Amsterdam, Netherlands

Hallo!

One of the few words in Dutch that I can understand. I felt so confused when people would ask me things, or say things to me. I thought Dutch was a little more similar to English. It is not! Sometimes, I said things in English, and then they switched, but other times, like when I was shopping, I just guessed what they were saying, and responded accordingly. The one that really threw me off, was when I bought some flowers for my host, and was told alstublieft (which means please). I gave a blank stare!

Anyways, to start off, I landed at Schipol (still one of my favourite airports) after my KLM flight (probably my favourite airline!) and then missed the train into town… Waited half an hour for the next one, and then missed the tram! All in all, it took a reaaallllyyyy long time to get to Amsterdam Zuid (south) near Victorieplein, where I was going to stay with my Couchsurfing host, Charlotte and her bf Jury. They are very nice. I lucked out, that they have a guest room with a double bed. A really comfy double bed! I slept well. Which was good, as Saturday was a very busy day, even if it was just wandering around again!

Things I did in Amsterdam today: Went to Amsterdam Centraal, and found out that the tulip fields at Keukenhof are closer to the airport, so I will do that tomorrow. Then, I took a wander around the streets, just picking canals to follow. I ended up going through the red light district. It is a bit ironic, that there are prostitutes directly across from a church! Kathryn, some of them are still quite agressive and yell at you! Most are not really all that attractive (to me). I also found a wonderful chocolate shop, and have tried a Raspberry, Cranberry, Cognac, Plum, Black Pepper and Tamarind chocolate (well, I haven`t yet tried all of them, but I will!) I also decided, that before I had any chocolate, I should have some real food, as it was closing in on 1pm.

I ended up getting a focaccia bread pizza.Then I went on a shopping mission. I was hoping to find work appropriate blouses, but ended up getting tshirts, and updating my casual wardrobe. I went down the main shopping street, and even into one of the malls. They seriously need to start making clothes that have shape to them, and don’t look like 2 squares of fabric they sewed up the sides, and cut arm holes and a neck hole. It only looks good on super tall model types, which is not the larger part of the society!

A quick stop via Dam square, and a photo of the Royal Palace while the clock tower played, and then I headed to the boats, where I decided to do a canal cruise. I went with Ecotours, which were the only ones I saw that did open boat tours, and their boats run on electricity. I ended up on a boat with 12 of us (including our skipper/guide Klaas?) We cruised through the canals, and learned some new facts. Amsterdam used to be on the ocean, and the canals were salt water. Now, the coast is 30 km away, and the canals are fresh water. The houses that were built originally, were built with wooden poles for the foundations. (I asked what the foundations were like, because so many houses have shifted and are leaning). Anyways, the sand layer (which is more stable than the swamp on top) is approximately 7m down. However, in the 1600s, they didn’t necessarily account for the fact that some areas may be less, and some more, so the houses have leaned towards either side, until they ran into another house to stop them moving more!

Oh yes, I forgot that I made my way to Nieuwmarkt and had a tasty kiwi orange smoothie. I also saw a band playing, that made me think of the Band of Outriders. I also found the same pastries that I had last time I was there (7 years ago) called a Berlinerbol (custard filled doughnut type thing). So tasty!

After my canal cruise, I stopped by several cheese shops, eating samples of Gouda (in a variety of flavours) at each one 🙂 Then, I stopped by the Flower market, before finally making my way to Vondelpark. Once there, there is not much more to say, other than, I enjoyed the final bits of sunshine while sitting on a bench, looking at the water. A lovely way to start the evening.

After a quick trip back to the apartment, and a shower, I headed out to Leidesplein, to meet Anna (from my South America trip this summer). She made reservations for us at Casa Peru. I guess the Dutch service is on par with London. We were first sat right at the back, where all the servers passed by. Then they moved us to the other side of the bar, but we were basically forgotten. At least the food whole-y made up for the service! I had lomo saltado (beef dish) and Anna had the sea-bass ceviche. We also had maracuya (passionfruit) sours.

After dinner, Anna decided that I needed to try Bitteballen (stuffed meat and potato type croquettes), so we went to her local pub, and had a few. I am not a huge fan. I think these ones had a lot of cumin (or some other spice) in them, which I didn’t like. The beer was good though (Erdinger (German) and Affligem (Belgian?)). That’s all for today!