Europe Trip: Part 3 of 3 - Amsterdam

Westerkerk Originally uploaded by abostick59.

After six nights in Lund this past June and two nights in Copenhagen, we spent five nights in Amsterdam as the guests of Julie Phillips and Jan van Houten, before returning home by way of a ferry across the North Sea to London. I kept a journal thoughout this trip. Here is that journal, lightly edited to remove some non-travel-related material.

Thanks once again to Kathy Walton for goosing me into putting this trip report together.

Europe Trip: Part 1 of 3 - Lund
Europe Trip: Part 2 of 3 - Copenhagen

6-26-2007

Tuesday morning in Amsterdam.

I awoke several times in the night, disturbed by sore throat, clogged sinuses, and dry mouth. At 5:00 AM, I got up to take a Loratidin and some ibuprofen, and these made things much more comfortable for me.

After getting my writing done, and eating some breakfast, Debbie and I got our act together to go out exploring the city. Before we left, Debbie had done a load of laundry, and we had hung it up on a rack indoors to dry. Debbie's idea was just to walk around, getting a feel for the place. We had a general idea of finding a place where we could both eat and use free wifi for internet connectivity. We walked east into the center of the city, then south a ways, then to the north again. We had found one internet cafe that was also a "coffeeshop," i.e. a place to smoke marijuana and hashish. We decided to hold that out in reserve, and kept looking.

Eventually we got to the stage where hunger was more important than internet, and we chose a Chinese restaurant to eat our lunch. I had a very tasty barbecue pork with noodle soup, and Debbie had duck, barbecue pork, and crispy pork over rice.

Red Light District Originally uploaded by abostick59.

From there we explored into the city center, seeking the red-light district, which is said to be interesting and fun during the day. We found its edges and skirted them for a while, then consulted a map and turned inward, northward, towards the Oude Kerke. We found the red light district, and were impressed. We didn't actually walk down any of the very narrow lanes lined with prostitutes' windows.

Dam Originally uploaded by abostick59.

We sat in the Dam for a while, then sought out the Internet cafe and coffeeshop we had found before. It turned out that they hand no wireless, only desktop computers on which one could rent time. We opted to rent a half hour and to buy a joint for me to smoke. It was a mild weed, easy for me to control the buzz I got, and I wound up smoking the whole thing.

Then we went walking in search of the waterfront. I had gotten my directions turned around, and we walked south, away from the river, following a canal as it looped around the center of the city, and then joined the Amstel river. Debbie got tired and unhappy, and said she wanted to get something to drink. We found a cafe and got seated under the broad umbrellas. I ordered capuccino and she ordered hot chocolate. While we drank our hot drinks, the skies opened up and it began to thunder. We stayed outside for a while, but the wind picked up also, and we were at length compelled to move inside.

While we finished our drinks, I ascertained from the guidebook our location, at the Waterlooplein, and found that we were one tram-ride away from the Westermarkt stop close to Julie and Jan's apartment. So when the rain let up we went to the tram stop and caught a tram that took us home. The tram operator waved away Debbie's strippenkart — the multiple-use ticket used for transit here — so we wound up getting home for free.

We walked a main street until we found a wine shop to buy a bottle of wine for dinner — Debbie picked out a Beaujolais — and then returned to Jan and Julie's flat. We vegetated for a while until dinner, and had a pleasant meal of pasta with a Bolognese sauce that Julie had thrown together. Jan and Julie showed us historical atlases of the city and the region, and then we spent the later part of the evening relaxing. I worked through a bunch of sudoku puzzles. We wound up going to bed shortly before 11:00 PM.

6-27-2007

Wednesday morning in Amsterdam. Yesterday was a cold, wet, and blustery day. Debbie went off to the Anne Frank Museum, which is a short walk from here, while I did my morning writing. She came back with the report that there is a cafe with free wifi and Internet access there. We went out to have bagels with lox and cream cheese, and spent time on the net. I did the most cursory sweep of the net, not really having the attention span to devote to it.

