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Published: July 26th 2014
2 way street Amsterdam
This is why one doesn't drive.We are staying in a suburb of Den Haag called Leidschendam, but Amsterdam is a quick 40 minutes away. Kathi and her girls were flying into Amsterdam's Schipol airport and we happily agreed to meet them for the afternoon. They would come back to Den Hague with us, stay a few days, and train back out to Copenhagen. This meant TWO different days in Amsterdam! We find the Pulitzer hotel and wait - true Kathi style - for her to find us, pack up her room, leave bags with the concierge, etc, and off we go to explore - with a 15 and 12 year old in tow. Kathi needs coffee to stay awake and is convinced all
those coffee houses are kind of packed into one area, and we are not in that area. So insistent is she that she marches into the nearest place to order that all important latte. And about 12 seconds later, she comes out, "that is NOT what I thought!' were her astonished words. Now we must explain to the 12 year old the difference between a "coffee house" and a 'coffee house". Maybe a trip through the red light district will help...
Marching
along, we see gorgeous houses, sparkling canals, more bikes than people, and an assortment of interesting and strange sights. We passed by the Anne Frank House to find the queue wrapped around the block and then some, so we will try to get tickets for Tuesday maybe. Back home for a some dinner and to rest and for Kathi to finally wash some clothes!
The next day finds us happily showing off Delft. My sister and the girls climbed to the top of the tower and left us down below - once is enough for me. We survived a downpour without umbrellas and learned a valuable lesson. Someone had told us the Dutch don't use umbrellas because of the wind. Well, the Dutch DO use umbrellas - stupid Americans do not. Lesson learned. We did see a very cute little Segway thing for hauling lots of preschoolers around. They sit in the wheelbarrow part and the teacher rides along behind them. I'll mention it to SDJA for their preschool - great for fire drills! It's been kind of a lazy day, and we all head home to rest and unwind.
Finally - back to Amsterdam. We stow the
luggage in the train station and set off unfettered for the afternoon. I took the girls for a few hours, giving Kathi some well deserved time without her children- to shop or browse a museum or two. Lee tagged along with her to give me time with my nieces and we found the Bloemenmarkt - the biggest floating flower and bulb market in the world. Barge after barge of nothing but bulbs, flowers, and lots of tchotchkes. Most impressive were the enormous amaryllis bulbs and the vast assortment of "carnivore plants" or Venus flytraps. After a long walk around to the main plaza, we headed off to the Poezenboot for a little kitty time. It's a floating cat rescue barge and is home to about 20 resident cats. More are ready to be adopted, and my guess is they don't stay long. If I were a cat - this is where I'd want to live! Little nooks and crannies and so many kitty toys to keep busy, and not a bad view, either. We got our kitty love and headed back to the main plaza to meet up with Kathi. Along the way we gawked at some amazing shoes in
a funky museum type store - all for sale, but dreadful expensive, and paid half euro each for the toiletten. Pay toilets are still the thing in Holland - nothing for free. Passed a few of those famous coffee houses, and decided on some Dam Good Ice Cream. We remembered how delicious it was from the time before.
After we found Lee and Kathi, we noticed some pigeons looked hungry. A man in the plaza hands out bird food to the kids and the pigeons flap all around. If you stand really still, they will eat out of your hand. Kathi refused, but the rest of us were game. Until they peck. Then all bets are off! But it was quite amusing. Finally got Kathi the turtle to the train station, got her bags, checked her tickets, and left the bunch of them to get on the sleeper train to Copenhagen. We headed back into Amsterdam to find a beer and rest before the train home. People watching is like none other in this town. We just sit back and watch the parade of humanity saunter by.
The next day, we bike about 30 km round trip to
Leiden. The land is totally flat and SO green and very ride-able! We bike along one of the zillions of well maintained bike paths past windmills, lakes, a hidden bird refuge, and into the sweet little town of Leiden. Everywhere we go, we see flags at half mast - today is the national day of mourning for the many Dutch victims of the Malaysian flight that was shot down. Flags on boats, homes, businesses - all half mast. Leiden is home to the oldest university in Europe, and also home to our very own Pilgrims before they set sail for the New World. We ducked out of the way into one of the many alms houses - now they are private residences, but the gardens are open to the public, and we watched children playing in the "spitting" fountain on the main plaza. A cool Amstel by the canal before heading home - am I drinking and driving?
Tomorrow - Den Hague and the Mauritshuis to see Rembrandt, Steen, Holbein, and Vermeer.
Some notes on Holland so far. Pay toiletten - range from .25 to .50 euro, so I find myself always keeping the change I normally leave
Pink Fiat
I know they exist! at home. Credit cards are mostly not accepted, but ATM chip cards are. Unfortunately, we have a credit chip card and we are finding it doesn't work a lot of the time - most parking garages being the exception. Cash is king here. The automobile is definitely not king. The parking fees are prohibitive and the spaces are few and far between. Trains, buses, trams, trolley - public transportation is so good no one needs the car. We are finding the Dutch to be out of the way friendly and helpful, and every single one person speaks nearly perfect English. Streets are clean, pride of ownership is evident everywhere, and Holland is proving to be a wonderful country to explore.
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