Extraordinary memories of Amsterdam- Bijzondere herinneringen aan Amsterdam



Amsterdam at night
( Image Courtesy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:KeizersgrachtReguliersgrachtAmsterdam.jpg)

I hope i have done justice to this piece below and captured information correctly. But i am sure no one can actually capture the beauty of Netherlands in any article. It has to be experienced during your journey to this exotic place.

Amsterdam is one of the most beautiful cities that I have ever seen. It is the capital of the Netherlands and has impressive buildings, beautiful architecture, lovely canals that provide a unique charm to this city, great shopping lanes, and friendly people. Amsterdam has one of the largest historic city centers in Europe, with about 7,000 registered historic buildings. The street pattern has been largely unchanged since the 19th century. The center consists of 90 islands linked by 400 bridges, some of them beautifully lit at night. The city is also often called ‘Venice of the North’, due to the many canals

I was blessed with a month’s stay at Amsterdam in Feb 2011. Getting to Amsterdam was pretty easy. I had a flight to Amsterdam via Vienna. Once I landed at Schiphol Airport, it was very comfortable to get to Amstelveen which was the place where my hotel was situated. The cab driver was friendly. The ride was enjoyable. I reached ‘Htel Amstelveen’ within half an hour. The fare was reasonable. Taxis in most towns of Netherlands have their tips included in the rates. Here, most folks only tip if they are very content and if they believe that the service that was provided was special. I had all the justifications to tip my cab driver as he was extremely helpful. He kept me entertained with stories about Amsterdam till we reached the Hotel.

Image courtesy:http://www.ambiancehotels.com

Once at the hotel, I spend my day in exploring the service apartment and the facilities that I could avail to, while at the hotel. The Hotel staff were very polite and helpful. They took me around the hotel and showed me all the amenities such as the common wash area, the gym and also  gave me an idea of the numbers that I could call if I needed any help. My room no was 911 and I was thinking...Heck! How did they guess that I was accident prone? LOL!!! Was than a pun that was intended?

During the next weekend, I ventured out on my own for this canal trip which sounded like fun when I read the travel brochures at the Hotel. An Amsterdam Canal Cruise is the most popular tourist attraction in the country. With 65 miles of ancient canals, Amsterdam is still the most watery city in the world. A diverse fleet of around 200 tour boats carry more than 3 million passengers a year, offering a waterborne variety of almost every form of entertainment that's available in Amsterdam. From an exclusive candlelight dinner to Theatre Cruises, pizza cruises, hop on and hop off tours and live music, there are a variety of tours from which you can make a choice. I chose the more sober canal trip which takes you through all the Amsterdam canals. Alongside these canals you can see 17th century merchant houses, with their beautiful fronts, churches with bell towers and 16th and 17th century warehouses.So from Amstelveen, I took a train to Centraal station. Once there, I went to the tourist offices outside the station and enquired about the trip. I was nervous about being dropped back at some place which I wasn’t familiar with. But the lady at the counter assured me that I would be dropped at Centraal itself. With my penchant to get lost even with the right directions, her words sounded reassuring.  

I walked around a bit and discovered the boat that would take me. The driver was a very suave looking Dutch gentleman. Once he checked my ticket, he requested me to occupy any vacant seat that was available. I shared a seat with some teenage kids as they were the only ones vacant. The boat had  tourists belonging to different nationalities.The ride began in some time. He took us through varied canals and there was a running commentary on the history of each canal that we passed. The driver did some stunts like turning the boat in a narrow space to turn back the lengthy boat. All of us really thought that the boat will touch the sides of the bridge but luckily, he was a pro at his work. Amsterdam looked very regal with all her historical monuments, churches and the beautiful homes by the canal side. The dim lighted apartments with their white curtains and French windows were very soothing to the eye. Architecture on old buildings was fabulous. Many a time, I was tempted to get off the boat and have a closer look at them. There’s nothing that can be termed as 'loud' in this whole environment. It’s all classy and sophisticated. Amsterdam beckons you to enjoy her offerings at your own pace which works well for ‘slow’ folks like me. The canal cruise ended as promised at Centraal itself. I walked back to the station to take the train home. As usual I lost my way and had to ask for directions to the right platform. Being an Indian, it comes easily to me to tap someone on their shoulders and ask them on where to go despite the signboards at the station. LOL! Finally I made it to the right one after asking a railway cop. Once there, it was easy to get back home. I like the road rules at Amsterdam. The footpath, the traffic rules are really pedestrian friendly.



