Amsterdam

Jon's stomach kept him awake in the night, so he didn't want to come with us today.  Our plans changed right from the beginning. Of course we didn't try to talk him into coming with us but it was sad to leave him by himself while we headed off to Amsterdam.

We left the apartment right on time and it was pitch dark and silent outside. No one was in the streets.  We caught the bus to the train, made the connection immediately and headed off to the big city.  Our destination was a waffle place that opened at 9 AM, and Becca knew there were only about 10 seats in this little restaurant so we needed to be early -- neither of us likes to wait in line.  We were the first ones in and we sat right next to the cook who moved expertly around his tiny kitchen, spreading batter on griddles, chopping fruit, rolling and filling pancakes. It was a front row seat. He knew everything about food safety. Becca was pleased to see the two co-workers talking and working at the same time, even singing along to the radio, but their hands never stopped moving.

Rolled pancake (crepe) with vegetables and gouda.

Quintessentially Dutch corner building.

The first time we've seen a tea stick.

We had a lovely breakfast and then headed out to be tourists.  This is one city that has plenty of tourists even in the middle of winter (Jon and I are accustomed to having museums to ourselves, to finding no lines, and occasionally eating alone in restaurants).  We had not thought ahead enough to realize that we should have made reservations to see the Anne Frank house.  When we got there we learned that it was sold out for today but I also saw that it was a destination that I might want to skip anyway.  There is a whole museum space built around the tiny house, and there are crowds of people waiting in line.  Not really my speed.  Maybe another time.  We walked to another museum that interested me: Amsterdam Museum.  The history of Amsterdam, in connection with other historical events, and how the current identity came to be.  Just our kind of museum, with a clear story line and good words.  And just to show how advanced they are in this country, they offer to loan anyone a lightweight stool to carry around the museum.  It was perfect and increased my capacity to stop and read signs and watch little videos and gaze at art.

Outside it was cooler than we had expected, and pretty grey.  We walked along the canals, went to see the Dam Square, wandered through the Red Light District, admired the blocks and blocks of tall skinny houses tucked in tightly next to each other. 

Note the building to the left has a forward tilt, compared to the
building off the image, and has a hoist support at the top for
lifting large items (i.e. furniture) into the upper windows.

Eventually it felt like it was time for lunch so we went to a little Malaysian restaurant where all the customers appeared to be Asian. Delicious curry chicken soup and a mildly spicy beef dish. We ate happily.

We didn't really want to go to another museum but we had a lot of the day left to use up before our appointment to go on a canal boat cruise to see the light show.  We meandered around some more and decided it was too cold and I was done with walking on all this pavement.  Got on a tram and rode to a random destination, then figured out what we really wanted to do and headed back to Centraal.  We wanted to hang out in a public library and luckily there was a very convenient one just a couple blocks away.  Spent a couple hours reading, knitting, charging up Becca's phone.  Rejuvenated, we went back out into the night and found our boat.

On our nighttime cruise, it was too dark and drizzly for a picture. This was from our earlier walk.

This cruise idea came from our host in Maastricht, and if we had known that Jon wasn't going to be with us, we wouldn't have bought three tickets and we might have not stayed so long in Amsterdam. But we didn't want to waste the tickets so we dutifully got on the 7:40 boat with all the other Dutch and American tourists.  The light show was a collection of 23 installations created by artists from around the world especially for this location.  The general theme was "the medium is the message" and the narration attempted to link these various pieces together.  Less is more when it comes to explaining art.  Some of it we liked very much (the giant dandelion fuzz lights dangling over the canal, the lanterns made of old washing machine tubs) and some we didn't understand and some were entertaining.  The boat ride was worth it by itself, though, because we got to toodle around in the canals and see the city from that angle.

Another super smooth train ride, 10 minutes on the bus and we were back home in Utrecht. Jon was somewhat better after a day of rest, still not eating anything.  Becca and I ate up all the leftovers from last night and had a nice cup of tea.

I have never been to Amsterdam before and it was a good long day of finally getting to see it for myself with an excellent, patient tour guide.  We obviously barely scratched the surface but it was enough for now.  I can see why so many people like it so much.  Very cool.