THIS JOURNEY WE CALL LIFE: 3 - Impressions of Amsterdam

Written by Karen

Dutch Clogs

It takes a few days, once you begin any journey, to work out the kinks and to become acclimated to your new circumstances. We are on our third full day of our journey, and I think we are close to that stage of becoming acclimated. This blog entry will be a brief synopsis looking backwards. If you’re interested...I will be updating this blog whenever I can, and I’ll try and keep it interesting!

Amsterdam is a very enjoyable city; it has a compact human-scale feeling to it. No really high skyscrapers. Someone told us that the height limit in Amsterdam was four stories. Even with 12 foot ceilings, the skyline is pretty flat, so you never feel like you are in the shadows of a huge building. Which is really nice if you walk the city. We spend most of our time perusing neighborhoods, canal streets and exploring the city by foot. We also visited the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh museum and participated in the Heineken experience tour.

There’s a feeling of personableness that comes from the incredible number of bicyclists. People are outside navigating the city at a very close range, not behind closed windows in a car. The bicycle in Amsterdam is the great equalizer. Everyone, it seems, rides a bike. Bicycles outnumber cars, that’s for sure, and, pedestrians do not have the right of way. As a pedestrian, you have to constantly swivel your head around to avoid being hit by a bus, tram, car, motorbike, or more likely, a bicycle. Looking past that downside, the energy that comes from a younger, diverse, and more mobile population is very dynamic and creates a certain atmospheric buzz. You want to be out at the cafe’s having a coffee or a glass of beer just to meet others and people watch.

And, in my experience here, Amsterdamer’s are also very friendly. We had very few language issues. English is readily spoken and the Amsterdamer’s have a great sense of humor. On Saturday afternoon, we had the pleasure of watching a street mime in action closely following people, sneaking up and barking like a dog, or just being silly. Everyone took this in great stride and with grace and humor. It was hysterically funny. We actually were waiting for the tram and let it go by twice just to watch his antics.

All of these attributes and experiences come together and make for a very enjoyable visit to Amsterdam. It ticked a lot of my boxes and it goes to the top of my list as possible liveable cities.

We met some great people who made some restaurant recommendations that we took advantage of. We stumbled into an Italian restaurant, l’Angoletto - a tiny place, maybe 12 tables - on Friday night. We met Kim, a regular who was waiting 40 minutes for her take-away pizza. She talked about how this place was really special, very well known in the neighborhood for its unique way of doing business, and that the food was fantastic. Once we were seated, we were trying to read our all-Italian, small cursive print menu and we met our random table mates: Moti and his daughter, Jessica. They also told us about how special this place was and how unusual it was for a non-local to stumble into this restaraunt. They helped us navigate the menu and ensured that we didn’t offend the owner. The guy is very particular. If you want to enjoy his food; he wants to offer it to you his way. And after tasting the food, I’d have to agree with his unwavering style. He’s a food artist. The food was sublime. We had carpaccio - my first time. Wow. Adam and I both also had individual pizzas: mine was combination with artichokes, Parma ham, mushrooms and olives; and, Adam’s was mushroom. They don’t slice the pizza; just serve the entire disk on a plate and you cut it up as you go. It was a great experience: both the food, the atmosphere of watching the chef/owner cook from our table above the tiny kitchen, and the very pleasant conversation.

Jessica recommended that we try food from Surinam and suggested a small restaurant, Warung Mini, that was nearby. We tracked it down and it was very, very good. Different. Wonderful tastes and flavors. The owner made her own spicy sauces that you drizzle on the food: red: Sambel; black: Ketjap; and, yellow: Adjoemaning. Outstanding. We found our new favorite drink there, Mogu Mogu, from Thailand. It is a thickened fruit juice with tiny bits of the fruit floating inside. We tried Mango and Lychee. Wow.

A few words about hosteling. Hmmm. The light in the WC has a motion sensor and after 10 seconds the room goes dark. So, you have to do the equivalent of the stadium wave while sitting on the loo! The shower has a timer that shuts off the water every 15 seconds. So, your showering experience really does come to you in bits and starts!

The hostel that we stayed at for 3 nights, Stayokay Hostel, Zeeburg, was a converted school with more than 400 beds. It is a huge operation, but to their credit, it was a seamless experience. Breakfast was included in the cost: yogurt, granola, cold cuts, breads, jams, juices, and dark chocolate. On our first day, Adam, when he got to this part of the breakfast line and saw the plate with thin slabs of dark chocolate said, “What kind of paradise is this?” But, the overall reason why you go and spend the night at a hostel is to meet people; observe the upcoming fashions; and, to share a similar experience. There are no penthouse suites here - everyone enjoys the same level of accomodation.

Here are a few pictures of our visit to Amsterdam: September 2 - 5th.