Amsterdam trip report, part 1
This report is only part 1, because I am still in Amsterdam! We leave tomorrow for a weekend in Prague, though, so part 2 will really be the Prague trip report instead.
So, my flight to Amsterdam left at 6 PM on a Sunday, and I decided that the best way to approach that was to bring my luggage to church, and then to lunch with my girlfriend, and then go directly to the airport from lunch. I still think that was the right plan, because church and lunch were both delightful, and it kept me busy (as opposed to fretting around the house about flying, etc.) However, it also meant that I took my giant wheeled duffel bag and extremely full backpack on two buses and two trains. The worst one was the 6 from Hyde Park to downtown, because it was totally full, and instead of sensibly putting my bag in the luggage area, I dragged it down the bus aisle after me and held onto it while standing for the entire trip. Not the most fun. And then I got to drag it from Michigan to State to catch the Brown Line, and then up the stairs because the escalator wasn't running . . . The second leg of the trip was better, because there was more space on the bus, plus I had A. to help me get my bag into the luggage area on the bus, and even up the stairs to the train (thank you, A.!)
I got to O'Hare with plenty of time to spare, and it was lovely to hand over my bag at the check-in counter, although also a little unsettling to trust it to others (since I usually just fly with carry-ons). Once on the plane, I regretted not paying the extra $100 for the 'slightly-more legroom' seats, because the regular economy seats have basically no legroom, especially once you put a very full backpack down there. Actually, I mainly regretted not being rich enough to afford the first class seats, where they seats fold down into a bed and they get individual TV screens. It's like each one of them has their own little living room up there. Ah well. I didn't get much sleep on the flight, but other than that it was fine.
Anne kindly met me at the airport at 8:30 AM, which was good, as my brain was not the most functional after not much sleep, and also with it being 2:30 AM Chicago time. She guided me on the train, and through buying a transit pass, and then back to her apartment, which we didn't do much besides catch up and sit around all day. However, I did manage to stay awake until 11 PM or so, which I think contributed to my lack of jetlag the next day and on. On Tuesday, we went to the Rijksmuseum, which mainly has paintings by the Dutch masters. That was reasonably interesting, but my favorite exhibit was actually contemporary photography by a man who was born in the Netherlands to Turkish parents, and who has subsequently moved back to Turkey because he felt that he wasn't included in the culture here. The photographs were all of other folks with similar stories, and included brief narratives about each of them. It was quite an indictment of the culture here, which sees itself as so accepting and tolerant (and certainly is, in many respects), but also makes this subset of 'native-born foreigners' feel like they have no true home.
Anne had class that afternoon, so I headed back to her apartment and rested for a while, and then we attempted to go out to dinner at an Indonesian restaurant, but the wait was too long, so instead we came back to the apartment and had Thai delivered, and then made cupcakes. (The Thai very tasty, but the Pad Siew bore little resemblance to Pad Siew from the States). Wednesday was our big cooking day. Anne had class in the morning, and I went to the Van Gogh museum (and got a bit lost on the way). It was cool to see all the Van Gogh pieces, although I took a little too long there and got museum fatigue.
Oh, and also worth noting is that the weather has been really nice here -- not as warm as the absurd weather Chicago's having right now, but unseasonable for Amsterdam. It's been in the 50s and 60s, and quite sunny. Perfect for walking around in jeans and a light sweater, and Amsterdam is a nice city to walk in -- although a bit treacherous, with the bike lane right next to the sidewalk (so it's easy to forget that it is a bike lane), and with so many pedestrians and bikers everywhere. Plus mopeds are allowed in the bike lane, and they often zoom along out of nowhere quite suddenly. No close calls yet, but there's still time.
I returned home from the Van Gogh museum to *all* the cooking. We made a marinade for puerco pibil, and almost thirty tamales. This was for Anne's birthday, which was yesterday -- she loves Mexican food, and is quite a good cook, so she was in charge and I just followed her directions, which I think worked well for both of us. Making the tamales was really fun though, and I would totally do it again. (Ideally still with someone else in charge of them . . .) We had a mini-birthday party with Anne's neighbors, with cupcakes and tea. The neighbors were very friendly, and quite confused by chocolate cupcakes (evidently here, cupcakes only come in white cake, although they also seem to do savory ones, which is weird for me.) Then we did go out for Indonesian, where we had a "rice table", which is where they cover the table with lots of little dishes of meat and vegetables and other tasty things. It was delicious, and way more food than was necessary or possible to eat. Then we came back, and made two kinds of cake -- tres leches and German chocolate.
