Amsterdam, Day Two
We slept in a bit despite the garbage trucks Margo says she'd been hearing since about 6am. I got this picture from our room's window, my first view of the country in daylight.
I got dressed and strolled around a few blocks to get some more pictures and get a bit of a feel for things. Our hotel is downtown, where concentric rings of canals ripple out from the centre. You cross a canal about every two blocks.
When I first saw trolleys like this it reminded me of the ones in Portland; perhaps they're from the same manufacturer.
It's not hard to find buildings that are crooked. I later learned that this is because of the marshy foundations and the age of the buildings. Newer buildings actually lean forward a bit, intentionally. Under the gable of each building is a furniture hook for hoisting large things, so a forward-leaning building aids hoisting. I'd also read that buildings are narrow because at one time they were taxed by width.
And then there are the bikes. They are ubiquitous. There are many bike lanes, but instead of saying that every street has a bike lane, it's probably more accurate to say that bikes ride everywhere. The bikes are almost all the same style. People ride them in everyday clothes. Racks like this one seem to be every 50 feet, and they're all filled.
Back in our room, we went downstairs and had breakfast at a coffee shop next to our hotel. Strong, tasty coffee that you could stain your deck with, plus pastries and hot chocolate for Sarah.
After breakfast we split up. Sarah and Margo went on a boat tour of some canals. Margo planned to get a disposable camera but she didn't so we have no pictures to share from that. But don't worry, my trip was more interesting anyway.
When I found I could take an English language bike tour, and that it was named Mike's Bike Tours, I could not possibly pass it up. The tour met in the museum district, so I walked there and got more pictures along the way.
Much of the residential areas look like this. I like how trees line both sides.
And ah, the famous Yellow Bikes. I'd been reading about these for years and years. There have been many imitators, but I don't know if any others have lasted: Minneapolis and Portland tried it; I volunteered on a pink bike project in Olympia. They failed due to attrition of bikes. I didn't research it here, but I've read one thing that helps it work here is that you pay a coin or so to borrow a bike, and it's refunded when you return it, so that barrier to entry, plus decent bike locks, plus the ubiquity of bikes, all help reduce thefts. Oh, and I seem to remember a colleague of mine calling bike frames like these ... what was the word? Girlie? I am certain he will repent and apologize profusely upon seeing this picture.
Arriving at the museum district, I got this money shot of the Rijksmuseum ...
... and one of the Van Gogh Museum.
The tour met in front of the Rijkmuseum. An ex-Californian gave us the safety introduction, then we split into two groups; I was with the other one led by a Dutch Canadian. We walked a few blocks to their garage, where we mounted fat-tire multispeeds. The tallest rider (not me!) was designated the "ass-man" to bring up the rear, since he was most easily visible at a distance. An Aussie, he had the perfect rejoinder: "Actually, I'm more of a boob man."
In the Netherlands, they drive on the right, so at least my biking was familiar. I don't remember the exact route, but we did ride through Rembrandt Plaza, where we stopped and admired a sculpture that reproduces one of his best-known paintings. Then we rode to the River Amstel (which, with a dam, gives Amsterdam its name) where I got this shot. In the background are some skyscrapers including the Rembrandt Tower and a tower for Philips.
We later rode right through the towers; a single bike path cuts diagonally across the plaza, and there's nothing else as the car parking is all underground and no streets cross it. Here's what it looks like from Google Earth. I wished I'd had a camera mount on my bike; we saw some very neat things that I couldn't capture while riding.
We followed the river and soon we were in countryside. I think the Netherlands has the densest population in Europe so land use planning is very highly-managed. It's amazing to ride a short distance and be next to cow or sheep pastures, and then see clusters of office towers nearby. There is of course no sprawl as we know it in the States. We made a stop at a windmill for this group photo (we put all our cameras in a pile so our guide could take these).
I also wanted to mention that, not only do people not wear Lycra or Spandex or such, nobody wears a helmet either. I asked why and was told it's because there's no helmet law. There's the obvious safety reason for wearing a helmet but apparently there aren't many accidents - people ride at slower speeds and other vehicles are more aware of bikers - so there doesn't seem to be as much of a safety concern.
Next we visited a farm where we got a tour showing how they make cheese, and later on, how they make wooden shoes. I should mention that I thought the cheese was fantastic. I'd had a sandwich for lunch earlier and the cheese really stood out.
We continued on back into town past a financial district, more residences, and the Voldelpark, sort of like Amsterdam's Central Park. Then we got pints at the Leidseplein plaza.
I should write a bit about the city's famously liberal policies. Does everybody have lots of public sex and smoke lots of MJ while living in the welfare state? No. Some of the left-leaning is a reaction to the Fascism of World War II when, after signing a peace treaty with the Germans, they invaded the country anyway. To this day a German tourist asking for directions may be directed to the Holocaust Museum, and British and American tourists are a bit more appreciated. But there's also a strong pragmatism. Legal sales of cannabis provide extra taxes. Prostitutes are assured healthy working conditions. And when you grow up in a culture where soft drugs and sex are very open, there's much less to rebel against. There are much fewer teen pregnancies here, for example. Harder drugs are aggressively prosecuted, though. And many locals are embarrassed by the city's international reputation as a liberal haven, so for example there's pressure to close down coffee shops at the slightest legal infraction.
My tour broke up so I joined Margo and Sarah at our hotel. We had dinner nearby. The service was quite slow. Another thing I should mention is that Amsterdamers like to smoke. Not everyone, but there's not much in the way of non-smoking sections, so you have to pretty much expect some smoke with your meals. We then returned to our room and retired straightaway. We did hear lots of noisy people at night from our room - lots of singing, even - which is a change from the English reserve we've become used to.