After our Internet breakfast, we returned to the flat, and prepared to set out for the day. Our original plan was museums, but I wanted more time to walk around the city, and Debbie was seeming unhappy and grumpy. I suggested that we go our separate ways, and she was uncomfortable with that. I went on to say that what I really wanted to do was explore the city, and she responded really positively, and so we prepared to set out.

Emily Dickinson House Originally uploaded by abostick59.

We walked north along the nearest canal until we came to the waterfront, and headed along it to the central train station. Then we walked back into the city until we came to the Dam. This seemed like a good time to go to a coffeeshop, and so I bought a lighter at a souvenir store, and we picked a comfortable-looking place. There I bought a gram of sensimilla for fifteen euros. I had to roll my own joint this time, and rolled a small one using only a smallish fraction of the weed. Debbie and I shared the joint, smoking it down to a moderate-sized roach. Then we went on our way again, this time looking for the Emily Dickinson house. This house has a verse of Dickinson's painted on its wall, and as far as we know has no other connection with her.

Bronze Komodo Dragons Originally uploaded by abostick59.

The curves of the streets and canals are confusing, but at length we did find the house. I got some pictures, and also pictures of a grassy square in which were placed cast bronze statues of Komodo dragons.

Hemp Shop Originally uploaded by abostick59.

Then we headed back on the tram to the area where we planned to have dinner, at an Indonesian restaurant, where Debbie was hoping to eat a rijsttafel. We had considerable time until dinner at that point, so she suggested that we split up. She browsed some bookstores, and I went wandering towards the Dam and the Red Light District, taking pictures of what caught my eye and was photographable.

Then we rendezvoused for dinner, which was excellent. We ordered the smallest of the three choices, with eleven dishes (including a dish of coconut condiment) and it turned out to be more than we could eat.

Rijsttafel Originally uploaded by abostick59.

After dinner, carrying our packed leftovers, we walked once more to the Dam and the city center. We stopped off in the same coffeeshop for coffee and tea and to smoke a bit more, then we went windowshopping for a gift for our friend Phoenix Jackson back home. We found a hemp pouch at the Hash Museum, and then headed back home.

Once here, we had a long conversation with Julie, sitting in our bedroom, about how she came to live in Amsterdam. I get the impression that she is hungry for English-language conversation. Then to bed.

6-28-2007

Thursday morning in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam Canal Boat Tour Originally uploaded by abostick59.

Yesterday I was a bit slow to get up, but I wrote my dreaming and morning writing, and then followed Debbie to the cafe beside the Anne Frank Huis for Internet connectivity. I was able only to read some headlines and upload some pictures to Flickr before it was time for us to catch our tour boat, leaving right there on the canal, to circle the city and take us to the museum quarter.

Amsterdam Grafitti Art Originally uploaded by abostick59.

It was a long boat ride — the Anne Frank Huis is the last stop on a seven-stop route around the city, and the museum quarter was stop number six, so we saw virtually the whole tour, including a stretch on the river Ij, which serves as Amsterdam's waterfront. I took lots of pictures.

We got to the museum quarter and first went to the Van Gogh museum. This seemed somewhat of a disappointment, as what it seemed to have, mostly, was a collection of Van Gogh's minor work, with a few of the more known pieces, including some of the self-portraits and "Wheatfield with Crows." We wound up staying there only about an hour.

We had lunch in a cafe — I ate a hamburger and fried potatoes, Debbie had a pannekoek with ham — and then went to the Rijksmuseum. We didn't spend that much time here, either, although there was much more to see. These seem to be pictures that one would have to get to know to really appreciate. There were a number of Rembrandts, including "The Night Watch," some Vermeers, and a number of notable paintings by an artist named Van Steen.

We left the museum and waited for the next boat, which was due in about ten minutes after we arrived — it was at this point 4:30 PM. We took the boat the one stop back to the Anne Frank Huis, and then walked along the Rosengracht to find a coffeeshop to smoke and have a Coke, and then find something to bring back to contribute to dinner. Debbie had hoped to find some good bread; but the only bread store we saw was closed. We settled for a chunk of aged gouda cheese from a delicatessen.

Jan and Julie's Balcony Originally uploaded by abostick59.

