Day 0  - Wed Aug 23

I took a late flight from Vancouver to Munich that was completely full so of course I ended up in a middle seat.  Air Transat has the option of reserving seats for $20 extra which most people took advantage of.  The week before, there was the liquid bomb scare so all liquids and gels were banned on carry on luggage including toothpaste, lip balm, and bottled water.  There was also a security guard strike that was averted last minute the previous night so everything was good to go.  I had packed fairly heavy since I wanted to minimize doing laundry but I could've dropped some weight and space by not carrying a sleeping bag (most hostels now have sheets and blankets) and sports sandals (not quite summertime).

Amsterdam  - Windmills, Weed and Wheels

Day 1 - Thur Aug 24

After a 9 hour flight, we landed a Schipol Airport southwest of the city centre.  I needed to take a train to Central Station and tried to used the automatic ticket machines but it wouldn't take my non-smart credit card.  A ticket to Central was €3.60 +  €0.50 transaction fee.  I almost got on the wrong train so you need to make sure the train that you board stops at the right station (check the board when the train comes in).  It was early afternoon and I found the hostel (Flying Pig Downtown) fairly easy after a short walk.  The Flying Pig has a reputation as a party hostel and it had a fairly young clientele.  Due to lack of availability, I had to book a larger dorm (14 beds w/ 2 bathrooms) for two nights before changing to a 4 bedroom dorm.  Amenities included free internet and private bathrooms.  However, the bunk beds lacked rails and ladders and of course I got stuck in a top bunk.  After checking in, I took a walk around.  The hostel was on a pedestrian shopping street close to the Red Light District (RLD) and right in the city centre.  It can get a bit disorienting walking around since there are no landmarks and the canals run in all directions so it was easy to go around in circles.  I used the position of the sun based on the time of day to figure out direction but a compass would've worked better (especially on a rainy day).  After coming back to the hostel, I had a couple of beers in the smoky downstairs bar before trying to sleep (fairly difficult with snorers and sleep talkers in the room combined with jet lag).  Ear plugs might have helped.

Day 2 - Fri Aug 25

I headed out in the morning and it was raining pretty heavily.  Being a Vancouverite, it didn't let it stop me from going out.  However, the rain stopped after a couple of minutes and I headed back to get changed since I got fairly soaked after a short walk outside.  I decided to take a long walk along mainly pedestrian shopping streets to the Van Gogh Museum.  Entry was €10 and it was fairly busy inside.  Famous parts of the collection included his self portraits and sunflowers.  You could see how the style of his paintings changed at different points of his life.  I spent the rest of day exploring on foot.  There was an arts festival going on and all the squares had stages setup for free live music.  I also walked through the flower market.  Tulips weren't in season though you could buy wooden ones, bulbs or cannabis seeds.

Day 3 - Sat Aug 26

I took a tram (€1.60 or 2 strips on a strippenkaart - 15 strip card for €6.50) to the Rijksmuseum since I planned on doing a bike tour that was meeting there in the afternoon and the weather seemed to be improving.  The exhibit seemed kind of small but I think parts of the building may have been under renovation.  Famous works in this museum included Rembrandt's Night Watch & Potato Eaters, and Vermeer's Milk Maid (a very small painting).  It was Rembrandt's 400th anniversary so there were a lot of Rembrandt exhibits and banners in the city.  After the museum, I signed up with the bike tour (Mike's Bike Tours €24).  The tour led us through several sites in the city before heading south through bike paths along the Amstel river to a windmill (not many left in Amsterdam itself) and a cheese and clog factory.  If anyone else does this tour, they need to take a video of the farmer coring out the clogs.  It was quite funny as he gets the girls up front and he puts his hips into guiding the equipment.  We then stopped at the Hilton famous for John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Bed-In honeymoon/peace press conference and then cycled back through Vondelpark.  We had a beer at a pub in Leidseplein before ending the tour.  Amsterdam is great for biking with both bike paths and separated bike lanes in the city.  As a pedestrian, you have to be careful you're not walking in a bike lane.  This was the first day I brought out my camera and I hadn't noticed my camera batteries were dead so I wasn't able to take any pics.  Otherwise I would've had some pics with the three cute English girls on my bike tour.  I walked through the RLD in the evening and the area was jam packed with tourists which would be typical for a weekend.  I thought of going to the Casa Rosso to see a live sex show but the €30 entry was a bit expensive.

