Amsterdam: Day 1...
I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Ummm...didn't you go to Amsterdam after planning it for over 2 years? What gives? Why haven't you blogged about it?" I know, I know! How's about I post a bit at a time so I'm not overwhelmed and you're not bored. Deal? Deal.
Let's start off by saying how incredibly amazing and beautiful Amsterdam is. Planning for 2 years paid off and I couldn't be happier with how my trip went. Seriously.
I left Winnipeg on the afternoon of May 12. I took WestJet to Calgary and then I caught a KLM flight to Amsterdam. The KLM flight was approximately 8 hours long and went over the Arctic. Let me tell you: Worst flight for me. I basically didn't sleep at all. Why? Anxiety over claustrophobia. It really was like flying in a fucking packed sardine can with 2 screaming babies. I know people recline their seats, but I don't because I worry about the person behind me. The person in front of me, however, didn't have the same concern as me and was practically lying on my lap. I felt bad because I had the window seat and I kept getting up, since I wasn't sleeping, so I was bothering the nice older Swiss woman sitting next to me. Any time I thought I'd doze off, I'd open my eyes and realize maybe half an hour or an hour had passed. UGH! Also, KLM fucked up my meal. Thank goodness I ate some food in Calgary otherwise I would've been boned. When I booked my flight, KLM had the option of selecting a vegan meal. I was given vegetarian instead so I was able to eat the raw fruits I was given, and the wee pack of almonds, and that was it. When I finally did fall asleep, I was beyond annoyed that the flight attendant woke me up by bringing the tray down on my lap and placing the garbage food in front of me which appeared to be some sort of egg dish. When she came back, I explained to her that I had requested a vegan meal which meant I couldn't eat that, just the fruit. She apologized profusely and was very sweet by even offering me the banana she brought as a snack for herself (I declined). Still, the greater annoyance was I finally, FINALLY had fallen asleep and would've slept the rest of the way if I hadn't been woken up.
I arrived in Amsterdam the morning of May 13, a little after 8:00. I was pretty overwhelmed by the airport, though I'm overwhelmed by most airports. I had booked my accommodation through AirBnB so I let my host know that I arrived and would be taking a taxi to her place. I read a lot online about how easy it was to catch a train and a tram from the airport to Amsterdam Centre...but fuck that shit. I had money for a cab and I didn't want the stress.
I stayed at a flat in northwest Amsterdam. The neighbourhood was lovely, quiet, and had a mix of different immigrant families. The apartment was on the 3rd floor and my room was detached on the 4th floor, the very top. I was greeted by my host's roommate, who was from Spain. She gave me the keys, did a very quick tour, and gave me a map. I told her I wanted to get a few groceries and rent a bike from Recycled Rentals (aka Recycled Bikes). I showed her the address and she gave me some rough directions of how to get there. I quickly learned that Google Maps and directions from those living in Amsterdam aren't the greatest for foreigners. I got lost. Street signage in Amsterdam is a fucking joke. While we in North America have posts everywhere indicating what street you're on or the intersection you're at, Amsterdam has these little tiny blue plaques waaay up on the corner of buildings. NOT HELPFUL! I asked 3 different people for directions and got 3 different results. The last person I asked was the shopkeep at Vega-Life, which was a pleasant happenstance to stumble upon as I needed B12 vitamins (forgot to pack mine) and a snack. After I completed the purchase, I asked for directions and she walked me to the window and pointed where to go which, thankfully, was the next street.
Windmill, skinny homes, and houseboats on my never-ending journey to find the bike shop
When I finally arrived at the bike shop, I told the guy that I was considering buying a bike to take home. While he said that would be a cool souvenir, he said the cost to buy and ship it back with the airline wasn't worth it. As it turned out, it would've cost €100 and required taking the bike apart and packing it...so, he was right. He fitted me with an awesome recycled Granny Bike (as the Dutch call them) which I dubbed Minty Fresh. I told him the name of the street of where I was staying at, since I had no clue how to get back, and he suggested that I head to Rozengracht and I'd find my way. Rozengracht became my go-to street. If I could get there, I could orient myself and find my way back to the flat. His directions were quite good, I have to say.
Inside the bike shop
My Facebook status of late morning/early afternoon sums it up well:
Lost, wandering the streets as I tried to find the bike rental place I wanted, muttering to myself, "This was a stupid idea. I want to go home right NOW!"
Riding down the street on my bike rental, "Weeeeeeeeeeee!"
My rented bike, Minty Fresh, locked up outside the flat
That really was my before and after inner dialogue. I was beating myself up so badly trying to find the bike place, convincing myself that the whole trip was idiotic, which is absurd. Once I got on that bike though...man, I felt fucking invincible. I felt ALIVE!
