Sept 7-10: Amsterdam

I AmSterdam by Cathy

Our feeling about Amsterdam can quite easily be summed up in two words: LOVE IT. The canals, the boats, the ornate old buildings, the bridges, the brick and cobblestone roads, and the BIKES! Oh my god, the BIKES! Bikes everywhere (helmets nowhere)!

But first, let me back up. Our flight from Dublin was short and easy. We were a little worried that we might exceed RyanAir’s well-known stringent baggage weight/size requirements, but flew through with ease. We were entertained in flight by a young guy in his 20s, sitting on the aisle seat across from us, who not only brought his own Guinness for the flight, but a Guinness pint glass as well. Pint one went down really quickly, which is maybe why there was a pouring/spilling issue with pint two (which I managed to photo). Nothing like laughing at someone else’s expense to make a flight speed by.

We took the train from Schipol into Amsterdam and then walked to our very hip, modern Airbnb loft-like flat in the northwestern area of Amsterdam near Westerpark. After settling in for a bit, Jeff went to “scout” the neighborhood (meaning find a good place for a beer) and discovered a place called “Bar Mick” so of course Mick and I walked over to join him. We met two really interesting guys who book guests for a political radio show, learned a little bit about what’s most important to the Dutch right now (immigration), and then had delicious pizza (and some yummy prosecco drink with  mint & limoncello!) at de Pizza Bakkers.

Our first full day we walked all over town (5 hours worth), despite almost constant, heavy rain. On day two, however, at about noon, and just after our second brunch at a place called de Hoek, recommended for its apple pancakes by my friend Ami, who used to live a few doors down (from de Hoek, but also from me in Lafayette growing up), the clouds broke up, the sun came out, and we had a beautiful day.

We went to the Rijksmuseum and did the “highlights” audio tour, which was great, but only scratched the surface of what is a huge, wonderful, diverse museum. After the museum, more walking, people watching, trying to avoid getting hit by bikes, and admiring the incredible views – canal after canal, street after street.

At one point we followed the sound of singing and discovered a boatload of men in striped shirts (a choir of some kind) cruising the canals and belting out songs such as “Molly Malone,” “The Wild Rover (are we still in Ireland?), My Body Lies Over the Ocean, etc. and we were lucky enough to have them stop for a long while right in front of the cafe where we decided to rest our feet and grab a beer and a snack. After they left, we were entertained by a stream of other boats – several ferrying bachelor/bachelorette (or hen and stag as they say here) parties and others full of camera-snapping tourists, trying to capture the wonder of  it all.

We can say we enjoyed a kauffiehuis, but no “coffee” houses (as Mick would say, Google it) and we strolled through, but not into de Wallen. We can also say that we will be back!