Amsterdam: August 1 - 3

Monday August 1st

We had first class Eurail passes for traveling around Europe, but we didn't realize we needed a reservation for the high-speed train from Paris to Amsterdam via Brussels. We instead wound up traveling second class via Lille and Antwerp. It was a long but comfortable train ride.

Arriving in Amsterdam, we made our way from the train station down busy Damrak street to our hotel. We stayed at the Swissotel, part of the Fairmont conglomerate, at Dam square in the city center. A sign in the hotel lobby was a reminder that we were in one of Europe's more "free-spirited" cities.

Amsterdam is built around canals dating from the 17th century. Once you leave the main thoroughfares it's easy to find yourself walking through quiet and peaceful neighborhoods like this one, as we did on our way to dinner our first evening there.

The next day was sunny and warm. We decided to begin our day with a canal tour by boat.

 Our tour took us through some of the older and historic areas of Amsterdam. This was a fantastic experience; gliding smoothly down quiet, tree-lined canals. 

One of the reasons the city is so quiet is because aside from the main thoroughfares there aren't many cars, in part because parking is so difficult.

Most people in the city seem to get around by bikes instead of cars. Everywhere you look 

there are bicycles, it seems.

Lots of houseboats, too.

Many of the old homes lining the canals seem narrow and tall. Our guide told us this was because in the old days houses were taxed not by square footage but by the amount of street-front space they occupied. The thrifty Dutch owners accordingly built their houses narrow but deep, extending far back from the street.

Narrow staircases make it difficult to move furniture in and out, so most of the old homes have hooks at the top for hoisting furniture in and out via the outside of the building. The homes are also built at a slight angle, extending over the canals, to give more "wiggle room" when hoisting.
    

We enjoyed our morning tour so much we decided to take an afternoon tour as well. This one took us through the harbor and along some of the busier waterways and canals. 

Our Dutch guides were friendly and informative. We agreed that cruising the canals was the best way to see this historic city.

Dinner that evening was at one of the many Argentinian restaurants.

On Wednesday we visited the Van Gogh Museum. The largest collection of his paintings are here organized over several floors to show his development. It was very interesting and we really got a sense of the different periods in Van Gogh's life.

Later that day we went to the Anne Frank House. No cameras or phones were allowed, so I found this

cut-away online to show the Secret Annex and the labyrinth of hallways, stairs and little rooms. It was very moving to be walking through Anne's story in the very rooms where it took place.

The Dutch colonized Indonesia (among other places), and for dinner we decided to try one of the several Indonesian restaurants recommended in our guide. We were rewarded with one of the best meals on our trip, in a lovely restaurant with a great vibe. We shared the large "Rijstaffel" ("rice table" in Dutch), a series of tapas-like plates brought to our table in seemingly never-ending succession.

"Then he had rystafel. He had it every day. He heaped a soup-plate high with rice... and presently his plate was piled high in a huge pyramid. He stirred it all together and began to eat... His attention was applied to the mass in front of him and he consumed it with happy concentration. It never palled on him. And when he had emptied the great plate it was a compensation to think that next day he would have rystafel again."

"The Vessel of Wrath"
W. Somerset Maugham