Then back to the flat, where Jan and Julie and the kids, Eise and Josske, were all there. The plan for dinner was pannekoeken, and the cheese was a good contribution to the side. It is quite tasty.

The remainder of the evening was quiet. Debbie and Julie talked some in the living room; I drafted a brief blog post on which to hang one of yesterday's photographs.

Today the plan is for me to head to the cafe for breakfast and Internet for a while, and then for us to go with Julie to the Hague, to look at some museums and see sights, and to be Julie's entourage when she reads from the Tiptree biography at a bookstore there. Tomorrow we take the train to the ferry to Britain, and thence take another train to London. That trip will take about eleven hours all told, and we are both looking forward to it.

6-29-2007

Friday morning in Amsterdam.

Yesterday, after finishing my morning writing, I took my PowerBook to the lunch cafe by the Anne Frank Huis to connect with the Internet, check email, and so forth. Lynn Kendall was online, and so I chatted with her for a bit. While I did so, I uploaded the post to As I Please that I had drafted the night before and filled in the links to the relevant picture on Flickr.

I returned to the apartment just before 11:00 AM, as planned, so as to be ready for Julie when she was ready for the three of us to head off to the Hague. Between one thing and another we weren't out the door until about 11:45, and we got to Central Station just at noon. We got train tickets and sandwiches, and then got on our train, which whisked us away across the flat Dutch countryside.

The Hague Originally uploaded by abostick59.

We tunneled under Schiphol Airport, and passed through Leiden before arriving at the Hague just about at 1:00 PM. We walked from the station to the center of town, where the houses of parliament and the Mauritshuis are located. The Mauritshuis is a museum of old Dutch master paintings, including some of those of Jan Vermeer, including "Girl with a Pearl Earring." We wandered slowly through the halls of the museum, taking more time or less with the various paintings as we gauged their interest. Some of the use of light in landscape paintings reminded me of the Hudson River School in America, and I wondered about the possible connection, given the fact that the first Europeans to settle the Hudson River valley were Dutch.

Beach at Scheveningen Originally uploaded by abostick59.

After finishing in the museum, we sat for a bit in a plaza. Then we took a bus to Scheveningen, the adjoining beach town. There we stopped for drinks in a beach club, then walked along the beach as far as the lower walkway went, to the end of the long row of beach clubs. We then crossed inland and walked back along the road. We found a sculpture garden full of bronze sculptures, sort of in the manner of the style of William Joyce, illustrating various scenes from children's stories. The artist's name was Tom Otterness.

Tom Otterness Sculpture Originally uploaded by abostick59.

We caught a tram back to the Hague, and went to the bookstore where Julie would be reading that evening. She checked in with the manager, and got some recommendations of good place to eat.

We ate at a nearby restaurant that at night was also a music venue. Their sound system played American jazz, R&B (such as Aretha Franklin), and some early rock & roll (like Elvis Presley's "That's All Right"). Debbie and I ordered hambugers, which turned out to be enormous, and Julie had a ribeye steak.

Julie Phillips Reads Originally uploaded by abostick59.

The reading went nominally. Julie was anxious about what she would read and how she presented it, but it seemed to me that everything went fine. Because Julie had asked, Debbie gave some advice as to how to make her presentation tighter. But we all agreed that it went well as it did.

Tiptree Books on Display Originally uploaded by abostick59.

We got to the train station just a couple of minutes too late to catch the direct train to Amsterdam, so instead we took a local train to Haarlem that passed through Leiden. On the platform in Leiden Debbie noticed that the train across the platform was going to Amsterdam, so we quickly left to change trains. We got home shortly past 10:00 PM. Debbie and Julie sorted out the details of our train-and-ferry trip to London today, and discovered that we were to have received in the mail train tickets for the leg from Amsterdam to the ferry terminal on the North Sea. Debbie sent a not-quite-panicky email to the people who took the reservation, and also noted that they open at 8:15 AM. This morning she called them and was told that we should buy one-way tickets to the ferry and get refunded when we pick up our tickets at the ferry terminal. All seems to be well.

6-30-2007

Saturday, en route from London to New York.

