Amsterdam: A Lesson in Bike Culture and Other Things

February 9-11, I spent a nice, long weekend in Amsterdam with my gal-pals Kate (from DC), Molly (from NYC) and Cristina (from London). Talk about a great girl's weekend!

I approached the city in my favourite way: With no real knowledge and no expectations – which means no disappointments! Ok, one disappointment…it was FREEZING there, but other than that, we had a great time.

Amsterdam is really a very pretty place, especially for a city in winter. The city centre is sliced up by an endless series of canals, and the streets that line them are a showcase of lovely brick buildings with pretty windows and warm, inviting storefronts and cafes. It’s picturesque and unique.

It’s All about the Bikes!
The city is pretty, quaint, and….strangely quiet. That’s because there is very little traffic -- everyone gets around on bikes, the main mode of transportation year round. Not Vespas, not motorbikes, not motorcycles -- not even fancy bikes like Cannondales or Schwinns -- just your basic generic bike. So, as you can imagine, Amsterdamians are also quite fit given all the pedalling they do.

I’ve never seen anything quite like it…..aside from the people riding them, bikes line all the streets and canal bridges…they are clustered in parking areas all over the city. And the way people ride bikes there is an endless study. You see parents with babies and young children riding on the front – sometimes a kid of the front AND back. You see doggies in baskets; grown men in business suits pedalling to work with briefcases; women and men with violins (and guitars, and basses, and lots of other musical instruments). You see friends hitching a ride on the back after a running start; you see couples sharing a ride. It’s a serious skill and way of life. And weather be damned, Amsterdam bikers are rugged and go year round…in the rain, sleet, and hail (and I think we saw all three while there).
Most importantly, bikes RULE the road and have the right of way – not pedestrians….so when you’re walking down the sidewalk and you hear that bell ring behind you, you’d best get out of the way, unless you fancy unsightly tracks down your back. There aren’t really sidewalks, just roads and bike lanes, which puts pedestrians in precarious positions. In one particularly comical instance, Kate and I were walking down the sidewalk and heard a bike coming up behind us and then a “click” sound as the bike’s bell failed to ring. So, the rider just called out “DING!” and we promptly got out of her way. Oh, the international language of bikes.

The other form of major transportation in Amsterdam are super-modern electric street trolleys, which emit an occasional “gong” when coming through busy streets. And it’s a very "zen" gong…almost like those meditation bells.


The Flower Market
Even in the dead of winter, Holland has scads of flowers. Lots of them. Bulbs in particular, of every imaginable variety. I don’t know where they all came from, but we walked the length of the city’s flower market, past colourful rows of live cut flowers, buckets of bulbs ready for planting, seeds, and plants. I can’t even imagine what spring and summer look like there.


The Anne Frank House
The most memorable part of Amsterdam for me was touring the Anne Frank House. To walk through the secret entryway hidden by a book case that kept she and her family hidden for so long; to walk through her room and still see the pictures she pasted on the walls; to see the one bathroom everyone in hiding shared; and to wander through the room in which they all prepared their meals and ate together was just incredibly emotional. At the end of the tour, you see her diary and notebooks. The tour is superbly crafted so that even amidst the empty rooms absent of all their original furniture, the story is clearly told through the visitor’s guide; TV displays and short videos placed throughout some of the rooms; and photographs, captions and quotes scattered throughout. The reality that hits you in the house in intense: The realisation of how recent her story is, and the magnification of just how many people just like her were brutally murdered in the Holocaust. It left me heavy-hearted, with my insides tied in knots. I couldn’t speak the last 15 minutes of the tour, I was welled up with tears and just trying not to bawl (because when I get going, I can’t stop!). It was a powerful experience to be there, but so very impactful and memorable…it is something that I will never forget….but, I suppose that is precisely the point.

Happy Birthday Rembrandt!
Did you know that this year is Rembrandt’s 400th birthday? Well, it is, so we celebrated by going to the Rijksmuseum, which is the most famous art gallery in Holland containing works by all the Dutch Masters. In honour of Rembrandt’s 400th, the gallery had every single Rembrandt in its collection on display, so we saw them all. There were several Vermeers on display as well. “The Night Watch” may well be the most notable piece in the collection (it’s huge), as well as a famous self-portrait of Rembrandt wearing a splendid gold turban. I like Rembrandt ok, but I much prefer his drawings and sketches to his paintings (I saw a large collection of those at the Met before leaving NYC).

