Transit Day + Amsterdam Day 1
I spent Monday morning with Monika while skidspoppe went to work. Monika kindly accompanied me--in the pouring rain--to the post office to mail home some stuff and to a couple of shops to do a little early holiday shopping. Skids met us and then saw me to the train station to launch me on my way to my next stop: Amsterdam! He was such a generous host; I'm lucky to have such a friend.
I had one train ride and two flights--and that only got me to Schipol Amsterdam. I still had to get to the hotel. I took the train from the airport to Centraal Station, and then the #17 tram to the station stop about a block away. I'd left the company of my friends at about 12:30. It was 8 PM (with an hour's time change) by the time I staggered into my hotel--to discover that I had to get up a long flight of stairs that could almost be a ladder, it's so steep. But once I was at the landing, the hotel treated me like a princess. Someone came to get my bag; I was offered a complimentary drink; they gave me a map of the area marked with the hotel location and coupons to some local businesses. When I got to my room, there were fresh flowers welcoming me. I hadn't seen any of the city yet, and I was already charmed. The room is small but completely adequate. EB, varina8, and setsyoustraight will understand what I mean when I say that it's similar to the room I had at the Jane in New York Cty: cosy but complete.
Since I was tired, I decided to stay in and get a fresh start in the morning.
The morning rose crisp and clear, and it was warm enough that I could go back to wearing my leather, rather than my fleece, for which I was quite grateful.
Anne Frank House
I started Tuesday with a trip to Anne Frank House, only two blocks away from my hotel. On the way I stopped at the Homomonument (yes, that's really what it's called), a memorial in stone to the gays and lesbians killed during the Holocaust and to the ongoing struggle for equal rights. It's a set of three pink triangles that are about 10 meters on each side, one a raised platform, one flush to the sidewalk, and one descending to the canal nearby. It's quite a striking piece of civic art, and an effective one, both blending into the environment in a complimentary way and standing out for its own sake. The triangle descending to the canal was covered in fresh and wilting flowers.
I got to Anne Frank House early enough that the line wasn't too bad and was inside within 20 minutes of my arrival. The building has a modern facade and educational center around it. You're guided through exhibits that set the context for the story with audio, excerpts from Anne's diaries on the walls, photographs, and artifacts, and then you're facing with the swinging bookcase door that hid the entrance to the secret annex.
You go up the narrow, ladder-like flight of steps and there you are, inside the annex. The pink wallpapered rooms are small and empty (Otto Frank wanted the absence of furniture to signify the absence of the people who died) and are made to feel smaller by the blacked-out windows. Each room has in it a photograph with furniture mocked up to look as it did when it was furnished. Some elements are expectedly chilling: the pencil marks where Anne's mother marked her and her sister's growth, the glued-on pictures of movie stars in Anne's room, the bare sink and counter in the kitchen/living room area. You don't expect things like this to shake you, but they shook me. I noticed that, once we were inside the annex, everyone stopped talking . . . except a mother quietly explaining things to her young sons. Otherwise, the shared sense of respect was profound.
After you emerge from the annex, the tour explains the ultimate fate of Anne, her family, and the others who hid in the annex, as well as their helpers, and Anne's classmates. Then, of course, there's a cafe and bookshop. I picked up some postcards and spent some time in the cafe to plan out the rest of my day.
Strolling Amsterdam
My plan for my day was really just to stroll the streets of the city, soak up atmosphere, and see what there was to see. My time is so limited here that rushing about from one thing to the next, especially now at the end of my trip, felt particularly unappealing. So I got a general sense of what there was to see in the area and started to walk.
Small Museums of Cheese and Tulips
I came across two other museums almost immediately: The Cheese Museum--brand new to the area--and the Tulip Museum. I went into both.
The Cheese Museum is a shop at street level and a one-room display of artifacts and a video in the basement. I tasted all sorts of cheeses in the shop, especially liking the truffle cheese, but didn't purchase any. When I went down to the museum (which was free), I ended up chatting with the employee down there, who asked me if I knew about cheesemaking. I told him I had a passing familiarity with it, having seen the cheesemakers at Beecher's in Pike Place Market doing their work. It turned out that the fellow knew Beecher's and had been to their set-up in New York City. So we talked about NYC for a while and it was all quite pleasant.
My next stop was the Tulip Museum. Lonely Planet wasn't terribly impressed with the museum itself so I skipped the exhibits and poked around the shop a bit, a place for All Things Tulip. There was some lovely Delft ceramics there, a couple of tempting cross-stitch patterns, art prints, tote bags, and so on, and bins full of tulip bulbs. I chose not to purchase anything (though I may go back; we'll see).
