Amsterdam - part 2
Written Sunday, June 26
I have a love/hate thing going on with Amsterdam right now too. In some ways I love it - there are very few cars around (at least on the weekend); there are tons of people out everywhere; because of the canals and the cafes and shops (and the relaxed control of marijuana probably plays a part too), the city has a very relaxed and casual vibe; and I never got the sense while here that the man is trying to keep people down. Quite the opposite in fact. Juliette mentioned that the Dutch are rather conservative, but have a live and let live attitude. I can totally see it. Dutch are rather reserved in a way that makes them seem less friendly, which leads me to what I dislike about this city.
The Dutch just don’t strike me as friendly. They seem a bit angry, actually. Okay, well some of them I guess. Not all come across that way. Anyway, that’s the thing that makes me dislike Amsterdam the most. The people simply are not warm and friendly. The second thing I dislike is the weather. I suspect it rains too much here for me and isn’t as warm during the summer as I’d prefer. (I know - that’s a small second.) Aside from that, it’s extremely inconvenient for foreign visitors to use the tram system when none of the OV-chipcard machines take non-Dutch credit cards. I bought an OV-chipcard as soon as I arrived because it’s what you use for the trams, buses, etc. I have a similar card for London (the Oyster card) and love it - it works beautifully. I simply bring it with me whenever I head to London and top off the card using a machine. No such luck in Amsterdam. You can buy the card using a mastercard or non-Dutch debit card at the machines at the airport, but nowhere else lets you use a non-Dutch card to add money to the OV-chipcard. And most of the machines don’t take coins either. Perhaps it’s possible to actually pay right on the tram, but I never tried that.
I have a love/hate thing going on with Amsterdam right now too. In some ways I love it - there are very few cars around (at least on the weekend); there are tons of people out everywhere; because of the canals and the cafes and shops (and the relaxed control of marijuana probably plays a part too), the city has a very relaxed and casual vibe; and I never got the sense while here that the man is trying to keep people down. Quite the opposite in fact. Juliette mentioned that the Dutch are rather conservative, but have a live and let live attitude. I can totally see it. Dutch are rather reserved in a way that makes them seem less friendly, which leads me to what I dislike about this city.
The Dutch just don’t strike me as friendly. They seem a bit angry, actually. Okay, well some of them I guess. Not all come across that way. Anyway, that’s the thing that makes me dislike Amsterdam the most. The people simply are not warm and friendly. The second thing I dislike is the weather. I suspect it rains too much here for me and isn’t as warm during the summer as I’d prefer. (I know - that’s a small second.) Aside from that, it’s extremely inconvenient for foreign visitors to use the tram system when none of the OV-chipcard machines take non-Dutch credit cards. I bought an OV-chipcard as soon as I arrived because it’s what you use for the trams, buses, etc. I have a similar card for London (the Oyster card) and love it - it works beautifully. I simply bring it with me whenever I head to London and top off the card using a machine. No such luck in Amsterdam. You can buy the card using a mastercard or non-Dutch debit card at the machines at the airport, but nowhere else lets you use a non-Dutch card to add money to the OV-chipcard. And most of the machines don’t take coins either. Perhaps it’s possible to actually pay right on the tram, but I never tried that.