You know, there are bits and pieces of history that we learn when we were young, which stuck in our mind all the way through adulthood. For me, one such history has to do with the abbreviation VOC. We'll get to that a bit later, but first, if you were to pick two cities in Europe that are not too far from one to another, which can be visited within a week's time, which ones would those be?
If you answered "too many to choose from", then you start to understand our dilemma, but in the end we chose Amsterdam and Paris.
So we'll go through the travelogue in order, first Amsterdam in this blog post, and the next one would cover the Paris part.
Actually arriving at Amsterdam
After a smooth if uneventful flight from US to the Netherlands, we set our feet on the European continent for the first time. We left around 4pm US Central Time and arrived in Amsterdam at about 9am GMT+2 at the Schiphol Airport.
The first thing that caught my eyes at the luggage claim area is this pink vehicle. Later I found out that Stach is a food distributor company and this must be one of their advertisements which may had a bit of a run in with the cleaning supplies. 😊
Past the area, we went through the custom without a hitch, the line was quite long, but not terrible, and the exit to the public area was clearly marked and I find the ornamentation quite tasteful.
We finally arrived at an expansive space full of stores, cafes, bookstores, entrances to the train platforms, and yes, a grocery store with this in front:
The wooden "Klompen" is a famous icon of the Netherlands. Here, it is made even more iconic by enlarging it and painting it with another famous design, the blue porcelain painting style from Delft. By the way, the logo is (I think) the letters "ah" which stands for the store name, Albert Heijn.
The next move for us is to buy the train ticket to get to our hotel. Being early in the morning, we knew that the hotel room probably won't be ready for us to check-in, but at least we can put our luggage with them and start walking around the city.
A fun flashback to my younger years, here's one for Asterix fans in the US (there are a few of us):
The Train and The Metro and the Tram
From the airport, we have to take the Train, which is different than the Metro. We bought a one-way ticket to the city and followed the entrance.
The train is a double-deck, so we lug our (thankfully small) luggage and made our way to the 2nd level and pick a seat, I am grateful that there were not a throng of people boarding the train, so we can enjoy the trip to the city from the airport.
We arrived at the train station called Zuud Station, from which we're supposed to walk to our hotel. Then I noticed the weather, it's a very nice non-humid cool day, a bit windy but not terrible at all. A far cry from Texas in August where we hail from.
On the way to the hotel we discovered yet another common view in Amsterdam, bicycles. To be precise, bicycles everywhere...
Rise and Shine
The next morning, we had a nice breakfast at the hotel, and we walk back to the station, ready to tackle first day in Amsterdam. The weather is again cloudy, but in a nice way, with occasional breeze.
Destination: The center of the city, where the canals are. While the distance is not terribly far, it will take us some time to walk there, time that we'd rather spend over there.
At the station we learned that the city transportation system called Metro has a different ticketing system than the train, but one that is usable also on Trams and Busses. So, we bought the Metro ticket, climb up the stairs to the platform.
An interesting observation, since we pick the hotel in a more commercial area of South Amsterdam, buildings look very different than in the city center... well, these particular buildings look different than anything else, I suppose.
The Metro system in Amsterdam is a lot simpler compared to the giant maze in Tokyo, the subway is clean and per our hotel receptionist's advice we chose the stop called Rokin Station.
And this is what greeted us when we walked up from the subway platform:
This is the first time it hit me that we are actually in the Netherlands. Of course, being there in person is a much better experience than looking at pictures.
At this point, we just started walking in the direction to the Waterlooplein where according to our research, is the place of a local flea market (we love flea-markets).
Within a few turns I found a store that fountain pen enthusiasts (I am one of them) should be familiar with: P.W Akkerman
Inside, lots of cool stationery stuff and on the 2nd level there are fountain pens ranging from less than 100 Euro to a whopping 12,500. Yep, look at this photo below.
As we walk around the canal systems, again the common theme is boats:
and bicycles:
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| There are more bikes than people in Amsterdam |
Arriving at the Waterlooplein (that's Waterloo and 'plein' which is 'square' is in Dutch) where the flea market was, we browsed around, and just soaking the different experience. Other than the occasional smell of weed, the nice weather and people watching is quite pleasant.
