Eurotrip - Amsterdam, Netherlands

Here lies the final chapter in our backpacking Europe adventure! To a mythical land both previously visited by Vitali and I -- for very different reasons. I visited in 2015 with my small office in Texas in an effort to seek out "the future of retail". Vitali on the other hand -- had won an all-expenses-paid trip with 30 other young people after buying a Sony Ericsson cell phone, in the year 2002.

Both events were long enough ago that we were able to visit with fresh eyes. But first, we had to get there...

We had found relatively inexpensive flights from Amsterdam to the Faroes so we just had to find a good way to get to Amsterdam. We looked at the train -- a harrowing 17 hour ride; busses -- out of the question; and planes. The plane was going to be our best bet but the flights direct to Amsterdam were all outrageously expensive -- I think the cheapest day we could find was still over $250/ticket. For a 900 mile flight that was just too much.

I looked at flying into nearby airports and taking a train the rest of the way -- the cheapest options were to fly direct to Cologne (still expensive), to Hamburg (with a layover in Cologne which someone without a checked bag (trekking poles) could have taken and gotten off during the layover), or a flight to Cologne laying over in Hamburg. We chose option 3.

August 28th - September 2nd, 2022

We found the bus that went to the Budapest airport from town and walked the few blocks to where it picked up, on the side of a busy road, where there was a small group of people already waiting. About 15 minutes later a lady showed up who sold us tickets. The bus was packed and we rode standing the 45 minutes to the airport.

At the airport, nobody checked our ID, we just scanned our boarding passes at security and at the gate and walked on to the plane. In Hamburg we took advantage of the nice lounge and filled up on free wi-fi, food, and drink.

Our next flight to Cologne was delayed an hour, which would cut us within minutes to catch our train, a 3-hr ICE journey -- but before we had too long to worry about we received a notification that it had been cancelled! Problem solved! 🙃

We looked for an alternative route in the Deutsch Bahn app -- all the options involving multiple transfers with razor thin timing. We finally found one that we hoped we could make -- as it was the only possibly tenable option. We steeled ourselves for the race.

We touched down in Cologne at 5:20pm and fortunately our bag was the first bag out and then we RAN to the metro station at the airport to catch the 5:44 train to the main station, where we had to catch the 6:25 train. Fortunately we made the first two connections.

About 15 minutes prior to boarding the 6:25 train I received another notification from the app -- our new journey had been cancelled too!

What was going on? What were we supposed to do? I frantically searched through the DB app looking for a train that would get us at least heading in the direction of Amsterdam -- looking at every permutation of arriving in Amsterdam Centraal, Zuid, and Schiphol. Finally, I found one, transiting through Venlo and arriving in Amsterdam South. The connections averaged 3-7 minutes which made us super nervous but we had no choice. It was also getting close to the last trains of the day...

We got on the first train to Monchengladbach (which was 5 minutes late and was already showing to arrive 2 minutes AFTER the next train) and rode a short while. We came to terms with not getting to Amsterdam tonight and ending up in whatever small German town we missed the next connection in.

We arrived in Monchengladbach 5 minutes late -- and leapt off the train and most fortunately only had to run across the platform onto the train to Amsterdam Zuid which appeared to be waiting for the arrival of our train. Phew.

At the next stop, we got off and RAN to the platform we needed to be at -- and found that THAT train was late too! It arrived about 5 minutes late which was in our favor and we scrambled on.

We kept refreshing the DB app every few minutes to check if the trains were on time -- and of course they weren't. The final train we needed to catch was running a minute late. Our train was running 5 minutes late, and our original transfer time was six minutes...

Unfortunately, this worked out to our current train arriving just 2 minutes prior to the departure of our final train. 😬

We rode a short while, trying to briefly recover for the next race -- and we started to overhear the tourists around us all commiserating how they were all trying to get to Amsterdam and grappling with cancelled trains. Hmmm.

About an hour into the trip the conductor made an announcement -- that "This train will terminate service at the next stop" -- Hertogenbosch. WHAT???

So we turned on our wi-fi and desperately hoped for an open network so we could figure out how to continue our journey. And there was one! Thank the government for the free public wi-fi. We managed to find a $20 ticket towards Utrecht and Amsterdam Schiphol, which would get us close enough. We googled what was going on and found out that the Netherlands railway workers were striking over the next three days and that the Amsterdam area was today! So that's why no lines were running. You'd think if the strike was planned and announced there would have been less chaos...

