Dank U Amsterdam

We are writing this while just chilling in our top floor penthouse (haha we're kidding, its no penthouse). 

Initial Impressions

Whilst there are many bikes in Amsterdam just like in Copenhagen the biggest difference is the lack of respect in Amsterdam for pedestrians. You need to be on your game at all times, your life is really in your hands. There is a distinctive whiff you get every so often walking around town that reminds you, this Amsterdam and here you can do what you want so long as you’re not hurting anyone else and you have the money to pay for it. Business comes first in The Netherlands after all. The design of the city’s waterways and its narrow houses makes for fantastic viewing from the footpath or the water. We loved Amsterdam from the moment we arrived for its beauty and unique perspective to life.

Day 1

Day one started after another ordeal of an overnight train ride. Crammed in a small room with 6 seats with 3 facing the other 3 it made for a cosy ride. Trying to sleep was difficult with the awkward leg situation and the chairs didn’t recline much. Excellent ear plugs made life a little better but our lesson is well and truly ingrained. Book a sleeper car. Rolling into Amsterdam at 9.45am we had a full day to explore.

Arriving at our hotel we were greeted again with 3 flights of stairs to our room on the top floor (the penthouse – no not really). The stairs are vertical, legitimately vertical, we look up with and with our packs we climbed (yeah we actually had to put our hands on the stairs to get up at points). All houses in Amsterdam are the same with narrow and steep stairs.  

We got the rundown on the way our hotel works ie: a smoking friendly hotel (we are not talking about tobacco people), this was evident by the pungent and distinctive smell of cannabis in our room. Before we set off to explore, our hotel manager gives us a rundown on where to go, which also includes where to buy weed and how much for. He highlights the areas for the best Coffee Shops (they are not just selling coffee, and coffee shop does not mean what it means in any other city of the world). We headed off for a wander and just enjoyed soaking in the atmosphere of the city, it is BEAUTIFUL. You could easily spend a few days just walking the streets, stopping in the gourmet cheese shops and designer stores. 

 

Completely famished after our overnight ordeal we found a gorgeous café (not to be confused with a coffee shop) and had the best breakfast we’d had in memory. After the night on the train this breakfast along with good coffee and John Meyer (some of Amy’s favourite music) we had massive smiles on our faces and it was the perfect start to the day. 

After wandering the streets and canals for a while we made it to the Anne Frank museum. Quick background. Anne Franks family were German jews who emigrated to Amsterdam when the Nazis rose to power. When the Germans invaded Anne and her family hid from the Nazis in a secret apartment for 2 years, with the help of Annes fathers colleagues. It was during this time that Annes famous diary was written expressing her views and thoughts on the world and what had happened and her fears, dreams, aspirations and feelings. They were eventually raided by the SS after someone gave them up, and the family were sent to concentration camps. The entire group except the father died in the camps, Anne just a week before the camp was liberated by the Allies. The building is now a museum you can see the small rooms, the posters pasted on the walls, the hidden entrance and all throughout is quotes form Annes diary. It is a truly moving experience and we would both recommend it to anyone visiting Amsterdam. This young woman was intelligent, articulate and insightful beyond her years. It was her dream to be a published author and her diary is one of the highest selling and widely translated books of all time. 

NOTE: This is NOT Anne Franks house

Later in the evening we went on a twilight canal ride, views from the water are amazing and cruising the harbour and canals with the city lit up is majestic. It was one of the highlights of Amsterdam for us. We returned to the hotel, ascending our vertical stairs and had the best night sleep we both had in over a week.

Day 2

We rose to discover we had a bacon and egg breakfast to look forward to each morning which was a blessing. You don’t realise how much a good breakfast sets you up for a good day – and helps the budget. We discovered these cute bent spoons that you hang on the edge of jam jars, glasses etc went to look for them in a shop advised by the manager. We found the shopping strip and lamented how we could not fill another bag with shopping. It is seriously cheaper, more diverse and just better than back home. Unfortunately we couldn’t find the special spoons :(

We walked to the centre square, which was bustling with street performers, people and pigeons – thousands of pigeons. Some of you will know Amy is borderline phobic of birds so navigating our way across with pigeons everywhere was somewhat stressing but we got there.

The Belgian Airforce was in town

The Royal Palace

We have discovered the best way to see cities is with walking tours, our guide for the day was Lee, she’s a local who has worked in all sorts of businesses associated with Amsterdams unique offerings and really loves her city. Wandering around Amsterdam taking in the sights Lee dropped some interesting history and fun facts about Amsterdam.

We walked past a design shop that literally said in the window “if you have to ask you can’t afford it” – naturally we didn’t go in…

There is a Dutch saying that translates roughly as “keep your head below the grass or it will get chopped off” similar to our tall poppy philosophy back home. Amsterdam lives by this in a lot of ways keeping some things that it could boast on the down low. Such as having cleaner and more numerous canals then Venice but Venice is the canal capital of Europe…

Cannabis is not legal rather it is decriminalised in The Netherlands. Yeah that’s right it is illegal, but if you get caught authorities cant do anything about it, and shops sell it openly. We’ll leave that with you to figure out. You may be asking how does the Government tax the “Coffee Shops” that sell illegal items? Easy, they made a category called “other”. So its win, win.