Happiness personified during shopping

During the next weekend, I had visitors. My cousin and his wife arrived from London to visit me. So it was fun time again because my cousin was always good at making itinerary that was time bound and hassle free. On Saturday, we went to shop at Stadshart mall near Amstelveen. To reach there, you would need to get off at "Amstelveen Centrum" with metro 51. This is the official website for the shopping mall (Website: http://www.stadshartamstelveen.nl/). Cousin’s agenda was simple. He would drop us at the mall and then go back to the hotel and catch up on his sleep. This worked well for us. We didn’t want a male escort for our shopping spree. It was something we could do ourselves. Who wanted to be chastised whenever the credit card was swiped! Our shopping lasted for about 3 hrs. It was mostly window shopping as the habit of converting the Euros into rupees made all items look terribly expensive. As I was thinking then, the cost of a Gucci bag could pay the yearly premium of my insurance policy. Priorities in life can come up to haunt you at all the wrong possible times. Guess it’s the typical middle class mentality that most of my kinds are socialized with.

Later at night, we had dinner at a friend’s place at Hague. The Hague (Dutch: Den Haag ) is a city in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. It is the seat of the Dutch parliament and government, and the residence of Queen Beatrix. We travelled by car to reach Hague. There were beautiful apartment buildings and lovely picturesque locations on our way to Hague. Our hosts were a delightful couple with a cute school going daughter.

I tasted Żubrówka, Polish vodka at his place. A blade of buffalo grass is placed in each bottle of Żubrówka. While such piece of grass may be used mostly for decorative purposes, in mass production, alcohol is infused with bulk amount of grass in order to obtain the beverage's taste and yellowish color. The name Żubrówka comes from żubr, the Polish, Belarusian, and Ukrainian word for the wisent (European bison), which is particularly fond of eating buffalo grass. My host teased me by informing me that the bison loved to pee on the grass, thus giving an added flavor to the vodka. Well...I was fine with that even if it was the case. LOL! The vodka tasted wonderful and that’s what matters! There was Baingan (egg plant) curry, Pulav, Chicken curry, desserts were jalebi and icecream and it was all rounded up with a nice cup of filter Kapi. Mmm... Indian food tickled my taste buds. I was surviving on bread and eggs since some days due to the lack of motivation to eat food that was cooked by me. Tee hee! That kind of explains my culinary expertise.

Next day, we had plans to go sightseeing at Amsterdam city. So we left by 10 am. My cousin found a parking space at one of the side street. It was chilly and very windy. I had 3 layers of clothing on me but it wasn’t much help to keep warm. By then,my nose had turned red due to the chilly wind blowing across the city. I guess I resembled Rudolf, the red nosed reindeer. LOL!

Centraal Station in the background



We decided to wait for our friends at a designated place. It’s good to keep walking while it’s chilly. It reduces the chill. Once our friends joined us, we began walking through the city streets. There were churches, museums, canals, dam center, red light district and eateries that awaited us.

At the cafe

We started walking after having a cup of coffee at a café. There’s a difference between coffee shops and cafés. Latter are the places where you’d get coffee. The former are a tourist attraction as they sell soft drugs. So if you are in the mood for some marijuana you’d get the same in a coffee shop and it may be served through cakes, brownies, muffins, milkshakes or even mull tea. Even if Dutch coffee shops are not everyone’s cup of tea (coffee???:), they still are a curious attraction that adds to the relaxed vibe of the city. To be honest,it wasn't my cup of tea during my entire stay at Netherlands. I guess i am a chicken but well...I didn't want to do drugs. My ‘latte’got me warm and rejuvenated for  exploring the sights further.

