Amsterdam: bicycles, canals and fields of orange

My first impression of Amsterdam was by way of Schiphol, Amsterdam's airport. Schiphol actually has an interesting story: it was built on a lake which was prone to violent storms that often resulted in the loss of many ship and it garnered its name from this as Schiphol means "Ship's Grave" in English. Regardless of the origin of the name, I found Schiphol to be incredibly clean and modern looking. This theme continued all the way to Amsterdam which with it's buses, trams and many bicycles felt like a very different sort of European city.

From the airport we took a quick train ride to Amsterdam itself and then went to our first hostel which was located in the heart of the Downtown area. As we incidentally ended up in Amsterdam for the days leading up to Queen's Day, most of the hostels were very booked up and we were forced to book two (one for the first night, another for the rest of our trip).

As Amsterdam was the last stop on our European tour and we all felt the hole burning in our bank-accounts we went for a very inexpensive lunch, choosing to have falafel which turned out to be a great choice not just for our pocket-books but also for our taste buds. Our first night I was also able to see just how wonderfully oriented Amsterdam was to bicycles. The others found them to be dangerous for pedestrians but I marveled over how unique it was to be in a city where there weren't just bike lanes but almost separate roads, stop-lights included, for bicycles. Coming from the US it was incredible to see a city where bicycles weren't just a mode of exercise and enjoyment but the most practical way of transportation.

One of the many canals of Amsterdam.

The next morning we checked out from our hotel and then trekked across the city, which is actually relatively small, to Uptown where we left our bags at our new hostel and wandered back into town until it was time to actually check-in. Check-in itself took far longer than any of us liked with a ten minute wait turning into over a half-hour wait. We were all irritated at seeing four people at the reception desk and not one of them helping us when it was clear that one of them was able to do so. Regardless we finally did check-in and were glad to find that the bunks in our rooms were comfortable and also came with towels (often a luxury in hostels).

The group of us were somewhat split about what to do next but Kendra and I decided that we'd be foolish not to visit the Van Gogh museum which was a street over from our hostel. I was actually glad that only Kendra and I explored the museum as we could look and think at our own pace and also seemed to appreciate Van Gogh on the same level.

 I've already written about how I really fell in love with Van Gogh when I visited the Musée d’Orsay in Paris but in between that weekend and my vacation I had also read a work of fiction called Leaving Van Gogh which focused on the last year of Van Gogh's life. The concentration of Van Gogh was purely accidental but I found my accumulated knowledge to really hit home how interesting, unconventional and tragic Vincent Van Gogh's life was.

An actual stop-light for bikes. If only we had these and their
accompanying roads in the US.

As for the Van Gogh museum, it was divided chronologically, moving from one period in Van Gogh's life to another. I thought the museum's decision to include work from other artists, to show his influences, to be particularly powerful as it highlighted his choices in color (Japanese prints) and also his varied styles. Before leaving we each bought Van Gogh mugs, Kendra's with sunflowers and mine with almond blossoms.

For dinner we had tapas which was new for most of us but still delicious. The next morning we found another bagel shop, which we treasured, and then mostly wandered around the city. Among many things we stumbled upon the famous floating flower market which is on the Singel, one of Amsterdam's oldest canals. I didn't realize until I was back in Dijon that it is called a floating flower market because all of the tulips are displayed on barges and not just simple stalls like I thought they were!

I was actually quite surprised by how easy it was to navigate a city that has an impressive network of canals but where Venice's canals had a much more winding feel, Amsterdam's were actually constructed so that they formed consecutive rings that moved outwards and are incredible success of city planning. While walking over the canals I found myself thinking of how the Netherlands was once one of the most powerful trading empires in the world. I think many people these days, myself included, have a tendency to forget that before the British East India Company there was the Dutch East India Company and that the merchants and the Dutch Republic were very influential on world affairs.

Just a glimpse into some tulips of the Keukenhof gardens.

After wandering and exploring some more we had burritos for dinner and then set out to find a night tour of the canals. We had some minor difficulties finding the right company which was affiliated with our discount ticket but eventually did and despite some rain and lightning in the distance had our tour which gave information about the history of Amsterdam and its canals. On the tour I was particularly interested in the house boats which are capped at about 2,400 but which I would absolutely love to live in.

The next morning we rose early but gladly in order to visit the Keukenhof flower fields. Originally we had thought of renting bikes and then riding out to the tulip fields but the practicality of this turned out to be more difficult as the Keukenhof gardens were too far away from Amsterdam to ride on town bikes. Instead we signed up for a tour of the gardens through a company which provided entrance to the gardens and transportation but then left us to our own devices. As the largest flower garden in the world and with more then seven million tulip bulbs planted the Keukenhof gardens were a veritable feast for the eyes filled with tulips of all different colors and varieties. We had no trouble at all walking through the paths and enjoying seeing thousands of tulips many of which were arranged to form patterns.

I was having more camera troubles throughout the gardens, of the dust-in-the-sensor type, so took some photos when my camera was cooperating but will link you to the garden's official flickr so that you can see how Van Gogh the flowers were like in uniqueness and vibrancy.

When we got back to Dijon after our visit to the gardens our first mission to see was the Anne Frank house. We didn't have any intention of waiting and paying in line (perhaps another day) and had hoped to just see the house from the outside but it was rennovated for the purposes of the museum and seeing as how Anne Frank and her family hid, the most important parts were on the inside.

Buildings on the edges of Amsterdam's canals. Sadly the lovely
differences are missing.

That night also happened to be Queen's Night, the evening before Queen's Night. Queen's night or Koninginnedag is the Dutch national holiday that celebrates the birthday of Queen Beatrix. Her actual birthday is in January but the holiday remains April 30th in honor of her mother and also because the weather is better. We sadly left on Queen's Day but did get to see some of the craziness of the night before which is mostly filled with a lot of orange (the national color) and a lot of drinking.

Due to all of the anticipated craziness of Queen's Day we rose and checked out early so that we could get to the Schiphol train station early in case of any major delays or incidents involving public transportation. There were no difficulties getting out but we did run in to many people who clearly thought we were crazy for leaving on the biggest holiday. One man at the train station even told us that it was "unfortunate" we could not stay in Amsterdam for the festivities but that we were "wise" for leaving early.

As our train was in the afternoon and we couldn't change it without lots of fees, we ended up waiting in the station for a good period of time and amused ourselves with cards and also with watching all of the orange clad people run around the station on their way to the city. I was sad to miss what was clearly a very fun day but was glad that my last impression of the city was one of national pride.