amsterdam, netherlands - part 1

amsterdam's the kind of place that surprises you once you get over its reputation as a liberal city full of druggies and prostitutes and actually see the city. it isn't just all about drugs and sex. at least not the sections we went to.

we took a train in from den haag and checked into our hotel, dropping off our stuff before heading to the city centre. our hotel, the novotel europa, was in the outskirts of the city, far away (a 20 minute tram-ride to be exact) from the sights and sounds of the centre. but the fact that breakfast (and a fabulous buffet one at that!) was included and there was a tram stop just a short 5 min walk away made up for the distance. the hotel and room were very modern in design and well appointed.

we had arranged to meet isaac in front of the anne frank huis, intending to go in for the tour. unfortunately, our detour to the hotel took us longer than anticipated and we were late for our rendezvous. as a result, the queue was ridiculously long, stretching around the house and down a block. we figured it would have been about a 45 min wait to get in. on top of that isaac was nowhere to be seen. in fact, he had gone in without us seeing as we hadn't arrived yet. we finally found him when he came out. we considered going in, but didn't particularly want to wait in line. isaac also told us that, while it was interesting, a lot had been changed to facilitate the museum aspect and we were probably better off just reading the diary to get the experience.

we walked around, soaking in the picturesque canals and bridges and ended up in a magnificent looking building that ended up being a mall called the magna plaza. after a quick look around a department store oddly named 'sissy boy', we set off in search of some lunch. being in the shopping district close to the city centre, it was difficult to find non-touristy places. we ended up in, of all places, a kebab shop. it's only ironic for us, since we live next door to a kebab shop in london.

after lunch we set off for, you guessed it, more walking. we wandered around the narrow alleys, and winding pedestrian walkways, passing by the occasional coffeeshop and catching a whiff of, well, you know, until we ended up at amsterdam's famous floating flower market. it's definitely something cas' mom, or any gardener for that matter, would quite enjoy as the selection was massive. besides, the fact that the stores are floating on the canal is quite novel. of course, getting any seeds or plants back home would pose at least a little challenge. we weren't bothered enough to figure out whether it was more cost effective to buy seeds there and send them back or just buy seeds at home. seeing how we don't have a garden, the point was moo. (as in, it's a cow's opinion. it doesn't matter. although we didn't say that out loud. the way the dutch love their cows, they might have deported us on the spot. yes, we know the correct term is moot.)

we gradually made our way back closer to the city centre (mainly marked by amsterdam centraal train station), coming full circle in our little mini-tour. as it was nearing dusk, we started sizing up dinner options. caspian was a little hungrier, so we stopped by a tiny shop off one of the alleys for a snack of a broodje haring (herring sandwich). the shop was a tiny place consisting of a counter, a fridge and maybe four tables at most that was likely only frequented by locals. the gentleman behind the counter was very cordial and appreciated our modest attempts at speaking dutch.

for dinner, we decided to be completely adventurous and have indonesian food! the guidebook had mentioned that there was a sizable migration of indonesians to the netherlands in the 1940s, so we figured we'd give it a try. we found this great little indonesian restaurant off a side street, much less dodgy than some of the other alleys we passed through. the food was yummy, and satisfied the hunger in our bellies!

however, that being said, after dinner, we still managed to have the desire to seek out a place that sold chips. it's rather hard not to want some when every other person you walk past on the street is holding a cone of chips! the place we ended up getting the chips from was "voted #1 holland's fries", rightfully (or perhaps not) named manneken pis. as you may recall, the manneken pis is a statue that we visited in brussels, belgium...hmmm...makes you wonder what the connection is...

after that, we walked with isaac to the train station so he could head back to den haag. as all the shops had pretty much closed by this point and it was too dark to take any decent photos of the city, we decided to pack it in for the night. after all, a second day in amsterdam awaited us the next day...

to be continued...