Yesterday was almost completely smooth travel. We put ourselves together in the morning and said our goodbyes to Jan, Julie, and Jooske (Eise had gone somewhere, to school perhaps, before we got up). We walked to the Internet cafe to have breakfast and catch up on email. Then we took the tram to Centraal Stazione. Debbie had been told by the people who arranged our trip to London to buy one-way tickets to Hoek van Holland and get reimbursed by the ferry operators. The train ride was a bit anxious-making, involving changing trains in Schiedam on a rainy platform, waiting for the correct train, and not being sure we were going the correct direction. But it all worked out, and the train platform in Hoek van Holland was a short walk away from the ferry terminal.

But boarding was too quick to settle out the train tickets, and so we hustled onto the ferry. The boat was huge, rather like a cruise ship; except that it was loading a cargo of eighteen-wheel trailer trucks. We spent essentially all our time on the lounge deck, which had restaurants, a duty-free shop, blackjack table and roulette wheel, bar, movie theater, and other amenities. The experience was like a cross between riding on a plane or train and spending time in a spacious and comfortable departure lounge waiting to board that plane or train.

We had "deck seats," which turned out to be seating in an enclosed, reserved area where free coffee, tea and soft drinks were provided. At the price they were charging in the restaurant for cokes and coffee, I think I made up the extra price of the reserved seat in consumed beverages, although perhaps Debbie did not.

I did a bunch of sudoku puzzles. Debbie and I watched two episodes of Firefly. The voyage was about six hours all told. Debarking was slow, complicated by a bus ride from the vehicle deck to the passenger facilities of the port. Passport control was incredibly slow, apparently because the manager was watching over the young clerks who were therefore being very thorough with every arriving passenger.

We got our train refund settled out at the ticket counter, and waited for our train for London. We had missed, thanks to the passport line, the 9:00 PM train, so we had to wait for the 10:00. This required a change of trains, which fortunately was well-timed and quick. But it was approaching midnight when we arrived at Liverpool Street Station and transferred to the tube. We went to the King's Cross/St. Pancras station, which ought to have been a short walk to our hotel for the night. But because we hadn't noticed that the street we wanted changed its name as it crossed Euston Road, we walked too far and looped around back. We found the hotel by guesswork that turned out to be inspired. We checked in at about quarter of one in the morning.

The clock in the room didn't work, so I set up my PowerBook to function as an alarm clock. But my sleep was anxious, and I woke several times to check the time, the last one being 6:00, at which point I decided to get up and shower.

Betwen one thing and another weh got out of the hotel at the time we expected to, 7:30 AM, but the train took longer than we anticipated to get to the airport, and we were there after 8:30. The airline whisked us through an otherwise horrendously long checkout line, and sent us up to Security, which was nominally slow. We made our plane with time to spare, but not much. Once we were seated in the plane and everything was okay, I went to pieces for a while, tearing up. Not enough sleep, no food, and the relief of stress. I napped while the plane took off and got up to altitude; once cabin service started I turned to writing.

7-2-2007

Monday morning I missed yesterday's writing, because I was tired and jetlagged.

On Saturday the flight from London to New York was nominal. I slept some on the plane, I watched a movie (The Lion in Winter), I did sudoku puzzles, and so on. The seat was reasonably comfortable.

Once we arrived in New York, we had to wait in a significant line to get through passport control. Then we had to wait in a brief line to get our luggage through customs. Then another significant line to the counter to re-check our suitcase. From there, we discovered that we were outside the security cordon, so we had to wait in yet another line to be passed through the metal detectors once again. This is not okay.

We found our gate, and found a restaurant where we could get something to eat. Debbie had a chicken quesedilla, and I had a teriyaki chicken stir-fry which was lacking in vegetables for four dollars more than Debbie's meal, while looking like less food value.

The plane from JFK to SFO was much more cramped and crowded than the transatlantic plane. American Airlines is pretty thoroughly committed to the policy of torturing economy passengers on its domestic flights, while providing business and first class passengers with exaggeratedly comfortable seats. This is a villainous policy.

We survived the flight, and after a wait at the carousel to pick up our suitcase, we met Lynn Kendall at the curbside. Lynn drove us home.

Posted by abostick at August 4, 2007 04:36 PM