West Canal Ring and the Nine Streets
I spent the rest of the afternoon poking around the West Canal Rings. Mainly, I was enjoying the unhurried bustle of the area, the tall, narrow buildings pressed up against one another and leaning slightly forward. Some of the buildings weren't built square and so had trapezoidal windows and pediments that looked crooked, but all were attractively faced. The streets, all just wide enough for one car to pass through, are cobbled and the sidewalks are bricked. Bicycle culture is huge here, and I never saw a fence without crowds of bicycles chained up.
The Nine Streets area is full of little specialty shops of all kinds, mostly clothes and home accessories, but I did find a bead shop and purchased some beads with an eye toward holiday gifts.
Lunch and Dam Square
The route of my stroll brought me back to my hotel shortly after 1PM, so I dropped off a couple of things and stopped for lunch at a pancake place two doors down. Pancakes here are more like crepes than what Americans think of as pancakes. This place was run by kids who couldn't have been more than 20 years old each, and their work wasn't stellar. They got both my order and the order at the table near mine wrong. We both ended up sending our meals back for correction. Once the food came, it was acceptably good but not impressive by any means. I had a chicken, cheese, and mushroom pancake whose primary virtues were that it came quickly after the error had been discovered and that it was filling. I left without tipping.
I then strolled in the opposite direction of where I'd come from, and found the Royal Palace, a shopping center, and Dam Square, where I spent a couple of hours poking around. I found a bookstore where I purchased an early holiday gift, and just . . . walked. I finally crashed at about 5 PM.
Dinner, for which I changed outerwear again, as it had gotten cold, was at a local pub with remarkably good Italian food, and then I came back to the hotel.
Unexpected Kindness
When I returned to the hotel, I stopped at the desk to ask about the quickest way to get to the Rijksmuseum, my destination for Wednesday morning. The fellow behind the desk was very kind, providing me with a map and a route, offering me another complimentary drink and then . . . offering me a better room! He said I was so nice I deserved a nicer room than the one I had. Since I was already thoroughly pleased with the room I had, I was surprised. But I accepted. This new room is one floor down--which makes getting to it easier--and has a balcony. It also doesn't have the slight whiff of cigarette smoke that the other one had. My suspicion is that he was able to make this offer because it's off season and it's midweek. For its advantages, it's also noisier than the one I had, being a floor closer to street level and having basically one whole wall that's windows and a door. Still, I appreciated the gesture and slept well overnight.
I had one train ride and two flights--and that only got me to Schipol Amsterdam. I still had to get to the hotel. I took the train from the airport to Centraal Station, and then the #17 tram to the station stop about a block away. I'd left the company of my friends at about 12:30. It was 8 PM (with an hour's time change) by the time I staggered into my hotel--to discover that I had to get up a long flight of stairs that could almost be a ladder, it's so steep. But once I was at the landing, the hotel treated me like a princess. Someone came to get my bag; I was offered a complimentary drink; they gave me a map of the area marked with the hotel location and coupons to some local businesses. When I got to my room, there were fresh flowers welcoming me. I hadn't seen any of the city yet, and I was already charmed. The room is small but completely adequate. EB, varina8, and setsyoustraight will understand what I mean when I say that it's similar to the room I had at the Jane in New York Cty: cosy but complete.
Since I was tired, I decided to stay in and get a fresh start in the morning.
The morning rose crisp and clear, and it was warm enough that I could go back to wearing my leather, rather than my fleece, for which I was quite grateful.
Anne Frank House
I started Tuesday with a trip to Anne Frank House, only two blocks away from my hotel. On the way I stopped at the Homomonument (yes, that's really what it's called), a memorial in stone to the gays and lesbians killed during the Holocaust and to the ongoing struggle for equal rights. It's a set of three pink triangles that are about 10 meters on each side, one a raised platform, one flush to the sidewalk, and one descending to the canal nearby. It's quite a striking piece of civic art, and an effective one, both blending into the environment in a complimentary way and standing out for its own sake. The triangle descending to the canal was covered in fresh and wilting flowers.
I got to Anne Frank House early enough that the line wasn't too bad and was inside within 20 minutes of my arrival. The building has a modern facade and educational center around it. You're guided through exhibits that set the context for the story with audio, excerpts from Anne's diaries on the walls, photographs, and artifacts, and then you're facing with the swinging bookcase door that hid the entrance to the secret annex.