Sin City: Cannabis & the Gals of the Red Light District
Aside from tulips, canals, and Amstel beer, Amsterdam is also known for prostitutes and marijuana – woo hoo!

We only took a couple quick passes by car through the Red Light District on the way home from dinner both nights. Not to sound pervy, but I kind of wish I had seen more, it’s really interesting the way they "advertise." The women stand in windows at night, in their bra and underwear, surrounded by the glow of coloured neon and fluorescent lights. And they just kind of stand there, filing heir nails, jiggling around, whatever….until they entice a customer. It’s a bit of theatre, really. Kinda like any other retail window showing its wares, I suppose!

And marijuana (or cannabis as they call it in Europe) is legal in Amsterdam. So if you need a little high, you just go into any place marked “Coffeeshop” and they will show you the menu. (No worries Mom and Grams, we good girls honestly did not partake in any Coffeshop fun, other than the kind that comes from an espresso machine…)

The Official Favourite Pastime of Girls Weekend? Eating and Drinking, of Course!
While we didn’t smoke pot, we did eat and drink well. Thursday night when Kate and I arrived, we didn’t get to eat dinner since it was late and everywhere had stopped serving food. So we just went into a pub and had beer instead (hey, beer is filling). But halfway through our second beer and 10 minutes to closing time, the management clearly wanted everyone to leave, so they chased everyone out by blasting bad, 90s pop music at eardrum-busting decibels. All I remember was hearing MC Hammer’s “Can’t Touch This” before quickly chugging the remainder of my beer and running out in agony.

Amsterdam has a large variety of Indonesian food (I think because at one time, Indonesia was governed by the Dutch, but definitely don't quote me on that), so Friday night we went to an Indonesian restaurant and enjoyed a tasty sampling menu of about 15 different little dishes…none of which I can remember now. But it was good.

Saturday morning we had breakfast at a cosy French café with a fireplace. The coffee was good, and there was a cute kitty that lived in the café. He had a little bed in front of the fireplace and came out to join the customers at one point snuggled up on the hearth. Totally sweet. Sent pangs of missing Maggie (my cat) through me. ;)

Saturday evening we had drinks at the super-elegant bar/lounge of the Hotel Americain, across the street from the hotel we were staying at. The bar was a very large, atmospheric and elegant space, touting a violin, piano and bass trio. We all sipped Kir Royales (one of Molly’s favourites) as we gabbed, relaxed and listened to music...it was great. For dinner, we went to a place called Pur. The food was underwhelming, but the atmosphere was good. Monday was Molly’s birthday, so we had many toasts to her.

A Rainy Day Canal Cruise
Sunday it was really rainy all day. So we grabbed coffees and pastries from a bakery and then jumped on one of the many boats that run canal cruises. We spent he next hour and a half cruising through the waterways of Amsterdam, enjoying the perspective from the water and relaxing with the other tourists. We couldn’t really understand anything the tour guide was saying (it all sounded like Charlie Brown teacher-speak….WA WA WA WA WA WA), but that wasn’t really the point, we were just chillin’.

The Van Gogh Museum
After the canal cruise, it started to rain and snow, so we needed another indoor attraction…and fast. So we went to the Van Gogh Museum where we spent a couple hours. Got to see lots of his great works, my favourite being the painting of his bedroom in Arles (where he pretty much went crazy and lost his mind). I had seen another version of this painting at the Orsay in Paris, where I first discovered I loved it. And “The Yellow House” painting is there too, which I also really like. But my very favourite paintings -- ones I had not seen before, were his many renditions of wheat fields. I LOVED these….must look them up online again. I think they sort of remind me of the farm I grew up on, I just loved them.

After seeing the museum, we had a nice lunch in the museum café. Have you ever noticed that museum cafes have the best food? I had a delish soup and salad and a glass of red wine. We sat inside watching the snow fall down, talking, and wondering if our flights would actually leave on time that evening. I was also kind of wondering at that point if I’d like to live in Amsterdam at some point in my life.

And of Course…Wooden Shoes!
Finally, what would a trip to Holland be without wooden shoes? I hit a souvenir shop and bought three pairs of colourful wooden shoes for my three little nieces, as well as some mini-shoes for some other friends and family. I can’t believe people actually wear those…if they still do!

I’d like to go back to Holland in the Spring, perhaps to the country to see the tulips in bloom among the windmills. Ugh -- trying to see all of Europe in a year is daunting (but I’m having fun trying)!