Day 4 - Sun Aug 27

I had been looking for a walking tour and didn't find anything online.  I had come across a brochure in the hostel for a free walking tour run by the same company offering tours in Munich and Berlin.  Since the weather wasn't too bad I headed over to the tour starting point at 11am by tourist info booth next to the central train station.  Part of the tour explained the history of both the city and with the canal houses.  Since houses were taxed based on width, houses were relatively narrow and tall. The tour ended up at Anne Frank's House (€7.50).  The line up wasn't that bad so I decided to wait in line.  Though I haven't read the book, I know the story fairly well and it was quite moving actually experiencing the story -  seeing the rooms, and peering out the windows.  That night I went on a pub crawl I found through the walking tour (€20).  The pub crawl had a pickup at Dam Square but the first bar was at Leidseplein so we jumped on a tram to get there.  It was a fun night dancing with some Aussie and German girls and I managed to stumble my way back to the hostel late.  Not sure if there were night trams.  Worst part about going drinking in Amsterdam is having to pay to use the washroom in the bars.

Day 5 - Mon Aug 28

I was fairly hung over after the pub crawl and it was rainy so luckily I didn't have much planned.  I bought my train ticket to Berlin (€100) at the international ticket counter at the train station and visited the sex museum (€3) around the corner.  Not much in the sex museum I haven't already seen on the internet.  It was a pretty quiet day.  I headed into the EasyInternet on Damark but was surprised to learn that they had porn filters on their PC's.... especially when I could walk 1 block and see hard core porn displayed in the window of sex shops.

Day 6 - Tue Aug 29

I forgot one of the top things I wanted to do in Amsterdam was to visit the Heineken Experience (€10) which was the old brewery converted to a mini theme park.  To get there, I walked the long way along the eastern part of the city trying my best not to get lost.  I found a flea market by Waterlooplein and stopped off to Rembrandtplein to take some photos of the 3D version of Rembrandt's Night Watch and his statue.  I had a little trouble finding the brewery since my map showed it at the plaza and not at the end of the block.  Admission included 3 small beers and a gift that turned out to be a bottle opener.  There were a couple of motion simulator rides and lots of hands on activities.   I met a small group from England in the last bar and got a picture with the girls.

Day 7 - Wed Aug 30

I took the free early morning shuttle to the Flying Pig Beach Hostel in Noordwijk which was a 30 minute journey.  The weather was cool, very windy and a bit rainy so I guess I missed the summer season.  Noordwijk is a small seaside resort known for kite surfing with wide, expansive beaches that reminded me of Denmark.  With the cool weather, there wasn't that much to do but I ended up getting a room to myself so used the opportunity to get some much needed quiet sleep.  If I had a bit more energy, I could've done a bike tour.

Day 8 - Thur Aug 31

In the morning, I took the bus to Leiden (4 strips on the Strippenkaart).  Leiden is the birthplace of Rembrandt and had a few attractions including a windmill you could enter, and several museums.  I took a canal boat tour (€8?), headed up the windmill, and visited the Rijksmuseum.  I actually wanted to see the Egyptian museum but ended up in the anthropology museum by mistake.  I guess Rijksmuseum translates to National museum and there was more than one depending on theme.  This would be my last day in Holland before heading to Berlin.

Amsterdam Notes

Most Dutch people spoke English so I never had to learn one word of Dutch.  Some spoke with an English accent so it was a bit confusing.

XXX is the symbol of Amsterdam even though we associate it with hard core porn.  This is probably not coincidence since porn and other goods from Amsterdam was marked XXX.  The symbol can be found everywhere (originally I thought it was marking the red light district) from buildings to manhole covers.

Unluckily, there were McDonald's everywhere.  A meal was around €5 and they had a €1 menu (hamburger or a small Tropicana).  Croquettes were popular and could be found at self serve vending restaurants (Febo) and there was a McKroket as well.  Fries and loempias (Vietnamese spring rolls) also seemed to be popular as well as asian stir fry places (Wok and Walk/Lemongrass).  I found a great cafeteria-style chain, La Place, with fresh ingredients and reasonable prices.

In general, Amsterdam is a bit pricey for Europe especially with food and accommodations.  I paid €6 for a basic sandwich, water and juice at the train station and the hostel was €35/night shared.  Looking back I should've spent less time in Amsterdam and maybe skipped the beach but it was good to have the time to recover from jet lag.  Almost all public washrooms are pay ranging from 20 cents to €1 for use.  At restaurants, tipping is not expected but appreciated.  Typically, you should just round up your bill.  I had caught a cough the first week I was there and my theory was that I washed my hands less before eating, especially when I had to pay a to use washrooms.

One interesting note was I didn't visit one church in Amsterdam which is rare in Europe.  Most of the older churches in the city centre were converted for some other use.  We did walk by a church on a walking tour which was a cathedral built inside a canal house but we never went inside.

Crooked houses on Damark	Night Watch Sculpture at Rembrandtplein	English birds at the Heineken Experience

Next Part 2: Berlin