I got dressed and strolled around a few blocks to get some more pictures and get a bit of a feel for things. Our hotel is downtown, where concentric rings of canals ripple out from the centre. You cross a canal about every two blocks.
When I first saw trolleys like this it reminded me of the ones in Portland; perhaps they're from the same manufacturer.
It's not hard to find buildings that are crooked. I later learned that this is because of the marshy foundations and the age of the buildings. Newer buildings actually lean forward a bit, intentionally. Under the gable of each building is a furniture hook for hoisting large things, so a forward-leaning building aids hoisting. I'd also read that buildings are narrow because at one time they were taxed by width.
And then there are the bikes. They are ubiquitous. There are many bike lanes, but instead of saying that every street has a bike lane, it's probably more accurate to say that bikes ride everywhere. The bikes are almost all the same style. People ride them in everyday clothes. Racks like this one seem to be every 50 feet, and they're all filled.
Back in our room, we went downstairs and had breakfast at a coffee shop next to our hotel. Strong, tasty coffee that you could stain your deck with, plus pastries and hot chocolate for Sarah.
After breakfast we split up. Sarah and Margo went on a boat tour of some canals. Margo planned to get a disposable camera but she didn't so we have no pictures to share from that. But don't worry, my trip was more interesting anyway.
When I found I could take an English language bike tour, and that it was named Mike's Bike Tours, I could not possibly pass it up. The tour met in the museum district, so I walked there and got more pictures along the way.
Much of the residential areas look like this. I like how trees line both sides.
And ah, the famous Yellow Bikes. I'd been reading about these for years and years. There have been many imitators, but I don't know if any others have lasted: Minneapolis and Portland tried it; I volunteered on a pink bike project in Olympia. They failed due to attrition of bikes. I didn't research it here, but I've read one thing that helps it work here is that you pay a coin or so to borrow a bike, and it's refunded when you return it, so that barrier to entry, plus decent bike locks, plus the ubiquity of bikes, all help reduce thefts. Oh, and I seem to remember a colleague of mine calling bike frames like these ... what was the word? Girlie? I am certain he will repent and apologize profusely upon seeing this picture.
Arriving at the museum district, I got this money shot of the Rijksmuseum ...
... and one of the Van Gogh Museum.
The tour met in front of the Rijkmuseum. An ex-Californian gave us the safety introduction, then we split into two groups; I was with the other one led by a Dutch Canadian. We walked a few blocks to their garage, where we mounted fat-tire multispeeds. The tallest rider (not me!) was designated the "ass-man" to bring up the rear, since he was most easily visible at a distance. An Aussie, he had the perfect rejoinder: "Actually, I'm more of a boob man."
In the Netherlands, they drive on the right, so at least my biking was familiar. I don't remember the exact route, but we did ride through Rembrandt Plaza, where we stopped and admired a sculpture that reproduces one of his best-known paintings. Then we rode to the River Amstel (which, with a dam, gives Amsterdam its name) where I got this shot. In the background are some skyscrapers including the Rembrandt Tower and a tower for Philips.
We later rode right through the towers; a single bike path cuts diagonally across the plaza, and there's nothing else as the car parking is all underground and no streets cross it. Here's what it looks like from Google Earth. I wished I'd had a camera mount on my bike; we saw some very neat things that I couldn't capture while riding.
We followed the river and soon we were in countryside. I think the Netherlands has the densest population in Europe so land use planning is very highly-managed. It's amazing to ride a short distance and be next to cow or sheep pastures, and then see clusters of office towers nearby. There is of course no sprawl as we know it in the States. We made a stop at a windmill for this group photo (we put all our cameras in a pile so our guide could take these).
I also wanted to mention that, not only do people not wear Lycra or Spandex or such, nobody wears a helmet either. I asked why and was told it's because there's no helmet law. There's the obvious safety reason for wearing a helmet but apparently there aren't many accidents - people ride at slower speeds and other vehicles are more aware of bikers - so there doesn't seem to be as much of a safety concern.
Next we visited a farm where we got a tour showing how they make cheese, and later on, how they make wooden shoes. I should mention that I thought the cheese was fantastic. I'd had a sandwich for lunch earlier and the cheese really stood out.
We continued on back into town past a financial district, more residences, and the Voldelpark, sort of like Amsterdam's Central Park. Then we got pints at the Leidseplein plaza.
I should write a bit about the city's famously liberal policies. Does everybody have lots of public sex and smoke lots of MJ while living in the welfare state? No. Some of the left-leaning is a reaction to the Fascism of World War II when, after signing a peace treaty with the Germans, they invaded the country anyway. To this day a German tourist asking for directions may be directed to the Holocaust Museum, and British and American tourists are a bit more appreciated. But there's also a strong pragmatism. Legal sales of cannabis provide extra taxes. Prostitutes are assured healthy working conditions. And when you grow up in a culture where soft drugs and sex are very open, there's much less to rebel against. There are much fewer teen pregnancies here, for example. Harder drugs are aggressively prosecuted, though. And many locals are embarrassed by the city's international reputation as a liberal haven, so for example there's pressure to close down coffee shops at the slightest legal infraction.
My tour broke up so I joined Margo and Sarah at our hotel. We had dinner nearby. The service was quite slow. Another thing I should mention is that Amsterdamers like to smoke. Not everyone, but there's not much in the way of non-smoking sections, so you have to pretty much expect some smoke with your meals. We then returned to our room and retired straightaway. We did hear lots of noisy people at night from our room - lots of singing, even - which is a change from the English reserve we've become used to.
posted by Michael Nelson at 2:31 am
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