Amsterdam – the complete trip
Note: I tried keeping up while on the trip, but didn’t do a good job. I still want to keep a log of our adventures, so I wrote up the trip and posted it as a single entry.
Tuesday
We went to a cheese tasting. It was okay… they did a nice job and gave us some wines to try, and the cheese was good. Afterwards, we met up with Monica and Josh for a drink. These is a husband-wife that works with me. Well, Josh has just been hired on and through the hiring process I discovered we were going to be in Amsterdam at the same time, so we arranged to meet up. It was fun and it sounded like they were having great adventures.
Amanda and I went to a nice Indian place for dinner, had a nice bottle of wine, and enjoyed our time together.
Wednesday
Today was walking food tour and canals. We walked through the Joordan neighborhood and tried many different foods. Then, we boarded an old canal boat, the same one Winston Churchill had ridden on, and took a nice tour of the canals.
Of note, as our guide was pouring the beer, we were all being polite and waiting until he had poured them all to take our glass. He said, “hurry, drink before the bitter goes away.” Apparently when the head dissipates the aromas and flavors start deteriorating, also. All beers here are poured with a 2-finger head.
Amanda and I had dinner at the very happening, hip Roast Room. It was packed with a large party and we had fun watching the endless drinks and food going outside to the party. We ordered a Caesar salad that I thought would just be a salad. Wrong. It was a massive salad with chicken, bacon, anchovy, eggs… it was loaded and a meal in itself. Luckily, we hadn’t ordered a main course.
Thursday
Flowers galore! That is what today was filled with. If you didn’t see my wife’s Facebook post (https://www.facebook.com/amanda.walch.5/posts/10154283394312026), you should. She posted 40 pictures of flowers, and that didn’t do it justice. But first, the quick diary of our day. We started off the morning very leisurely, drinking coffee, reading, and catching up on work emails and tasks. We also headed out for a nice long run along the Amstel River and through a new small park. Then, it was off to Keukenhof for the day. This is a beautiful park with flowers everywhere. We had a picnic and then walked around. At the end of the day we rented bikes for an hour and rode through the tulip fields, many of which were in bloom.
Friday: Parks
We have fond memories of Vondel Park, so we knew that would be our destination one of our days. We decided to do a park day and went to Oosterpark and Vondelpark. We put on about 25,000 steps, according to Amanda’s Fitbit.
Saturday: Flea market and windmills
We spent the day in Amsterdam Noord, starting out at Europe’s largest flea market. It was interesting. I wouldn’t say it’d be on my list of top 10 things to do in Amsterdam, but it was a fun little diversion. We then caught the train out to a classic Dutch village with windmills. This is tourism central, but it was still fun walking around. The scenery is picturesque, with large windmills spinning on the edge of the river. There is a spice mill, a chocolate mill, a lumber mill, and a soap mill; there are probably others.
Our funny story of the day happened as we were getting coffee at the ferry terminal. We decided to hit the Starbucks because we both were ready for a big coffee. We ordered 2 drip coffees. “Pike Place Roast or the special?” she asked. “The special,” we replied. “Okay, it’ll take 4 minutes to finish brewing,” she informed us.
Not wanting to have them go through extra work, we said, “Oh, that’s okay, we’ll just take the Pike’s blend.”
“You don’t have 4 minutes?” she asked us, innocently perplexed that we wouldn’t wait.
“Yeah, of course we do,” we responded, and waited for the fresh brew. The coffee was delicious and the phrase “you don’t have 4 minutes?” became our regular expression anytime things took a bit longer than expected. It was silly enough to think we couldn’t wait a few minutes while on vacation, but it is true in life. We often think we don’t have any time, but taking 4 minutes for a fresh cup of coffee may lead to looking at life completely differently. I vow to always have 4 minutes.
Sunday: Exercise and tour
This was my day for a long run, 6 miles. I wanted to run down the Amstel again, so I headed out, just planning on getting in a zone and sticking to the path, running out 3 miles and then back. The river was beautiful in the morning sun. There was some haze coming off the water and there was hardly a ripple across the surface. More so then yesterday, people were out walking their dogs, running, walking, and even a guy sitting on the bank fishing.