From there we walked past the Rembrandt House Museum and before going in, we decided to get some lunch (brunch?) at the Hip-hop themed Moak Pancakes which is not bad at all. I like how they just casually serve a Cafe Late in a glass, just like water.
The Rembrandt House
Visiting the Rembrandt house is exciting for me. I am a big fan of Rembrandt's sketches, not his paintings, but sketches and etching works.
I have an uncommon edition of a book that catalogs a lot of his sketches, that is why I am familiar with the ones featured in this museum, which includes a tour of his house/studio here in Amsterdam.
My wife and I were discussing in amazement at how narrow and steep the circular stairs are in this 5-floor house (houses are narrow in Amsterdam because they pay more tax if they build wider ones).
The house tour ended up in a workshop where a demonstration of Rembrandt's etching style is conducted. After that, there is a space that allows people to draw a nearby tower, and of course as a sketcher I have to throw my hat in the ring (haha).
At the museum store I started to realize that I was not the only one who likes Rembrandt's sketches. Those are prominently showcased (and sold). But there is no better souvenir in that store than this.
The Indonesian Connection
Speaking of soy sauce, after touring the museum for a few hours, we decided to walk across the center of the city to visit a place where we can get some Indonesian food. The walk is long, but fun because there are so many things to enjoy and look at, for example:
The architecture in this area is something else:
And along the walk we passed through numerous scenic bridges and canals
This is what awaited us when we reached the little cafe called Toko Bersama, which means roughly the "together store" with "together" here contains the connotation of a community.
The food was very good, authentic Indonesian food. We chatted a bit with the people who operated the cafe, who are (of course) Indonesian as well. It turns out this cafe is the 2nd newest of three in Amsterdam that belong to the same owner.
Interestingly as we enjoy our lunch (or dinner because it's late enough in the day), we saw a little line formed inside the cafe out to the side of the street, people from different background seem to really like Indonesian food here.
We'll explore more of this unique connection between Indonesian community here in Amsterdam with the city when we visit the big museum. But that's tomorrow's story.
We ended the day with a tram ride back to the Zuud-Station where our hotel is. Caught this beautiful scenery on the way. If you noticed, what started in an overcast morning ended up in a beautiful evening.
The Canal and The Museum
The 2nd day started a bit late for us, after enjoying a good breakfast at the hotel restaurant which interestingly was Japan-themed
We took the subway just like the previous day, but this morning we took it all the way to the Centraal Amsterdam Station. Our destination is the OBA library which from my research is said to have a breathtaking view of the city from the top floor.
The library itself is architecturally very sophisticated and quite impressive.
But the view from the top is something else, you can see very far and wide.
If you ever visited Amsterdam, this library is I think should be in your list.
The Canal Tour
While waiting for our pre-booked museum time at 2pm, we had some time to do a canal tour, after looking at the various boats and services, we picked one that is quite small (about a dozen people per tour) and with an open boat (no roof to block the view). I recommend this setup if the day is not too cold/hot/raining.
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| Everyone was in a smiling mood, and I respect people's privacy |
The above is a view to give you a perspective on being in the boat, it's an interesting experience to travel through the canal, and the guide and captain (who a few times casually steer the boat with his feet) did a good job giving us information about Amsterdam history, why the buildings are narrow (the tax thing that I mentioned before), and the canal.
One impressive thing is when guide dunked a glass into the canal while asking us to guess what the color of the water is. We all guessed from murky to yellow to green, and she shook her head. True to her word, the water is quite clear, a lot clearer than what it looks like on the surface.
The Rijksmuseum
As the canal tour ended, it's time for us to catch the tram to go the Museumplein (Museum Square), that is the place where the various museums are.
We were able to book the ticket from the US for the famous Rijksmuseum, but we missed the small window to get into the Van Gogh one, which is a pity.
This museum features the largest collection of Dutch artworks spanning 800 years. Expecting to be impressed, we weren't disappointed.
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| Not just paintings, items as well, that round thing is a carved walnut. |
This is one of my favorite paintings in that museum. Imagine, there were no color theory textbooks back then, studies on the properties of light such as reflection, refraction and diffusion were not yet advanced, moreover, they have to grind their own pigments from plants, stones and metal to even have something that they can paint with.
How then, were they able to produce such realistic image on a blank canvas just by observation.