When I returned to the flat, I settled in for a much needed nap. I really loved the room I stayed in. It was so peaceful and comfortable. The privacy was wonderful and I could crawl out my window to a terrace.
Window of my room to crawl out to the terrace
Since I hadn't got groceries on my journey for the bike, I needed to head back out. I found my first thrift store (though Dutch call all them "vintage stores") called Karma Karma. The shopkeep was British and lovely. He asked where I was from in America. I said, "Umm...excuse me. I'm Canadian." His response was, "I'm so sorry for the insult, madam." YEP! Americans are indeed the worst so we had a conversation about that, mosquitoes, and our awful winters in Manitoba. I found a garish homemade sweater that I needed to have. When I tried it on, he told me to move the bottom triangular portion to "coverup the forbidden fruit". I laughed and said I should know better. He then told me that the sweater was from a town or village in Spain that's basically run by hippies. I told him those are my people so I needed to have it.
I went to De Bio Specialist, an organic grocery store on Rozengracht, and got myself a few groceries. Around the corner was Superfood Centre so I stopped in and got a smoothie and chocolate. Back to the flat to make some food!
Facebook status: You don't know bike culture until you've biked with the Dutch.
I got a smile from a cute boy who had to ring his bike bell at me for holding up traffic. Of course, I apologized.
That really was endearing!
The 4 flights of stairs weren't fun after biking around so much, but I eventually got used to it and the cardio was good for me.
A few days beforehand, I booked a canal tour with Blue Boat Company. I thought doing an evening tour on my first day would be a great way to unwind and see a lot of the city in one shot, especially from a different angle. It was quite nice, not many people on the tour and no kids. The scenery was beautiful as the sunset on the city. This was where my camera got the most use since I could just sit back and take shots. The canal tour was also my first time seeing Laser 3.14 street art.
Laser 3.14
That wasn't the only interesting thing I saw on the tour...
Not my first choice for parking, but what do I know?
I got a little lost on the way back to the flat, but not too terribly bad. It was a chilly evening and I didn't have gloves. By the time I did get back to the flat, I just wanted to curl up and get warm again. I FaceTimed with Andrew and I can't say enough how glad I am for technology and being able to do something like that while in another country.
My last Facebook post of the evening: Day 1 has come to a close. Amsterdam is teaching me that I am incredibly out of shape. I may be thin, but I'm not athletic. All the biking and up and down 4 flights of narrow, steep stairs should hopefully improve my cardio.
Let's start off by saying how incredibly amazing and beautiful Amsterdam is. Planning for 2 years paid off and I couldn't be happier with how my trip went. Seriously.
I left Winnipeg on the afternoon of May 12. I took WestJet to Calgary and then I caught a KLM flight to Amsterdam. The KLM flight was approximately 8 hours long and went over the Arctic. Let me tell you: Worst flight for me. I basically didn't sleep at all. Why? Anxiety over claustrophobia. It really was like flying in a fucking packed sardine can with 2 screaming babies. I know people recline their seats, but I don't because I worry about the person behind me. The person in front of me, however, didn't have the same concern as me and was practically lying on my lap. I felt bad because I had the window seat and I kept getting up, since I wasn't sleeping, so I was bothering the nice older Swiss woman sitting next to me. Any time I thought I'd doze off, I'd open my eyes and realize maybe half an hour or an hour had passed. UGH! Also, KLM fucked up my meal. Thank goodness I ate some food in Calgary otherwise I would've been boned. When I booked my flight, KLM had the option of selecting a vegan meal. I was given vegetarian instead so I was able to eat the raw fruits I was given, and the wee pack of almonds, and that was it. When I finally did fall asleep, I was beyond annoyed that the flight attendant woke me up by bringing the tray down on my lap and placing the garbage food in front of me which appeared to be some sort of egg dish. When she came back, I explained to her that I had requested a vegan meal which meant I couldn't eat that, just the fruit. She apologized profusely and was very sweet by even offering me the banana she brought as a snack for herself (I declined). Still, the greater annoyance was I finally, FINALLY had fallen asleep and would've slept the rest of the way if I hadn't been woken up.
I arrived in Amsterdam the morning of May 13, a little after 8:00. I was pretty overwhelmed by the airport, though I'm overwhelmed by most airports. I had booked my accommodation through AirBnB so I let my host know that I arrived and would be taking a taxi to her place. I read a lot online about how easy it was to catch a train and a tram from the airport to Amsterdam Centre...but fuck that shit. I had money for a cab and I didn't want the stress.