Thursday (yesterday) was Anne's birthday, and we had a lazy morning, but then Anne had to do some homework, and had a Skype call scheduled with her folks at home. So I took myself on the canal tour (again getting lost on the way), and took many pictures. It was pleasant and informative, although it would have been nice if the boat had open sides instead of windows, for ease of picture-taking, and less glare. On the way back, I stopped at Westmarkt, where the Homomonument (actually called that) is. It's a really cool, unusually designed 'monument' -- three triangles, one inlaid in the ground, one that's elevated and seems to serve largely as a big, high, bench, and one that is across the street and juts out into the canal. It's a memorial that commemorates both the gay victims of the Holocaust, and also all those who have every been persecuted for being gay or lesbian (no mention of bi or trans -- it seems like the Netherlands hasn't quite gotten there yet). When I got back to the apartment, it was again time to cook. We made two kinds of salsa, frosting for the German chocolate cake, and chile peppers stuffed with ground meat. And maybe some other additional food items? It blends together a bit. But it was all ready when people arrived for Anne's birthday dinner, which was lovely, with good company and the satisfaction of finally eating all the amazing food we'd been cooking all week.
Today we started off by going to a beautiful fancy chocolate shop, which was a 20-minute walk through the Vondelpark, which is a large park full primarily of people biking (as is the rest of the city) and with their dogs off-leash. And also ducks, of multiple and quirky varieties. I got a number of chocolates to share with people at work, and also a number of pictures of ducks. Now we are hanging around, packing for our weekend in Prague (we fly out tomorrow at 7 AM), and preparing to go shopping in the Nine Little Streets district. And also trying to eat at least *some* of the many leftovers in Anne's fridge before we leave for the weekend . . .
I still have a few things I want to try to do here, which I may or may not manage -- I want to go see the Judaism exhibit at Neuwekirk (New Church), and I want to browse around at Anne's local street market at Katestraat, because in addition to fruit and veggies (normal) and fish and meat, it also has large toiletry stands, and linens, and clothing, and, and . . .
We shall see -- we get back from Prague on Tuesday night, and I fly out late morning on Thursday, so anything that doesn't get done today will happen on Wednesday or not at all. And that's fine with me -- I'd rather enjoy myself in a leisurely fashion than rush to do ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING.
So, my flight to Amsterdam left at 6 PM on a Sunday, and I decided that the best way to approach that was to bring my luggage to church, and then to lunch with my girlfriend, and then go directly to the airport from lunch. I still think that was the right plan, because church and lunch were both delightful, and it kept me busy (as opposed to fretting around the house about flying, etc.) However, it also meant that I took my giant wheeled duffel bag and extremely full backpack on two buses and two trains. The worst one was the 6 from Hyde Park to downtown, because it was totally full, and instead of sensibly putting my bag in the luggage area, I dragged it down the bus aisle after me and held onto it while standing for the entire trip. Not the most fun. And then I got to drag it from Michigan to State to catch the Brown Line, and then up the stairs because the escalator wasn't running . . . The second leg of the trip was better, because there was more space on the bus, plus I had A. to help me get my bag into the luggage area on the bus, and even up the stairs to the train (thank you, A.!)
I got to O'Hare with plenty of time to spare, and it was lovely to hand over my bag at the check-in counter, although also a little unsettling to trust it to others (since I usually just fly with carry-ons). Once on the plane, I regretted not paying the extra $100 for the 'slightly-more legroom' seats, because the regular economy seats have basically no legroom, especially once you put a very full backpack down there. Actually, I mainly regretted not being rich enough to afford the first class seats, where they seats fold down into a bed and they get individual TV screens. It's like each one of them has their own little living room up there. Ah well. I didn't get much sleep on the flight, but other than that it was fine.
Anne kindly met me at the airport at 8:30 AM, which was good, as my brain was not the most functional after not much sleep, and also with it being 2:30 AM Chicago time. She guided me on the train, and through buying a transit pass, and then back to her apartment, which we didn't do much besides catch up and sit around all day. However, I did manage to stay awake until 11 PM or so, which I think contributed to my lack of jetlag the next day and on. On Tuesday, we went to the Rijksmuseum, which mainly has paintings by the Dutch masters. That was reasonably interesting, but my favorite exhibit was actually contemporary photography by a man who was born in the Netherlands to Turkish parents, and who has subsequently moved back to Turkey because he felt that he wasn't included in the culture here. The photographs were all of other folks with similar stories, and included brief narratives about each of them. It was quite an indictment of the culture here, which sees itself as so accepting and tolerant (and certainly is, in many respects), but also makes this subset of 'native-born foreigners' feel like they have no true home.
