I began my monthlong epic saga travelling with friends McDow and Kavita, leaving from Newark, NJ, on boxing day. Our first stopping off point was to visit my friend Leah in Amsterdam, en route to the New Years' Hogmanay celebrations in Scotland. Arriving in Schiphol airport is like entering a self-contained indoor city, and the airport recently switched over to English being the primary spoken (and sign-posted) language, making it slightly more surreal.
However, the entire city of Amsterdam is fully functional in English, as well as Dutch, making it incredibly easy to navigate around. In many places, all the signage is even completely in English.
After arriving at Centraal Station, which is a gorgeous building located on its own island by the port, we took a taxi from across the tram lines to near Hans Brinker, our budget hotel. This was located on Kerkstraat, a fairly quiet area close to Dam Square and Leidseplein, and close to a very nice, quiet little coffee shop where we went with Leah on our first night.
Amsterdam is constructed almost in a circle, with an interweaving network of canals, channeling the water left over from after the land reclamation. (There are some quasi-mythical fears among the natives of the city one day sinking back into the sea.) It is also, like Dublin, quite a low city, with plenty of beautiful 17th and 18th century architecture, and the cobblestone streets are full of pedestrians and cyclists, as well as the trams and cars. Thus, it is quite a busy city traffic-wise, despite its otherwise seemingly laid-back atmosphere.
For dinner our first night, we ate a great meal of savoury pancakes, topped with dollops of treacle, at a little old pancake shop.
Later on, we headed for a stroll around the infamous redlight district, after experiencing the relaxed atmosphere of the small coffee shop near the hotel, both experiences without which no trip to Amsterdam would be complete. Tramping along the narrow streets and alleyways of the redlight district, with its racially segregated displays, offers a very interesting perspective on sexuality and how it’s viewed there – especially after spending some pensive smoking time at a coffee shop first. At the going rate of € 50 for 15 minutes, though, it’s definitely an opportunity for window-shopping alone.
The following morning, after checking into some lockers at Centraal, we walked back along Damrak, one of the main shopping thoroughfares, towards a canal tour company that cruises around the city – a good way to see another angle on things.
Afterwards, we walked across the city towards the Musuemplein, where the main art and cultural museums, and the opera house, are. The main one, the Rijksmuseum, is in a huge and very elaborate building that sits imposingly at one end of a long reflecting pool and park. Passing through arches underneath the building, we saw a small Mongolian music group perform.
Both the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh were € 8 or more, with no student discount, so we decided instead to check out the nearby Heineken experience. This was kind of manufactured, but fun nonetheless, and the entrance fee of € 7.50 includes a souvenir glass and 3 small Heinekens.
Finally, we met Leah again at a small café called Crea that she frequents, right beside the centre of the Universitat. A nice, relaxing way to finish off our Amsterdam experience.
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