I don’t really know how it happened, but Amsterdam became our favorite stop so far. The place is built on sand with pilings for support, and some of the buildings have an obvious lean to them. Bicycles are literally everywhere, canals also. I admire the Dutch for their pragmatic handling of the sex trade and marijuana sales and consumption ~ it’s gonna happen so you might as well make it safe
There’s a verse in the children’s song “There Were Three Jolly Fishermen” that continuously cycled through my head for the 6 days we spent in Amsterdam. The singer is scolded for using the word “dam” and somehow finds a way to use it more often. The part that stuck in my ear was this:
They should have gone to Amsterdam.
Children’s song – There Were Three Jolly Fisherman
They should have gone to Amsterdam.
Amster, amster, dam, dam, dam.
Amster, amster, dam, dam, dam.
They should have gone to Amsterdam.
.
You should go to Amsterdam too. Take a tour boat ride through the canals and see why some call this place the Venice of the North. I wouldn’t recommend riding a bike in downtown Amsterdam unless you know exactly where you’re going and are super confident in your skills, but riding around the many parks, canal paths and streets outside the congested old town is a blast! Take your bike on a free ferry across the Amstel and ride into the countryside to see a working windmill.
We learned about Indonesian food here, so have a serving of rijsttafel ~ so yummy. French fries from street vendors are crispy and served with mayonnaise. I don’t know how they do it, but every single fry is crispy and delicious. I may be ruined for French fries the rest of my life. Try other tasty fried snacks like bitterballen and oiliboilen. Dutch pancakes are also a thing of beauty: a cross somewhere between crepes and American pancakes.
The Van Gogh museum was very cool and super educational. The Rijksmuseum was an eye-opening display of talented Dutch painters, furniture makers, weavers and pottery makers from the mid seventeenth century on. Smoke a bowl or cigarette of marijuana and chill. Buy a sex toy at one of the many shops in the Red Light District. You can do almost anything in Amsterdam.
Would I live here? Maybe. Certainly not in the busy and crowded old town, but maybe a little further out. Would I come back for another visit? Absolutely! So many more things to see and do.
A ferry ride away is Scotland. We are looking forward to some quiet, rural life for a couple of days. Cooking in and hanging out “at home” ~ a vacation from the vacation. We’ll let you know how that goes.
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