Almost 3 miles in, I came across a different entrance to the park we stumbled on to a few days ago. It was just too inviting and so I headed in; there was only one or two others in the entire park. There was a kangaroo pen, so I rested and watched them a bit (along with a couple peacocks). I then ran in to the park further, around the fountain pond, and stopped to ponder life, looking at a gorgeous lilac (?) tree in full bloom. I then ran home, with mile 5 being a pretty difficult one.
While I showered, Amanda ran to the store to grab a few things. On the way, she ran in to a guy who each weekend throughout the summer draws a massive sidewalk chalk display in the intersection. He was just starting it. We saw it again a bit later, and then the final version. << INCLUDE PICTURES >>
Our hosts let us use their bikes for the day and directed us to the Amsterdam countryside as a nice ride. Just to brag a bit, after that 6 mile run, I rode a bike that didn’t fit well and had no gears another 20+ miles. I think to say we were active that day is an understatement. We rode from our neighborhood up through the city to Central Station. We then grabbed a fairy to Amsterdam Noord and started riding. The bike paths were a maze and I had a low tire that I had to find a pump for, so it took us a while to make it out of the city. But when we did, wow. It was a perfect day. The sun was shining as we rode from small town to small town. Along the way there were fields full of sheep and birds, canals with large swans floating by, and people out enjoying themselves. We stopped at a random bench to have a glass of wine and enjoy the day. As we headed into Durgerdam, we decided to hang a left and ride out a bit toward the ocean. We quickly got far enough out that we could see the expanse of the North Sea and waters beyond. It was really hard to believe that it was a bike ride away from the city.
Our hosts told us that night that the area is a cultural preserve. There are lots of wetlands (which we saw signs for) that are being preserved to encourage biodiversity; the farms are generally at the hobby farm level and the owners are paid a subsidy from the government because they are not allowed to use large machinery to farm the land, so they can’t be as efficient.
We ended the day with a dinner at an Italian restaurant very close to our apartment. We had walked by it the other day and saw bread and olives on the table and decided that’s where we were going to. We walked in at about 6:15 to a room that had probably 10-12 tables of 2-6 people each. I’d say about a third of them were still empty (but we saw those people file in over the next 30 minutes). We asked about room for 2 and they said they were booked, but if we wanted to sit outside we could. We elected to do that, even though it was a chilly night. They turned on the outside heaters and provided us a blanket, or as they called it, a cover. It turned out we were the only ones that ate outside. Amanda and I stayed there until almost 9:15 and for that whole time, no one left the restaurant. They have one seating and as is the custom in Europe, meals are slow.
I realize some people wouldn’t appreciate this custom of long meals, but for me I find it very admirable, endearing, and appealing. The servers don’t often check on you; if you want something you ask them for it. Sitting without a drink or food for a while isn’t a problem; though if you want to move quickly through your meal you can, you just need to ask them for things. When you are ready to leave, you must ask for your check and they will bring it and expect it to be paid basically right away, often with no opportunity for a tip.
As we returned back to our place, we met our hosts who were returning from their own meal out. We were planning on packing and cleaning up so we could just leave in the morning. They invited us in for a drink, and even though we had made plans, we looked at each other and said, “you don’t have four minutes?” We joined them for a drink and stayed up way later than intended, but had an enjoyable conversation with them, learning a bit about them, their lives, and sharing about our lives and Alaska.
Monday: Goodbye Amsterdam
After a week, it is time to say goodbye and as I write this we’re back on the cramped United airplane, heading toward Chicago and then Anchorage. It was a perfect trip; everything I had hoped for and more, in some unexpected ways. Amanda and I enjoyed spending time with each other (that was expected); we got to see plenty of the town and the countryside; the weather was incredible for that time of the year; and, we stayed long enough that we could learn a bit more than just the basics about the Dutch and Holland. Unexpectedly, I feel very renewed and refreshed, much more than I should with just a week off. I think part of it is heading home to spring. Summer in Alaska always brings new energy and ambition. It also just feels like, as a family, we’re heading in to a new chapter in life. I am not sure when it will start, what it is, how long the transition will last, or if I’m really right. But, that’s how it feels and so I am full of anticipation.
Right now, I’m looking forward to seeing my family and Alaska.
Footnote: this took a long time to post and there were a lot of observations, feelings, and experiences that I wanted to capture, but also figured if I didn’t get it done, it might never get done. The trip will go down as a highlight, but for very subtle reasons.
