We have just wrapped up four days in Amsterdam.  We had expected the canals and sex shops, but were surprised just how many bicycles are in town.  Cars (even taxis) are rather scarce, and almost everyone travels by bike.  There are lots of bike rental shops for tourists (see “Mac Bike” above), so even visitors mostly ride by pedal in this almost entirely-flat city.  There are even beer tours that are pedal driven (see lower-right image above)!

After a couple years in Ecuador, it was surprising to see how many people were in a rush here.  Everyone seemed in a hurry to get somewhere — and usually either walking fast or peddling fast.  Be careful crossing streets here. Not much chance of a car hitting you (there aren’t many), but we were nearly hit by speeding bicycles many times.

Another surprise was the food — delicious!  The fruits at the many sidewalk stands looked like they had been painted, or perhaps injected with food dye.  They were the most vibrant and shockingly bright we had ever seen.  One street vendor we talked to insisted they were natural, but “only available here in Netherlands.”  We bought some strawberries, and they were easily the sweetest I have ever tasted.

We ate in restaurants the entire 4 days, never repeating one, due to available variety.  We never had a bad meal in town, and some were stunning.  From rack of lamb to traditional Dutch to Japanese Bento Box, it was all great.  The Chinese meals we had didn’t quite stand up to Manhattan or San Francisco levels, but even those were quite tasty.

Of course you cannot come to Amsterdam and not see museums.  We saw a Van Gogh exhibit at one museum, and both Dutch and Spanish Masters at another.  I have never been a fan of the Dutch masters (groups of men and women sitting stiffly around a table, to be seen as masters of society), and I find Van Gogh’s earliest works his best.  There was an audio self-guided tour with each, but they were not really very good. I’ve got to admit, I found them rather boring, though I have definitely enjoyed some prior museum visits. None of the museums allowed photographs, so we only have a couple examples above…

We also visited the Anne Frank home.  We saw the Diary of Anne Frank stage play many years ago, where a long-time friend (Tim Fredenburg) starred in a local version.  That gave a visceral feel for what it felt to live confined to such a small space for years, under constant threat of exposure.  Seeing her house reinforced the small size of the space she endured.

The entire time we were in Amsterdam was overcast and WINDY!  Wow, did the wind blow!  When it rained, it came down almost horizontally.  Of course, Amsterdam is known for the canals on which it was built.  The boats are not very photogenic or romantic though.  Unlike the Venice gondolas, most tourists sit in monster 70+ seat glass enclosed boats to ply the canals here.  I suppose the cold (and did I mention windy?) weather here is probably a reason.  We opted not to crowd into one of those barges ourselves.

The dull skies and generally blustery weather limited the opportunity for taking the breath-taking canal building photos I had imagined.  A little photo editing helped bring out some of the colors though.

You can’t visit Amsterdam without making a trip to the Red Light District.  The sex shops were a given, and looked pretty much like any San Francisco sex shop from the outside (didn’t go inside in either location, so can’t comment there).  There were fewer “window girls” than I had expected, and most had their curtains drawn — indicating either they were either busy or had not yet started work.

The cannabis shops were rather interesting, though it appeared they were selling seeds to grow your own, rather than finished smokable product. We never saw any cannabis cafes, though apparently they are not allowed to advertise, and you must ask “what is on your menu” once inside to buy and smoke legally.

On our last day, we visited the Heineken factory tour.  I didn’t really have high hopes, but the tour was actually a quite enjoyable way to spend a couple hours. Part history lesson, part beer lecture, part Disneyland, the self-guided tour kept you moving and kept you interested.  The tour includes two glasses of Heineken beer at the end. Since I have always found the brand rather bitter, I gave my last token to a couple at a nearby table…

Com’on. Doesn’t Dutch look like a made-up kid’s language to you?  We kept thinking “this looks like something two kids would make up as their own secret language”… ☺