At the shopping district

We began walking through the lanes in the city. The two main shopping streets in Amsterdam’s city centre are the Kalverstraat and the Leidsestraat. Of the two, the Leidsestraat has the more exclusive designer shops.The Kalverstraat is home to all the shops you would expect in a large city like H&M, Mexx, Zara and Miss Sixty. There are also several department stores here. I wanted to buy some mementos for my family. We stepped into a tourist center to buy the same. I got fridge magnets and postcards for the family. I also acquired a small sling bag in red color with the logo ‘Amsterdam’ on it. The Turkish vendor was a pleasant guy with a penchant for flirting. Well...it was flattering, to be honest. LOL! I gave into my urges and got a 'Chanel' bag for myself. It was one of my indulgences while at Amsterdam.

Our host was disappointed that I had chosen to ignore the umpteen museums in Amsterdam. Amsterdam has an amazing collection of museums, ranging from masterpieces of art to porn, vodka and cannabis. I had limited time in Amsterdam. Museums needed more time and attention. So I promised him that I would do the entire museum sightseeing during my next visit. Some of the famous museums were the Anne Frank House, Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum. I hope to see them someday.



Our next visit was at the Dam Square which lies in the historical center of Amsterdam. On the west end of the square is the neoclassical Royal Palace. The Royal Palace in Amsterdam is at the disposal of Queen Beatrix by Act of Parliament. 

Raw herring with diced onions



Stroopwafel



I forgot to mention that I also got to taste the raw herring that’s eaten with finely diced onions and pickles while we were on our trek. I loved it. There was another fish snack that I enjoyed. It was called as Kibbeling (deep-fried nugget-sized chunks of cod) that was served with garlic sauce. Another popular Dutch sweet is the Stroopwafel ("stroop" meaning syrup). A thin wafer made typically in a pizelle pan is sliced horizontally and sandwiched with light caramel syrup, the stroop. Occasionally crushed hazelnuts will be mixed with the stroop, and the wafers may be spiced with cinnamon. It’s yummmmy to the core! I got some for my family and they loved it as well. Oops...Food always distracts my line of thought!!!

 



St Nicholas church in the background





Oude Kerk in the background

We took some snaps near Oude Kerk. The Oude Kerk ("old church") is Amsterdam’s oldest parish church. It was  consecrated in 1306 by the bishop of Utrecht with Saint Nicolas as its patron saint. It stands in De Wallen, now Amsterdam's main red-light district. The square surrounding the church is the Oudekerksplein. There are also snaps near the 'Sint Nicolaaskerk' (Church of St. Nicholas). This is a Roman Catholic church in the centre of Amsterdam. 



Red light District in the background



Our next sightseeing haunt was at the red light district. The Red Light District is actually the oldest part of Amsterdam. There are plenty of sex shops, peep shows, brothels, an elaborate condom shop, a sex museum and of course prostitutes in red-lit windows. To be honest, while I walked down the lanes with my family, I really didn’t feel like staring at any of the women or the shops selling sex gadgets. I tried to tell myself that it’s an accepted deal out here. Women who are in this profession have chosen this path themselves and are earning for their future. But that still didn’t reduce my embarrassment. My Kudos goes out to the Netherland authorities for legalizing this trade with strict rules and regulations. It is anyways going to be done. So it’s better to make it safe for those involved. There were plans to watch a sex show but it didn’t work out as I had to prepare for a office presentation after reaching the hotel.

After all that walking, the hunger pangs went beyond control. We found a steakhouse in Amsterdam which faced the river. The food was great.That was the end of our sightseeing tour and it was time to go back home and work on my presentation.

Steak house

Until I travel next…. :)

“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.”
-Pat Conroy