Welcome to part 2 of my Easter trip….The Netherlands! The next 7 days will be spent in the land of tulips, windmills, red lights, prostitutes and weed!
Day 6 Rotterdam and Amsterdam
This morning I woke up before my alarm (annoying!) and packed up. I checked out and walked to the big Brussels Midi station. It was a 20min walk and it was cool but sunny so a nice walk. I got myself a coffee and found my platform. It’s only 1hr 10mins from Brussels to Rotterdam so not a long trip.
When I got to Rotterdam, I headed straight for the famous Cube Houses. They are so odd and unique, and a major tourist attraction. People actually live in them. One man turned his into a museum so people can see what they look like inside. I didn’t go in because it was a cash thing, and I don’t have cash. So far, I had done everything with card only! Anyways, the houses were cool, and I took some photos, naturally.
Then I headed across the big open square to a big market. It is a strange tunnel shaped building and inside, it has lots of food and drink stalls. I thought maybe I would find some good Dutch food for lunch. I settled for some krokets (croquettes). I also had to pee and unfortunately, it was an expensive pee! They charged €1!! I have paid to pee before, but it is usually 25/50 cents. I wanted to stay in there for an hour to get my money’s worth, but the queue was massive, so I didn’t.
Then I headed back to the station to continue my journey to Amsterdam. I bought the direct ticket and found the platform. Then we got told that the train was stranded and we should take the train on a different platform, which was departing in 3 mins. So, lots of us ran to the other platform and boarded the train. Then we had to get off at Leiden and wait for a train to Amsterdam. So, the 40min trip took 1hr 40mins. Should have just paid for the cheaper ticket! Oh well.
Upon arriving in Amsterdam, I went in search of my hostel. It is in the red-light district, and there are lots of shops all around. The stairs to get up to the rooms are very narrow and steep! They would not be legal in Australia I don’t think! Some of them aren’t wide enough to fit your foot on and almost like climbing a ladder! Lucky my suitcase is small and light. Not sure how I would go if I had a full size 20kg case going up and down those steps!
After dropping my stuff, I went out to explore. I spent several hours wandering, exploring the shops and seeing the sights. One shop I really wanted to visit was the Rubber Duck Shop. This shop has hundreds of different rubber duckies. Celebrities, doctors, unicorns, you name it they probably have it! I couldn’t decide on one and eventually asked the guy behind the counter if they had any Harry Potter ones. He said they have 1 left, and it is hidden so people have to ask for it. So, I bought it of course! Say hello to Harry Ponder!
I explored lots of shops and got my first introduction to the red-light district. I am surprised as the variety of prostitutes in the windows. Old, young, skinny, chubby, beautiful, unattractive. You are not allowed to take pictures or videos of the windows, to ‘respect the sex workers’, who ‘keep women safe and the men happy’. According to signage.
Every second shop sells weed and loads of edible foods. Many of them have no THC so legal to take back to home countries, again according to the signage. Obviously, the stuff that has actual THC in it is NOT legal to take back to home countries. Space cakes (aka hash brownies) are a popular way to try weed, but plenty of people smoke it. The stench is everywhere!
Another very popular thing here is cheese. One company, Henri Willig, has multiple stores in the tiny centre of Amsterdam, and there are multiple companies here. They ALL have taste testers, which is awesome! Some of my favourite varieties so far include the red pesto gouda, truffle goat cheese, green pesto gouda, asparagus gouda, honey thyme goat cheese and a sheep cheese. I want to buy one of each and bring them home! Unfortunately, the bank account says no to that idea ☹
I also saw some shops selling truffles (similar to magic mushrooms). There come in different types which has different strengths. One shop I saw had this menu in the window! It certainly sounds like it would be an interesting experience!!
After walking around for a few hours, I have come to the conclusion that Amsterdam is EXTREMELY touristy and Americanised. The number of steakhouses, burger joints and American candy stores is ridiculous. I actually struggled to work out what to have for tea as I wanted Dutch food but couldn’t find much, given the number of Argentinian steakhouses, American steakhouses, burgers, fries and pizza places. I settled for a noodle box takeaway.
