Amsterdam

Saturday 9/19 11:05am

Friday morning was our first full day in Holland. We woke up early which was a struggle, but there was complementary breakfast service. We went to the car rental place and picked up the car to head to Den Haag. Our mission was to find Linda’s house. She is a teacher of technical writing in Den Haag. We arrived around 11:30 and walked to the beach to have some coffee. The cafés on the beach were sick. It helped that the weather was perfect. It would have been a terrific Friday breakfast if it wasn’t for our Yankees fan waiter. He noticed my Sox hat and made it known how he felt about them. We had a few disagreements and I said we’ll just have to see what happens in October. Then Linda told him to go get our coffee. Haha.

Linda could only stay and chat for a little bit, but it was nice to see that side of Holland. There is definitely more to Holland than Amsterdam. The highways are lined by large fields with horses. Every couple of minutes we’d pass a massive white windmill. Outside of Amsterdam I noticed that the cities are very modern.

· I think the one of the most unique and best things about the cities in Holland is the tram. In Amsterdam, the trams are situated on the larger straats ( streets). It’s not only good transportation but it was also a good indicator when we were lost. The trams in Leidseplein Centruum were always coming through the square, dinging a bell to alert pedestrians. They made it very interesting to just go for a stroll around the area.

· It’s known that there are so many bicycles in Amsterdam. I’ve never seen anything like it. I think the chances of being struck by a bicycle are very high. The locals ride fast and it’s important to pay attention to where the bike lanes are. Linda told me that there are two bikes for every person in Amsterdam. I’ve never seen anything like it. I wish I would have taken a video with my camera of the bike traffic in and around the square. I really wanted to rent a bike early Friday evening but I wasn’t able to find a rental place. I asked for directions more than once. Even though I didn’t have the bike I still went wondering around. It would have been better to be lost on a bike though. I found that if I strayed out of Leidseplein or off of Leiderstaat I got lost. Something about the way the city is laid out I just couldn’t grasp it really. It’s good that a lot of Dutch speak English and most of them were a lot of help.

One thing I really wanted to see was the Anne Frank house but we didn’t end up getting over there. I guess the lines are always very long and it’s a very popular museum.

While I was out strolling around I sat down in Leidseplein Centruum and enjoyed the great weather and people watching. I sat down at an outdoor café and had a few Heinekens. Very expensive for a beer though. About 8 bucks for a pint. The square was packed with people. Some break-dance street performers were doing a show. I had seen them the first night though and the second time wasn’t as interesting. I walked around to some artists selling their work and stopped and talked with a lady named Constantja who worked with watercolors and ink. Woah, balloon in the road, it just hit us. Anyway, I stayed in the square for a while and just took it all in. Our hotel and the coffee shop were right down the street from it so it was where we spent most of our time. Everything we needed was right there. It was a perfect location to stay for a couple of nights.

The restaurants we ate at varied. The service was very poor at some of the outside places. I don’t think they had enough waiters/waitresses to handle the people sitting inside and on the outside area. Also though, we haven’t been eating at top-notch restaurants. We are trying to eat light, maybe in Paris we will visit a few very nice restaurants. The one thing I miss about America is the ability to just get a hot-dog or a hamburger. There were absolutely no places to get just a quick bite to eat. I think the best service I received while in Amsterdam was from the people at the Rookies Hotel and coffee shop. They spoke English very well and were just better than any other place in general.

It would have been nice to stay in Amsterdam for a few more nights but we’re on a mission to see a lot of places, not just one. I guess you could say we were on a quest, to see what’s out there. To see places and learn things about cultures that, in America, you only get to see bits and pieces of. Things that have been introduced to America many generations ago.