You go up the narrow, ladder-like flight of steps and there you are, inside the annex. The pink wallpapered rooms are small and empty (Otto Frank wanted the absence of furniture to signify the absence of the people who died) and are made to feel smaller by the blacked-out windows. Each room has in it a photograph with furniture mocked up to look as it did when it was furnished. Some elements are expectedly chilling: the pencil marks where Anne's mother marked her and her sister's growth, the glued-on pictures of movie stars in Anne's room, the bare sink and counter in the kitchen/living room area. You don't expect things like this to shake you, but they shook me. I noticed that, once we were inside the annex, everyone stopped talking . . . except a mother quietly explaining things to her young sons. Otherwise, the shared sense of respect was profound.
After you emerge from the annex, the tour explains the ultimate fate of Anne, her family, and the others who hid in the annex, as well as their helpers, and Anne's classmates. Then, of course, there's a cafe and bookshop. I picked up some postcards and spent some time in the cafe to plan out the rest of my day.
Strolling Amsterdam
My plan for my day was really just to stroll the streets of the city, soak up atmosphere, and see what there was to see. My time is so limited here that rushing about from one thing to the next, especially now at the end of my trip, felt particularly unappealing. So I got a general sense of what there was to see in the area and started to walk.
Small Museums of Cheese and Tulips
I came across two other museums almost immediately: The Cheese Museum--brand new to the area--and the Tulip Museum. I went into both.
The Cheese Museum is a shop at street level and a one-room display of artifacts and a video in the basement. I tasted all sorts of cheeses in the shop, especially liking the truffle cheese, but didn't purchase any. When I went down to the museum (which was free), I ended up chatting with the employee down there, who asked me if I knew about cheesemaking. I told him I had a passing familiarity with it, having seen the cheesemakers at Beecher's in Pike Place Market doing their work. It turned out that the fellow knew Beecher's and had been to their set-up in New York City. So we talked about NYC for a while and it was all quite pleasant.
My next stop was the Tulip Museum. Lonely Planet wasn't terribly impressed with the museum itself so I skipped the exhibits and poked around the shop a bit, a place for All Things Tulip. There was some lovely Delft ceramics there, a couple of tempting cross-stitch patterns, art prints, tote bags, and so on, and bins full of tulip bulbs. I chose not to purchase anything (though I may go back; we'll see).
West Canal Ring and the Nine Streets
I spent the rest of the afternoon poking around the West Canal Rings. Mainly, I was enjoying the unhurried bustle of the area, the tall, narrow buildings pressed up against one another and leaning slightly forward. Some of the buildings weren't built square and so had trapezoidal windows and pediments that looked crooked, but all were attractively faced. The streets, all just wide enough for one car to pass through, are cobbled and the sidewalks are bricked. Bicycle culture is huge here, and I never saw a fence without crowds of bicycles chained up.
The Nine Streets area is full of little specialty shops of all kinds, mostly clothes and home accessories, but I did find a bead shop and purchased some beads with an eye toward holiday gifts.
Lunch and Dam Square
The route of my stroll brought me back to my hotel shortly after 1PM, so I dropped off a couple of things and stopped for lunch at a pancake place two doors down. Pancakes here are more like crepes than what Americans think of as pancakes. This place was run by kids who couldn't have been more than 20 years old each, and their work wasn't stellar. They got both my order and the order at the table near mine wrong. We both ended up sending our meals back for correction. Once the food came, it was acceptably good but not impressive by any means. I had a chicken, cheese, and mushroom pancake whose primary virtues were that it came quickly after the error had been discovered and that it was filling. I left without tipping.
I then strolled in the opposite direction of where I'd come from, and found the Royal Palace, a shopping center, and Dam Square, where I spent a couple of hours poking around. I found a bookstore where I purchased an early holiday gift, and just . . . walked. I finally crashed at about 5 PM.
Dinner, for which I changed outerwear again, as it had gotten cold, was at a local pub with remarkably good Italian food, and then I came back to the hotel.
Unexpected Kindness
When I returned to the hotel, I stopped at the desk to ask about the quickest way to get to the Rijksmuseum, my destination for Wednesday morning. The fellow behind the desk was very kind, providing me with a map and a route, offering me another complimentary drink and then . . . offering me a better room! He said I was so nice I deserved a nicer room than the one I had. Since I was already thoroughly pleased with the room I had, I was surprised. But I accepted. This new room is one floor down--which makes getting to it easier--and has a balcony. It also doesn't have the slight whiff of cigarette smoke that the other one had. My suspicion is that he was able to make this offer because it's off season and it's midweek. For its advantages, it's also noisier than the one I had, being a floor closer to street level and having basically one whole wall that's windows and a door. Still, I appreciated the gesture and slept well overnight.