I went into the SPAR supermarket across the road from my hostel on the way back and discovered they have a decent selection of Bundaberg soft drinks! Wow! I got myself the peach sparkling drink and it was so good!
Then I went back to my hostel to shower and get ready for tomorrow. I have a full day tour and have to be up at 7am. I have a feeling the location of my hostel may make sleeping a little challenging, so I am going to get my earplugs ready!
Day 7 Zaanse Schans and Giethoorn
This morning I had to wake up very early. I got more sleep than expected which was nice, although it was a bit warm in my capsule bed. I was out the door by 7.30am, headed straight for Starbucks for some coffee and then to the meeting point for my tour.
Turns out we were two minivans, both with 9 people in each. In my van, there were 8 Americans and me. Talk about the odd one out!
Our first stop was Zaanse Schans, 20 mins north of Amsterdam. This area is famous for windmills. At one point there were thousands of windmills in the area and now there are only 8. They do still function too which is cool. A couple are sawmills, one is a paint mill and I am not sure about the others.
Once we arrived at the village, we went straight to the Henri Willig cheese factory. We had a demonstration on how the cheese is made, and then let loose in the shop. We were allowed to have as many samples as we wanted. They just keep refilling the plates. They have every single variety available to taste. I got to try the coconut gouda, and the garlic gouda, which I couldn’t taste in the city stores. The coconut one is certainly unique! I think I like it, and it would go well with a sweeter style of condiment. I still want to buy like 10 of them, but I can’t so I haven’t bought any yet.
Next up we went over to the clog factory where we got told the history of clogs and then watched a demonstration. The guy made a clog in 5 mins! They literally make them exactly the same way keys are cut. They have a model, put the chunk of willow in the machine and off it goes. The first machine makes the outside shape. Then it goes into the second machine and the inside is gouged out. He said the wood is very wet, put his mouth over the hole and blew. A whole gush of water spewed out of the wood! I have never seen wood gush water like that! It gets dried for 3 weeks before it is painted and polished.
They have
some on display, like the original style clogs, clogs for swampy peaty areas,
wedding proposal clogs, Sunday clogs for church, ice clogs and open toed clogs.
Then they have a clog covered in diamonds in a glass case. That’s the kind of clog I would have!!
Then we had free time for just over an hour to explore the village. I went walking through some of the streets where the other tourists hadn’t gone (yet!).
After that I went out to the windmills. Some of them were actually turning and you could pay to go inside 2 of them. I didn’t, just took lots of photos and listened to the sound of them spinning. Then when I got to the last one, which was closed and not publicly accessible, I made friends with a local. A 4 legged furry local. It was a beautiful cat, very friendly and affectionate. I got lots of pats.
Then I slowly dawdled back and took a few different paths. I bought a freshly made stroopwafel. These are a Dutch treat and consist of 2 very thin waffles sandwiched together with a layer of syrup, which is somewhere between maple syrup and caramel. It was hot and sweet and yummy!
Then we boarded the van and began the long trip to Giethoorn. It was estimated at 1.5hrs but took almost 2hrs. The trip traverses across a whole lot of reclaimed land and crosses the big lake in the middle of the country. We passed lots of dirt paddocks, a few flower fields and lots more reclaimed land.
At Giethoorn, we arrived before the second van, so we went to the restaurant for lunch. The service was pretty bad, but the food was ok. I just had a burger as I was starving. At 2pm we boarded a big canal boat for a 1hr ride through the canals. After a certain point, the village becomes car-free. The only way to access the homes is by boat and foot. The people who live there have to use boats and wheelbarrows to bring their groceries to their homes! Each home is on a little island, and the people who own the island, own the bridge that connects it to the main pathway. They are also responsible for the maintenance of that bridge so if it breaks, they have to fix it.
The canals are very pretty, and our captain said that in summer when it is peak season, there can be over 1200 boats on the canals! There are 2,700 inhabitants, and they can receive over 10,000 visitors a day! Yikes!
All the boats follow one specific route, and part way through we went out onto the lake and motored past the village. Then we re-entered the village at the opposite end and continue through the canals. Then we had a long period of free time to explore so I walked all over the canals, taking lots of photos.
Then it was time to head back to Amsterdam. It was about 2hrs because traffic was terrible. I went back to my room and chilled out for a bit, charging my phone and trying to decide what to eat. I settled on Mexican and went out for dinner. The service in this place was terrible too! I sat there for more than 5mins after being seated before I was finally given a menu! Anyways, I had a plate of nachos then went walking about the red-light district. I wanted to check it out during the night when it is lively. There were so many people walking the streets. Thousands! I tried to take photos without getting in trouble, focusing mainly on the canals. There were so many prostitutes in the windows! And some were topless! Others were in very skimpy underwear. It is a very strange experience walking down the street and seeing almost naked women behind every window panel lining the footpath!
Then I went back to my hostel to write this and upload photos. My friend is joining me tomorrow and I can’t wait to have some company! But before she gets here, I am off to Anne Frank’s house in the morning.
Day 8 Amsterdam
This morning I woke up early and headed out in search of Anne Frank’s house. You have to pre-book your visit in advance. Tickets are released 2 months early and sell out very quickly! The actual house is on the canal but the entry to the museum is a side street in another building. You get an audio guide with your ticket which is handy. No photos are permitted so I can’t show you the inside of the house. When you go through the entry, you go into the new building, through the turnstiles and outside then into the back of the next building along. From here you begin the museum part. There are photos and information in these rooms. You go through a few rooms here and move into the next building, which is the official Anne Frank House. This building was her father’s warehouse for his business. Then you go up a set of ridiculously steep stairs to the next floor and make your way to the back room. Here is where a special bookshelf was built to conceal the entry to the annex. I never read the book, but I always thought it was an attic that she hid in, but it wasn’t. It was a 3-storey flat at the back of the warehouse in an adjoining building, an annex. Once you step through the bookshelf door (which is original by the way), then you proceed down a short hallway to the room Anne Frank’s parents slept in. Next to that was Anne and Fritz’s room, and a bathroom. Then you go up another set of almost ladder-like stairs to a big open room, which was where the other family slept, and was also the living room and kitchen. There is a big attic above this floor, but it is not accessible to the public. Some of the workers in the warehouse helped hide the 3 families in the annex and provide them with supplies. They were hidden for over 2 years before someone ratted them out. Anne’s father initially removed some photos from the house but put them back on the walls when the house was turned into a museum, and they have now been preserved on the walls.
After this part, you cross back into the front warehouse building and continue with the museum part. At the end, there is a modern interpretation: Anne Frank’s vlog. It has an actress who plays the part of Anne and basically reimagines Anne Frank in the 21st century with smartphones and creating videos of her life. It was very good. Turns out her father was the only member of the family to survive after they were sent to the concentration camps.
Anyways, if you are in Amsterdam, it is definitely worth a visit. Just remember to book well in advance!
Then I was hungry so went in search of food. I chose a little pancake café as I hadn’t tried the Dutch pancakes yet. I chose poffertjes with strawberries and white chocolate, which was delicious, and a coffee, which was terrible.
Then I went
for a walk through the flower market and headed back towards the central
station.
My friend was due to arrive soon, so I hung around for a bit before meeting her at the station. She doesn’t want to be named but said I need to be creative when referring to her so she will be referred to by a whole host of synonyms for friend from here on out. We dropped her bag at the hostel then went in search of food. We chose a café that had good reviews. It was very busy and only had 2 staff members, 1 floor and 1 kitchen. It took a long time for the waitress to come to us and told us the verbal menu. They have no physical menu, and it turns out the place has had the same menu for over 5 years! My dining companion had an eggplant and sundried tomato sandwich, whilst I had a warm goat’s cheese and pine nut salad. It was delicious, just very slow service.
Then we
went walking around the streets, exploring, showing my crony the sights. Since the weather was nice, we decided to sit in a restaurant in the main square to have a drink and chill. We also decided to try the Dutch snack called bitterballen. It is made by making a thick meat stew, chilling it until it is solid, rolling it into balls, crumbing it and then deep frying it. I had heard mixed reviews but I really enjoyed them.
We sampled some cheese, wandered the red-light district and decided to take a canal cruise. It was a nice way to see the city.
Then we went for dinner in an Argentinian steak restaurant. They had a special menu, so she got a steak and I had ribs. Our meals were pretty average unfortunately.
We walked around the streets for a while, people watching and seeing the sights in the evening. It was mild, but very busy!
Then we went to bed as we have an early start tomorrow. My travelling companion has the opposite travel style to me. I plan every second of my day whereas she like to have a rough idea of what she wants to see but decide on the plans on the actual day. I managed to lock her into 1 day of pre-booked activities, and the other 3 days we go with the flow. Tomorrow is our 1 day of pre-booked and pre-planned adventures and the day I have most been looking forward to in Amsterdam.
Day 9 Keukenhof tulip gardens
This morning we had to be up so early for our adventures. We headed down to the metro train station and took a short train tip, before lining up for the Keukenhof gardens bus. The Netherlands is the world’s biggest producer of tulips and exports 80% of the world’s tulip bulbs. April-May is flowering season and a huge drawcard for tourists. One of the biggest events is the Keukenhof tulip gardens. They plant over 7 million bulbs, comprising over 800 types of tulips, lots of daffodils, hyacinths and some other flowering plants.
We had to go early as bookings for the bus were limited. We took a 7 min train and a 35 min bus, so it was fairly quick and easy. Then we walked to a service station for a coffee/tea, and then walked to a nearby industrial estate for our first adventure. We had booked a self-drive tour of the tulip farms in a Renault Twizy. It is an electric 2 seat (front & back, not side by side). It is a very cute little car! The car has a TomTom, which has a preset 22km route through the farms. Well, in the Netherlands, they drive on the other side of the road to Australia, so lucky this was a miniature car, and it was electric!
We saw some lovely fields of tulips and daffodils and stopped to take lots of photos of course.
After our 2hrs we took the car back and headed back to the Keukenhof tulip gardens. We finally got to enter and see all the beautiful tulips! So. Many. Flowers!! It was so pretty! We walked around for a while and got some food. Then we walked a bit more. My comrade wanted to relax in the sun and read her book for a while, so I went and did another lap of the whole park, taking lots of photos. I took so many pictures. Then I went back to my sidekick, and we laid in the sun for a bit longer.
At 4.30pm we decided to make our way back to Amsterdam. We joined the bus queue and ended up on the 4th bus. At 5.10pm our bus departed….and got stuck in traffic immediately. The 35 min trip turned into 2hrs 20 mins. Then we still had to get the train back to central! It was a very long and tiring journey.
We decided to try an Italian restaurant for dinner, and it was extremely busy, but we got a table straight away. There was 1 pasta chef and 1 pizza chef, so service was very slow. The food was very good, but just took forever.
Then we headed back to our hostel to sleep. Tomorrow, we plan on having a lazy morning before going to some art galleries, so I am looking forward to a rest!
Day 10 Amsterdam
This morning we had a lazy morning. We didn’t even wake up until nearly 9am! After a slow start, we headed out in search of a café for breakfast. We chose one about a 15min walk away which had a delicious sounding menu. We got a table after a short wait, and I ordered a truffle benedict, while my ally ordered a pancake big breakfast. The meals were massive. Mine was a thick slab of toast, had some roast beef, poached eggs and truffle hollandaise. It was delicious!
Then we went to hire some bikes. My colleague is an active chicky and bikes are a HUGE part of life in Amsterdam. They have defined and dedicated bike lanes, bikes have more right of way than cars it seems! So, we decided to hire some bikes and cruise around Amsterdam. We selected city bikes, as the Dutch bikes have a different brake system (back pedal to brake).
We decided to make our first stop the Vondelpark, a huge park just outside the city centre. It took a bit to get used to the bikes, traffic and pedestrians, but we made it to the park and rode a few laps. It is a really nice park, and clearly very popular.
Then we decided to head to Rembrandt Park, but after a short ride around we decided to head back to Vondelpark as it was boring. The temperature dropped a lot, and our hands were cold, so we stopped for a drink and to plan our next moves.
We chose another park to go explore, called Beatrixpark. It was a nice park, and we had a big discussion about the meaning of the words ice-cream, icy pole and ice lollies. We have lots of British vs Australian discussions to clarify our meanings!
Then we decided to head to the Moco Museum. There is an area which has a lot of museums in the one place. The Van Gogh Museum was sold out, so we chose the Moco (modern & contemporary art) as it had a Banksy exhibition as well as other artists. It was a busy place!
On the ground floor was some Banksy pieces and some pieces from other artists.
Then you go upstairs, and the middle floor is NFT artwork. NFTs are the buzzword that has been in the news lately: non-fungible tokens. I had to google, and I still don’t really understand, but it is something like digital artwork that is one of a kind and unique and works on something called a blockchain. Yep, no idea. Way too complicated for my brain. But some of the digital art was cool.
The top floor has more artwork by a variety of artists. One of them is a Japanese lady, Yayoi Kusama, who has a temporary exhibition in London called Infinity Mirror Rooms, which I haven’t been able to get tickets to. I was looking forward to seeing her exhibition here in Amsterdam, but it was 3 pieces each with a pumpkin.
We made our way downstairs to the digital immersion section. This section has several rooms which each have a unique immersive display. The first one is a room full of hanging colour-changing diamonds and mirrors. It was amazing!
The next room had some moving digital displays which were ok. The next room has a hanging iridescent bubble display, which was gorgeous. I love it and want it in my house one day!
The last room has all these coloured circles. Then, just before the exit, is a surprise digital immersion room. It features a moving graphic showing some characters building a city in a forest. It was a really nice visit to the museum!
Then we decided to head back to our hostel and stash the bikes for the night.
We went for
a walk to a souvenir shop, then went to a café we wanted to try for dinner.
Unfortunately, they said they were fully booked. We walked around for AGES
looking for somewhere for tea. There are a significant number of Italian
restaurants here, and we had that last night, so we were looking for something
different. A couple more were fully booked so we decided to walk to a German
restaurant at the back of Central station.
We were seated straight away, which was a big relief. We were starving by now! It has been 8hrs since we had breakfast! My buddy and I both ordered schnitzels, mine was Hawaiian and hers was camembert & cranberry. We also got apple strudel for dessert. It was very good! I was very happy with my schnitzel!
When we left it was very cold, so we decided to head straight back to our hostel. It was 9pm anyway. The streets were so busy with very noisy and drunk people so it will be a noisy night tonight!
Day 11 Amsterdam
This morning we woke up early as my energetic buddy wanted to do the Parkrun. It was a 7km 30min ride to Amsterdam Bos Park and we arrived right on 9am so technically we were late (Parkrun starts at exactly 9am). My pal took off to try and catch up while I secured the bikes and went for a little walk. She is so good that she can do 5km in 30mins so after a short walk I went to the café and got a seat in the sun and had a coffee while I waited.
Then we decided to head to a café about 10mins away for breakfast. We got a seat straight away, but we only had Dutch menus (thanks Google Translate for helping) and when we wanted to order, it took about 10mins to get the attention of the waitress. She was terrible and had the demeanor that she really did not want to be there. My comrade had a pancake breakfast, and I had a normal English breakfast. It was good but the service really let the place down.
Then we decided to head to the Hortus botanical gardens. It was a 25min ride and back towards the city centre. We were able to buy a ticket and go in, but when we left the queue was about 30 people long! They have some outdoor gardens with a variety of themes and 5 indoor biomes. The palm one is massive with some lovely palm trees. Then there are the tropical, subtropical and desert ones. These are connected with sliding doors. Walking from the subtropical into the tropical is like a smack in the face with a bucket of hot water. The humidity and temperature were so high that you instantly started sweating and you struggle to breathe. It was really pretty though, and definitely worth it. The desert biome was nice and cool as they had an external door open letting in fresh air. Lastly was the butterfly biome. It is a small rectangular glasshouse with lots of brown, red & black and black & yellow butterflies. They were super active so getting a photo was a challenge!
After we had finished, we rode back to central and went to a big bookshop. My mate is a massive reader and finished the 3 books she brought over and wanted a new one. They also have a café inside the bookshop so she could get a cup of tea as well.