Another impressive display is the most famous painting by Rembrandt, the "Night Watch" which are being restored in this very museum:
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| We were standing behind a thick glass, that room is huge and thankfully not accessible to the masses. |
The Indonesian Connection Part II
Here's another evidence of the deep connection between the Netherlands and Indonesia, which were a Dutch colony for 350 years. That's why until today, Indonesian culture here in Amsterdam blends in with the locals unlike anywhere else in the world.
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| This is a big diorama of a day at the market in Indonesia. The top painting is about the arrest of one of the local princes in Java who stood up to the occupying Dutch forces. His title and name are Raden Diponegoro, regarded as one of Indonesia's national hero. |
The minute I laid eyes on these very meticulously crafted model ships, my mind immediately went back decades to my school days, poring over history books that featured pictures of these same ships.
These are part of the VOC fleet. VOC (the Dutch East India Company) was one of the largest government-funded and authorized trading companies in the world in the 1600s -- who traveled all the way from the Netherlands to Indonesia carrying troops and back home carrying goods, spices, and rare items until the 1900s.
We continued to enjoy the museum and the wonderful exhibitions there. Some of the artifacts are just incredible, look at that porcelain violin:
The Amsterdam Picker
When it's time to leave the museum, we continued our adventure in the area, where we stumbled upon an antique store which, I of course had to enter and browse:
As I looked around, I don't see what I'm looking for (old fountain pens). Encouraged by the fact that so far everyone we talked to in Amsterdam speak English, I went to the store proprietor and asked "Do you have Antiek Vulpen?" because 'vulpen' is the word for a fountain pen in Dutch.
Pleasantly surprised, the older proprietor nodded and signaled to the younger one who smiled and said "follow me". He led me to the front part of the store where he opened the back of the window display, reached in and pulled out a small tray filled with about 10 vintage fountain pens.
And yes, you guessed it, I went home with this pen which were made in Germany for the Dutch market in the 1950s. See how serendipity and luck work together?
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| The name of the pen is Merlin Elegant. I can't think of a more fitting pen to find in the Netherlands. |
A Dutch Dinner
Now, I'm not a food blogger, but it is worth noting that we took the time to enjoy Dutch cuisine. After we took the tram to Leidseplein where people were enjoying their Sunday afternoon, there were no shortage of places to eat here. We selected a local restaurant that were quite busy, were offered a table on the 2nd floor, which again, offered a tip-toe, white knuckle rail-holding stairs experience before and after the meal.
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| That staircase is a lot narrower than it looks here. But, our waiter just casually carried 4 dishes, and a big bottled water up and down these stairs. No hands needed. |
The food was quite delicious, and we were hungry:
Catching the tram, we were back to the hotel after another day of adventure. Obligatory beautiful scene:
The Day of the Windmill
This is it, one part of the trip to the Netherlands that I look forward the most. While not quite Don Quixote -level, as a sketcher, I do have a romanticized view of the windmills. Will that view be validated or crushed?
The place to see windmills up close is Zaanse-Schans which is best known for its collection of historic windmills and wooden houses that were relocated there for preservation. And to go there, we took the Metro subway from the hotel (as we have done in the past 2 days), stop at the Centraal Amsterdam Station, and bought the round-trip ticket for the train.
The ride was interesting that we get to see the outskirt of Amsterdam and it felt quite short, shorter than the train ride from Tokyo to Kamakura for sure.
When we got off the train a the stop with the same name, we saw a few people in front of the board with the above map. Apparently this is an area in the middle of the small village where we can see featured (and rebuilt) windmills
After a short walk from the train station we arrived at the bridge that spans across De Zaan river. The above photo was taken from the bridge. At the end of the bridge, we enter the preservation area where there are numerous buildings (museums, souvenir shops, some with people still living in it) leading to where those windmills are.
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| Some of these houses are like straight out of a postcard. Sketching subjects is what they are. |
I assumed that the crowd is less busy because it's a Monday, however it is still quite packed. It is especially so when I entered one of the windmill De Kat, which grind pigments for paint. The inside of the windmill was cramped enough with -- surprise, surprise -- narrow and steep ladders and stairs.