Anne had class that afternoon, so I headed back to her apartment and rested for a while, and then we attempted to go out to dinner at an Indonesian restaurant, but the wait was too long, so instead we came back to the apartment and had Thai delivered, and then made cupcakes. (The Thai very tasty, but the Pad Siew bore little resemblance to Pad Siew from the States). Wednesday was our big cooking day. Anne had class in the morning, and I went to the Van Gogh museum (and got a bit lost on the way). It was cool to see all the Van Gogh pieces, although I took a little too long there and got museum fatigue.
Oh, and also worth noting is that the weather has been really nice here -- not as warm as the absurd weather Chicago's having right now, but unseasonable for Amsterdam. It's been in the 50s and 60s, and quite sunny. Perfect for walking around in jeans and a light sweater, and Amsterdam is a nice city to walk in -- although a bit treacherous, with the bike lane right next to the sidewalk (so it's easy to forget that it is a bike lane), and with so many pedestrians and bikers everywhere. Plus mopeds are allowed in the bike lane, and they often zoom along out of nowhere quite suddenly. No close calls yet, but there's still time.
I returned home from the Van Gogh museum to *all* the cooking. We made a marinade for puerco pibil, and almost thirty tamales. This was for Anne's birthday, which was yesterday -- she loves Mexican food, and is quite a good cook, so she was in charge and I just followed her directions, which I think worked well for both of us. Making the tamales was really fun though, and I would totally do it again. (Ideally still with someone else in charge of them . . .) We had a mini-birthday party with Anne's neighbors, with cupcakes and tea. The neighbors were very friendly, and quite confused by chocolate cupcakes (evidently here, cupcakes only come in white cake, although they also seem to do savory ones, which is weird for me.) Then we did go out for Indonesian, where we had a "rice table", which is where they cover the table with lots of little dishes of meat and vegetables and other tasty things. It was delicious, and way more food than was necessary or possible to eat. Then we came back, and made two kinds of cake -- tres leches and German chocolate.
Thursday (yesterday) was Anne's birthday, and we had a lazy morning, but then Anne had to do some homework, and had a Skype call scheduled with her folks at home. So I took myself on the canal tour (again getting lost on the way), and took many pictures. It was pleasant and informative, although it would have been nice if the boat had open sides instead of windows, for ease of picture-taking, and less glare. On the way back, I stopped at Westmarkt, where the Homomonument (actually called that) is. It's a really cool, unusually designed 'monument' -- three triangles, one inlaid in the ground, one that's elevated and seems to serve largely as a big, high, bench, and one that is across the street and juts out into the canal. It's a memorial that commemorates both the gay victims of the Holocaust, and also all those who have every been persecuted for being gay or lesbian (no mention of bi or trans -- it seems like the Netherlands hasn't quite gotten there yet). When I got back to the apartment, it was again time to cook. We made two kinds of salsa, frosting for the German chocolate cake, and chile peppers stuffed with ground meat. And maybe some other additional food items? It blends together a bit. But it was all ready when people arrived for Anne's birthday dinner, which was lovely, with good company and the satisfaction of finally eating all the amazing food we'd been cooking all week.
Today we started off by going to a beautiful fancy chocolate shop, which was a 20-minute walk through the Vondelpark, which is a large park full primarily of people biking (as is the rest of the city) and with their dogs off-leash. And also ducks, of multiple and quirky varieties. I got a number of chocolates to share with people at work, and also a number of pictures of ducks. Now we are hanging around, packing for our weekend in Prague (we fly out tomorrow at 7 AM), and preparing to go shopping in the Nine Little Streets district. And also trying to eat at least *some* of the many leftovers in Anne's fridge before we leave for the weekend . . .
I still have a few things I want to try to do here, which I may or may not manage -- I want to go see the Judaism exhibit at Neuwekirk (New Church), and I want to browse around at Anne's local street market at Katestraat, because in addition to fruit and veggies (normal) and fish and meat, it also has large toiletry stands, and linens, and clothing, and, and . . .
We shall see -- we get back from Prague on Tuesday night, and I fly out late morning on Thursday, so anything that doesn't get done today will happen on Wednesday or not at all. And that's fine with me -- I'd rather enjoy myself in a leisurely fashion than rush to do ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING.