’ve had in ever. We wanted to scope out our houseboat apartment we were going to stay in a few days, so we continued walking on toward The Amstel River. It was such a blessing having normal weather. We could walk with impunity and not have to run from shady spot to shady spot like lizards like we did in Paris. Little things, you know?
Me and a cat.
We found our houseboat tucked away amongst a row of other houseboats and fell in love. The houseboat life here is so picturesque. It truly is out of a postcard. It is very hard to not fall in love with a houseboat. They each have their own style and character from gardens to patio areas. It really is something that makes you smile. It’s something out of a fairy tale, but in real life. It makes me want to push the owners overboard and lay claim #manifestdestiny. Kidding…
So many of the buildings have great little gardens out front. Kristin is obsessed and takes pictures of all of them!
By now it was late so we decided to find a local super market to buy food for dinner. For whatever reason, we had tacos in mind. I mean, why not give it a Dutch try? We found a market by our apartment, kind of slimy, and found what we needed for the most part. This place had a no joke “Burrito” section on one of their shelves. At the checkout line, I bagged while Kristin paid. Come to find out they don’t take Visa, but they take Master Card. No problem, I have one of those. I stick my card in the dealie and the cashier says, no Master Card, Maestro Card. The shit is that? We both looked at each other with equal measures disbelief and embarrassment. Just when we though we were fitting in. With the line backed up behind us with some not too pleased patrons, we said we would get cash out of the machine in the store. Bewildered and feeling like assholes, Kristin went over to the cash machine, while I move to the side and slowly unpacked our bag. In line for the ATM, Kristin mouths to me, “I don’t have me bank card!” (yes, even mouthing words can elicit an exclamation point), so I gave her a black-ops look and nodded toward the egress and with our bag in hand we boogied to the exit and ran like Forest and Jenny.
Mortified, we Googled ourselves to a Jumbo Mart, which was like a Safeway. Plus, I just like saying Jumbo Mart. Before loading our basket with stuff I confirmed with the friendly Dutch shop-keep that they took credit cards people have actually heard of. This Jumbo Mart also had a burrito shelf. I think I could get used to this place. It was late and we still had a half hour walk, so we pack our basket with easy to make dinner stuffs, paid and went along our way back home. After a quick dinner of tortellini’s and olives, we strategized our next day before calling it a night. It was the end of our first full day here and we were stoked on see more neato things in the morning.
3D version of Rembrandt's "Night Watch".
Final Thought:
I keep on being surprised about the friendliness of people in Europe. I think that America is so full of empty well-wishes and fake sentiment, that it makes a lot of us, me especially, cynical. Not everyone in America is a dick, but as Americans, it is difficult to believe that someone is being nice to you for the sake of being nice. They must be after something, right? That is a crummy outlook and one that I don’t like hanging onto. I should stop being surprised that people are nice and I should stop being extra surprised that people are nice to Americans. We’re not all bad.