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| Seeing those barrels full of pigments are really cool. The pigments produced by this mill follows Rembrandt's recipes. |
From the deck on De Kat windmill, the view of the surrounding is very pretty.
As we walked near the end of the path, we sat down at a small ferry landing, watching people getting in and out of a small boat which will take them across the river to the village. We didn't venture there today.
Here's a collage of windmill close-ups. Seeing this silent giant sails just circling around is quite neat.
Making our way back to the bridge, we stopped at the cheese factory
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| I have seen those terracotta tiles on roofs common in many places, but not as the covering of a 4-sided wall |
The reality is, while this place may used to be a real factory, it is now more of a demonstration place for this cheese maker. They are doing well though, the store was full with visitors and they also sell ice-cream.
Next to it is an area where again, there used to be a wooden-shoes factory, now it is now a tourist place.
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| They used to carve both sides of the shoes by hand, now they have a machine do the hard part shaping and making the space for the feet |
At the end of our visit, I'm impressed with how much care the city government has put in this area to preserve at least the look (minus the tourists such as myself of course).
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| It is a beautiful area for sure |
So, in the end, my romanticized view of the windmill has been enforced, I love looking at them closely, a silent and treasured artifact from the past that could have been destroyed instead.
How about a sketch then?
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| The sketch was made with the pen, and the pen, of course, is the pen that I found in Amsterdam |
Taking the train back
Back in Amsterdam, just like we did in Japan, we went for our usual "McDonalds in other countries" routine and get the menu item that is only available in the Netherlands
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| Kroket is a fried patty-like food with potato-based filling inside. You will not find this in any other McD |
After the meal, we continued to walk along the canals, and we ended up at the Bloomenmarkt which is a very pretty area where they have the famous flower markets, floating on the canal. It was closed by the time we arrived, but the golden hour light is absolutely mesmerizing.
And I leave you with another one of the obligatory scenery on the way back to the hotel.
Leaving for Paris
The next day, after our last breakfast at the hotel, we went ahead and checked out. There were about 2 hours to kill until our train to Paris, the hotel fortunately would hold our luggage until we come back for it later.
With the remaining time, we took advantage of the bike rental service at our hotel to get a taste of riding bicycles in probably one of the most bike-friendly cities in the world.
Our bikes were reminiscent of those old-style ones with built in latch to lock the back wheel which used the same key to unroll the thick wrapped chain for securing the bike wherever your destination is. This works because just as there are bike lanes in every road here, bike racks are never far from wherever you stop.
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| People here probably biked more than they walk or ride cars since they were young, so the flow is natural for them. But for us visiting tourists, navigating the intersections and the often-abrupt lane changes is quite an adrenaline rush, on top of the fun. I would 10/10 do it again, though :) |
Watching the time, so we don't miss the train to Paris, we biked to the Museumplein to get some souvenir from the Van Gogh Museum store, which was oddly detached from the museum itself, probably to accommodate people who couldn't get the ticket (that's us).
Arriving back at the hotel we had just enough time to return the bike, pick up our luggage and walk to the Zuud-Station to catch the subway for the last time.
Travel Tips
Some tips to share:
- The weather in August is nice. It's cool but not cold, humidity low and golden hours here are super pretty. One downside, we saw quite a bit of stores closed due to vacation, with the sign that says they will re-open at the end of August or early September.
- Cash is rarely needed, we purchase everything even the Tram rides using the touchpad and credit card.
- The area outside of the canals where our hotel is located is called Amsterdam-Zuid. It is perfect for staying as long as you choose a hotel that is within walking distance to the Zuud Station which is reachable to and from the airport.
- The Metro subway runs through the major stops. They are clean and even in on the weekends, was not that crowded.
- If you like antiquing, there is a block that we didn't get to visit this time called Antiekcentrum.
- Book the time to the museums way in advance, buy the tickets online, it saves tons of time. If you want to get to the Van Gogh Museum, book it even earlier.
- Plan to spend at least half-a-day if you like the windmill and a more historical look of the Netherlands.
- If your schedule permits, other cities like Utrecht or Leiden are within 30 mins train ride. We didn't this time but next time we definitely will.
And with that, it's time to say "Daag!" to the Netherlands as we board the Eurostar (wrong car, got hustled by the station crew) and off we go to our next destination.
Paris or bust!