Guest Entry: Julie's parents visit Amsterdam
Trip Start
Apr 06, 2003
1
25
69
Trip End
Ongoing
Amsterdam,
Netherlands
Sunday, August 10, 2003
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Lynn and I began our trip to visit Julie and Stephen by boarding our United flight at O'Hare at 5:30 pm on July 24, 2003. We settled in for takeoff with about 200 other "sardines" in the coach section of the plane. Overall, the flight was smooth and uneventful, although we didn't sleep more that an hour of the 7 1/2 hour flight. About one hour prior to landing we flew over the Nordzee (North Sea). It was really exciting. You could see ships in the water. About 15 mins
01. Lynn and Julie in front of Kantors front door
. out we could easily see the western shoreline of the Netherlands, as well as rich, green farmland. We arrived at Schipol airport in Amsterdam at 9:00 am, Friday, July 25th. We easily made it through customs and baggage to find Julie waiting for us. We went to the train, right in the airport, and were in the heart of Amsterdam in about 15 mins. We then walked to our hotel, the Renaissance (a Marriott), just a few blocks from the train station. After checking in and stowing our luggage, we went a few blocks, about 1 mile, to Julie and Stephan's apartment.
Julie and Stephen live in a very nice apartment on the third and fourth floors of a building constructed about 300 years ago! It is very spacious and modern inside. They are on the Herengracht Canal with wonderful views out their living room window. Julie's big challenge for the day was to keep us busy and awake until about 9 pm to help readjust our body-clocks. So we went to a little street café for lunch, then walked for miles, which Lynn and I are good at, until late in the afternoon. Julie really knows her way around the city. We walked through Vondel Park, a major park in the city, where Julie often runs in the mornings. At about 4 pm we went to Julie's to relax. After about one-half bottle of Heineken, I dosed off for about 1 hour, as did Lynn; just enough to get a second wind
02. Canal Tour Boat
. Stephen arrived home around 7 pm, then we went to an Indonesian restaurant within walking distance. We finally made it to bed by 9:30 pm. On the first day we not only adjusted to new sleep patterns, but also to millions of people bicycling in every direction, dodging cars that seem to roar down the narrow brick streets, about half the population smoking (especially in restaurants), slow service in the restaurants, and occasional dog poop on the streets. By the end of our week we had adapted to all of these new experiences, although I had to keep a close eye out for the dog poop and grab Lynn's arm so she wouldn't ruin her shoes. She reciprocated by saving me from near death by bikes and cars a few times. One interesting note about bicycles: this is the main form of transportation so you see men and women riding with their babies on little seats hooked to the front and backs of the bikes. By the way, all the babies are blond---I kept thinking I was seeing clones. Also, you see pregnant women riding bikes. No one wears helmets. The bikes are all identicle--black frames, no gears, foot brakes. Lastly, it was fun to see Stephen riding his bike in his business suit and briefcase.
On Saturday, Julie and Stephen took us to more sites, including an open market and a boat ride on the canals
03. View from Kantors window
. We enjoyed a relaxing afternoon on their 4th floor deck that overlooks the city, drinking local beer and eating local cheese and crackers. We also went to the nearby supermarket. It was fun shopping, although hard to read the labels. That night we ate at a Nepal restaurant, again in the neighborhood. We then walked back to our hotel to settle in for the night. It remains light out until about 10 pm, so walking back to the hotel each night was enjoyable, because we got to see more of the city, teaming with people out at the neighborhood bars and restaurants. On Sunday, Stephen rented a car and we drove about an hour west of the city to de Hoge Veluwe National Park, where the Kroller-Muller museum dedicated to Van Gogh is located. We parked the car then road free bikes about a mile into the park to the museum. Later we enjoyed a picnic that Julie had prepared. The same day, we went to a small town, Muiden and walked around and ate ice cream. Muiden opens up to a lake that eventually flows to the North Sea, so there were many large motor and sail boats going through the canal and locks.
On Monday Stephen went back to work, but was home by 7 pm each night during the rest of the week to join us for dinner. The days blend together, but we did visit the Anne Frank house, just a few blocks from Julie's; the Rijksmuseum to see the Rembrandts, Vermeer's, Hals and the Van Gogh museum
04. Shops on one of the 9 Streets
. Upon leaving the Anne Frank house, some jerk on a bike yelled, "fucking Jews" and rode off. That was upsetting to say the least. We went to several shops in the "Nine" Streets, essentially streets that run perpendicular to the canals in Julie's neighborhood, with many proprietorships---bakeries, jewelers, antiques, cafes etc. On Tuesday, Julie and I ran in Vondel park together. One of the days, Lynn had her hair cut very short at a glitzy hair dressers by a young guy from London. Julie made a delicious talapia dinner, and Stephen cleaned up the kitchen. After dinner, Stephen walked us through the infamous red light district. There were thousands of people milling around the myriad of peep shows and gawking at the women in the windows selling their wares. I found it depressing.
On Wednesday morning, Lynn, Julie and I rented bikes and rode about 35 miles roundtrip all the way to Zandfort, a beach town on the North Sea. We stopped in Haarlem, a cute little town about 12 miles west of A'dam. We visited a church built several hundred years ago that had a massive pipe organ that Handel and Mozart both played. We rode by a very old Jewish cemetery on the outskirts of Haarlem. We rode through beautiful neighborhoods, reminiscent of the US suburbs, on our way to the sea
05. Rose Garden in Vondel Park
. We got back at about 7 tired and with sore butts, but had a wonderful trip.On Thursday, Julie, Lynn and I took the train to Delft to see where the porcelain china is made. There's one remaining factory that we visited. On the way to Delft the train briefly stopped in Leiden and de Hague. That night we ate excellent Thai food.
On Friday, Lynn and I were up by 7 am, at the train station by 8 am and at Schipol by 8:30 am. We arrived in Chicago at 1 pm the same day, and we were back in Madison by 5 pm. On the trip back we flew over Greenland which was neat to see.
1. Amsterdam is a wonderful and exciting city. We look forward to our next visit, most likely in April 2004.
2. We over packed as usual, taking more clothes and shoes than needed. A'dam is very relaxed and laid back, so casual clothes is all you need. We also looked at the 10 day forecast that predicted rain that never materialized except briefly on our first Sunday there.
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06. Julie buying flowers at the Saturday market
. Stylish clothes are not a priority for the Dutch 4. Men have strange haircuts as if they did their own hair with a hedge shears.
5. The young Dutch women are very pretty.
6. Trains are great transportation, running on very precise time.
7. Although we tipped our waitresses, the tips are generally included in the bills.
8. Be careful of the bicycles.
9. Try to eat outside to avoid the smokers.
10. Watch for poop on the sidewalks.
11. Always order "Slagroom" (Dutch for whipped cream) on desert when you get the chance.
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