I stayed at a flat in northwest Amsterdam. The neighbourhood was lovely, quiet, and had a mix of different immigrant families. The apartment was on the 3rd floor and my room was detached on the 4th floor, the very top. I was greeted by my host's roommate, who was from Spain. She gave me the keys, did a very quick tour, and gave me a map. I told her I wanted to get a few groceries and rent a bike from Recycled Rentals (aka Recycled Bikes). I showed her the address and she gave me some rough directions of how to get there. I quickly learned that Google Maps and directions from those living in Amsterdam aren't the greatest for foreigners. I got lost. Street signage in Amsterdam is a fucking joke. While we in North America have posts everywhere indicating what street you're on or the intersection you're at, Amsterdam has these little tiny blue plaques waaay up on the corner of buildings. NOT HELPFUL! I asked 3 different people for directions and got 3 different results. The last person I asked was the shopkeep at Vega-Life, which was a pleasant happenstance to stumble upon as I needed B12 vitamins (forgot to pack mine) and a snack. After I completed the purchase, I asked for directions and she walked me to the window and pointed where to go which, thankfully, was the next street.
Windmill, skinny homes, and houseboats on my never-ending journey to find the bike shop
When I finally arrived at the bike shop, I told the guy that I was considering buying a bike to take home. While he said that would be a cool souvenir, he said the cost to buy and ship it back with the airline wasn't worth it. As it turned out, it would've cost €100 and required taking the bike apart and packing it...so, he was right. He fitted me with an awesome recycled Granny Bike (as the Dutch call them) which I dubbed Minty Fresh. I told him the name of the street of where I was staying at, since I had no clue how to get back, and he suggested that I head to Rozengracht and I'd find my way. Rozengracht became my go-to street. If I could get there, I could orient myself and find my way back to the flat. His directions were quite good, I have to say.
Inside the bike shop
My Facebook status of late morning/early afternoon sums it up well:
Lost, wandering the streets as I tried to find the bike rental place I wanted, muttering to myself, "This was a stupid idea. I want to go home right NOW!"
Riding down the street on my bike rental, "Weeeeeeeeeeee!"
My rented bike, Minty Fresh, locked up outside the flat
That really was my before and after inner dialogue. I was beating myself up so badly trying to find the bike place, convincing myself that the whole trip was idiotic, which is absurd. Once I got on that bike though...man, I felt fucking invincible. I felt ALIVE!
When I returned to the flat, I settled in for a much needed nap. I really loved the room I stayed in. It was so peaceful and comfortable. The privacy was wonderful and I could crawl out my window to a terrace.
Window of my room to crawl out to the terrace
Since I hadn't got groceries on my journey for the bike, I needed to head back out. I found my first thrift store (though Dutch call all them "vintage stores") called Karma Karma. The shopkeep was British and lovely. He asked where I was from in America. I said, "Umm...excuse me. I'm Canadian." His response was, "I'm so sorry for the insult, madam." YEP! Americans are indeed the worst so we had a conversation about that, mosquitoes, and our awful winters in Manitoba. I found a garish homemade sweater that I needed to have. When I tried it on, he told me to move the bottom triangular portion to "coverup the forbidden fruit". I laughed and said I should know better. He then told me that the sweater was from a town or village in Spain that's basically run by hippies. I told him those are my people so I needed to have it.
I went to De Bio Specialist, an organic grocery store on Rozengracht, and got myself a few groceries. Around the corner was Superfood Centre so I stopped in and got a smoothie and chocolate. Back to the flat to make some food!
Facebook status: You don't know bike culture until you've biked with the Dutch.
I got a smile from a cute boy who had to ring his bike bell at me for holding up traffic. Of course, I apologized.
That really was endearing!
The 4 flights of stairs weren't fun after biking around so much, but I eventually got used to it and the cardio was good for me.
A few days beforehand, I booked a canal tour with Blue Boat Company. I thought doing an evening tour on my first day would be a great way to unwind and see a lot of the city in one shot, especially from a different angle. It was quite nice, not many people on the tour and no kids. The scenery was beautiful as the sunset on the city. This was where my camera got the most use since I could just sit back and take shots. The canal tour was also my first time seeing Laser 3.14 street art.
Laser 3.14
That wasn't the only interesting thing I saw on the tour...
Not my first choice for parking, but what do I know?
I got a little lost on the way back to the flat, but not too terribly bad. It was a chilly evening and I didn't have gloves. By the time I did get back to the flat, I just wanted to curl up and get warm again. I FaceTimed with Andrew and I can't say enough how glad I am for technology and being able to do something like that while in another country.
My last Facebook post of the evening: Day 1 has come to a close. Amsterdam is teaching me that I am incredibly out of shape. I may be thin, but I'm not athletic. All the biking and up and down 4 flights of narrow, steep stairs should hopefully improve my cardio.