The narrowest building in Amsterdam sold for 1.2 million Euros. The frontage of this house is only 1.3m, the back is massive. The builder of this house did it as a tax dodge as back in the day you were taxed according the size of your house frontage. Smart guy.

See the little red house with the ivy arch over the door ... thats what 1.2mil Euro buys you

The Dutch did not have last names or street numbers until the French occupation under Napoleon. Under the new King (Napoleons brother) both of these were implemented. The Dutch thought it was a bit of a joke, so they chose silly last names last name such as “King” or even “Emperor” and some went crass with one such example “ballsack.” Or they just went with their profession such as ‘John Baker’.  Their thinking was that French rule would not last long and they could go back to their old ways. Jokes on the current generation of Dutch…

 

25,000 bikes are pulled from the canals each year... you can see why.

After the 3.5 hour walking tour we settled into a cosy bar for a bite to eat and a local beer.

We did a guided tour of the Red Light District (RLD) tour that evening. All we will say is that it is completely unlike anything you have ever seen before or could see back home and that it is a complete cultural experience. 

Part of the RLD tour was going past the Kindergarten that’s in the very centre of the RLD. The RLD is actually a very desirable area to live in and the safest part of Amsterdam with over 8000 residents. Parents are really open about talking with their kids about drugs and sex even at a very young age. Recently in a survey a 4yo boy when asked what the women in the windows do he replied “the ladies sell kisses.” Adorable. Because of this openness Amsterdam has some of the lowest rates of abuse of drugs and women in the world. Lesson for everyone there.

Finishing up in the RLD we found a pub which was showing live coverage of the grand final at 6:30am, and we tossed around the idea of getting up super early to watch it, but declined. We are both exhausted due to the poor quality sleep we had in Munich on the crappy mattresses. We are realising the value of a good nights sleep in ways we never have before. 

Day 3

We both fell in love with Amsterdam and wished we had given it more time to stay, play and explore so we had every intention of getting up early to maximise our last day unfortunately the snooze button got the better of us and we overslept by nearly 2 hours. During breakfast two guys from Australia came in, they had been up early to watch the grand final and one was proudly sporting his Hawks jersey and was obviously very happy with his team. We finished up breakfast and packed our belongings and set off for the flower market. On the way we posted our German clothes from Oktoberfest and some other things back to Australia, 40 Euro for up to 5kg. We only had 2.5kg so that was a little frustrating but keep an eye out for a Dutch parcel in 8-10 days Dave and Sue. Dad we realised only after we had posted it, that the Dutch are famous for Liquorice and we should have sent a little goodie package for you… instead we can send only our love. 

The flower market follows a section of the canal and on the other side are tourist shops, cheese stores and cafes and bars. The flower market is full to the brim of beautiful fresh flowers and bulbs for all varieties of tulips and other species of flowers. We ducked into some cheese shops to satisfy Simons cheese obsession. Even Amy found a delicious pesto cheese that we both loved wished we could buy but travelling with cheese is sub-optimal. So we ate our samples and Simon enjoyed one of the best cheese toasties he had ever had. 

We returned to our hotel and thanked our host. The hotel had been an experience in itself, much more like a house and we felt we got a better feel for Amsterdam culture staying there.

Packs on backs we hot footed it to central once more and caught the metro to the bus station and boarded bound for Belgium.

Lessons Learnt

• Tolerance begets tolerance. If you are inviting, warm and friendly then everyone else will follow.
• Making subjects taboo and not being open with them is more risky then putting it out in the open and talking about it.
• Set multiple alarms to avoid oversleeping, this was true at home for some reason didn’t think it would apply to travel.
• Steep stairs whilst intimidating are quicker than regular stairs.

Parting Thoughts

• We did not spend enough time in Amsterdam we could have stayed a week
• The openness of some of the offerings is at first startling but after you get into the swing of the place it all falls together and makes sense.
• The Dutch make delicious cheese and beer.
• Whilst some might decry the “sins” of Amsterdam as unnecessary or a tourist grab we found that the locals were very comfortable with everything. Amsterdam is a immigrant hub and the most diverse capital city in the world with over 170 nationalities living in a city of 800,000. Amsterdam is living proof that we can indeed ‘all just get along.’

Just to be clear, just because we are in Amsterdam doesn’t mean we were willing to compromise our personal values on weed, so we did not partake.

Dank u Amsterdam, we will miss your laid back vibe and gorgeous streets. We won’t miss dodging your crazy cyclists. 

Amy & Simon

'I amsterdam' refllects how inclusive Amsterdam is, everyone is Amsterdam because everyone is welcome