Then we went souvenir shopping. I wanted my obligatory shot glass and some Dutch cheese. We got to try some samples, and they had a new one which was black lemon. It was jet black and had a lemon taste. It was really delicious. I bought the red pesto cheese as it tastes incredible.
Then we
went to the Henri Willig cheese shop, and I bought a coconut cheese and
cranberry mustard. Yum!!
Then, as the weather was amazing, we went to a bar and had a few cocktails in the sun, reading our books and people watching. It was a lovely wind down to our active morning!
We had to return the bikes by 6pm so we took them back and headed off to a café we had previously been to, to have tea. We had starters (goat cheese & tomato pesto tortilla for me, mussels for her) and we both had the same main (steak with goat cheese and strawberry sauce). It was absolutely delicious. The ladies who own/run it are lovely, and even though it was a busy evening, getting there early meant we got a table without waiting. We definitely recommend this place, as it was by far the best food and second-best service we have had in Amsterdam.
Then we hung out in the bar adjoining the hostel for a bit and went for a walk around the red-light district. It was extremely busy! It is incomprehensible to me. The streets are lined with windows, with a red light and an almost naked female in it. Thousands and thousands of people slowly file past, gawking at the females like they are animals in a zoo. It feels extremely degrading, especially when you watch males point at the females and laugh at them. I really don’t understand why the females do it, they must be super desperate for money!
Day 12 Homeward bound
This morning we were rudely woken at 6am. There was some knocking on the dorm door, and someone opened it. Then we heard a bit of talking which turned into yelling and them screaming. This girl was absolutely smashed and in the wrong room, but she was screaming at a girl, who had been asleep, that she was in her bed, and she had to get out. She even climbed into the bed, causing the girl to scream for help. Several of us tried to talk to the drunk girl and make her leave but she wouldn’t so someone went and got a staff member. He came in and made her leave.
A bit later, we got up, packed our things and checked out. We had decided that we wanted to head back to a café we went to the other day for breakfast as it was very good (Greenwood Singel, highly recommend). We had to wait a short while for a table and got a seat inside. My chum had the same as the other day and I had the Pride of Greenwood. With bacon of course. It was excellent!
After breakfast, we decided to go find somewhere to sit in the sun to read for an hour before we headed to the airport. We found a really nice-looking restaurant on the water. It was actually dismantled in order to build the subway and rebuilt afterwards. It was lovely sitting in the sunshine, catching some rays. I have actually managed to get myself a touch of a tan, as evidenced by my watch mark! Winning!
At 12pm we headed to the station to catch our train. It is a very easy trip as the train goes straight from Centraal Station right to the airport, and the platform escalators go straight into the departure’s hall. We had carryon baggage only so went straight to security & immigration. It was an extremely quick process, which was great. Then we walked around the shops for a bit and sat down until boarding time. We were flying EasyJet and had speedy boarding, so we were about the 10th people on the plane. This meant we were able to get overhead storage space. When we flew out, we could see the flower fields from the sky. They stand out a mile away!
It was only a short 50min flight to London Gatwick, and as we were one of the first off the plane (3rd row), we walked straight through the e-gates without any waiting. Within 15mins of landing, we were through immigration and on our way to the train station.
It was a long journey home from Gatwick as there are a lot of tube closures over the Easter weekend. I got home at 5pm and went straight to the shower. It was so good to have a continuous shower and not have to push the button every 10 seconds!
Overall, my time in Amsterdam was great. I had lots of fun with my sister from another mister (last synonym I promise!) and we did a lot of different activities and used a variety of transport modes. Visiting Amsterdam during April/May is definitely a great time to visit to see all the stunning tulips, hyacinths and daffodils. It is a big party city at night with thousands of people on the streets. The stench of weed is everywhere, which is gross. The one thing we both agree on is that the food is pretty crummy. Lots of typical tourist food and not much in the way of Dutch cuisine. Other than stroopwafels (yummy thin caramel waffles) and bitterballen (deep fried balls of meat stew). Also, food is expensive. Breakfast today (eggs on toast, coffee, orange juice) cost me €31, which is nearly $50AUD!!
I highly recommend a trip to the Netherlands. There are lots of interesting places to see and things to do!