Disclaimer: besides a few minor hiccups, we have had excellent luck, weather, and happenstance on our trip. This was definitely the hardest time we had trying to get somewhere!

There was a large group of people on the train stranded with us now. We got off when the train stopped and waited 20 minutes for the train towards Utrecht, which we were very uncertain about but again, had no choice in continuing. The train did show and spirited us to Utrecht where we transferred to a train to the Amsterdam airport, which seemed to be the only actual line running into Amsterdam. The train was packed, so we stood at the end of the car with some young Dutch folks coming home from work with their bikes. We listened to them speak -- it sounded like Simlish to us! Almost English, but with some really unusual vowel sounds. I have commented on it many times before but what amazed me the most on this trip was how languages are only a few degrees apart from their linguistic neighbors.

Once we arrived at the airport we disembarked and headed for the light rail. We both bought a single pass and waited in the darkness for the final train that would take us to Amsterdam.

We got on and it was exceptionally well lit and clean. We transferred once then got off near our hotel, passing through turnstiles which made it impossible to ride without a ticket (the only place in Europe we saw this), and walked 10 minutes and found the front door. I had been in communication with the hotel letting them know we may not even make it today -- but someone was up waiting for us and checked us in. We had left at 5am and finally made it to our destination around 11:15pm. Not the longest travel day we had done by far -- but it was exhausting because of all the last minute cancellations and confusion.

They pointed to where our room would be -- up those stairs -- and I hesitate to call them mere steps -- and we were confronted with the steepest means of ascent we'd ever seen in our lives. We trudged up, exhausted, relieved to have made it. More on the stairs later.

We opened our luggage and found our shampoo had exploded all over EVERYTHING in Vitali's bag. We had to wash every item in the shower.

In the morning, we noticed how small our room actually was -- a mere shoebox by American proportions. The light fixtures had to do double duty as banana shelves. But at least we had our own bathroom!

Amsterdam was definitely one of the more expensive cities we had spent more than one night in -- and this hotel was the cheapest reasonable accommodation I could find somewhat near the historic center -- at $85/night.

We had a nice conversation with one of the guys who worked at the hotel -- a Dutch Chinese man named Cheng? who recognized I was also Chinese.

We spent a day taking it easy after the harrowing journey of the day before... during which Vitali got into a fight with a polydactyl mountain lion. Of course it left a kick-ass scar...

The next day, after safely determining that Vitali did not have cat-scratch-fever, we went on a sightseeing walk.

We walked from our hotel south, first through a cool pedestrian area with a lot of outdoor dining and shops. Then we headed north, to the heart of the city.

We passed canals filled with tourist boats, Dutch citizens riding their bikes through traffic while also totally focused on texting, and the most charismatic architecture I had ever seen.

The famous canal and row houses of Amsterdam -- were unbelievably narrow to minimize the amount of taxes paid: a sum calculated by your street frontage -- and were unbelievably cute, done up in various shades of brick with painted accents of white.

At the top of most of these buildings was a hook for a pulley system, to allow residents to bring large bulky objects up into the building -- BECAUSE -- the interior stairways are basically ship's ladders. Or is it the other way around? They minimized the stair footprint to avoid paying tax? Why waste space on a use that could be shared with the public right of way? Speculation.

Exhibit 1, the stairs at our hotel:

What cosmic irony to have the most unnavigable stairs be the vernacular when 15 million visitors stay here every year and indulge in impairing substances...

We continued walking, admiring the architecture and fine weather, although it was a bit windy. The streets were charming AF, littered with bicycles and joint filters.

Below, the intersection we'd cross every day on our walks -- traffic is light in the photo but at times there were trams, vehicles, and a multitude of bicycles crossing at the same time. We had to cross it too, to get to the Aldi around the corner. As you could see, $85 doesn't get you much, let alone a fridge... so we subsisted buying yogurt and deli meat one package at a time.

As we headed farther north the architecture became more varied. I could see the shared architectural heritage that had been brought over to New Orange (New York). We also stopped into a store to buy some WARMER base layers for our upcoming itinerary.

We're all connected, don't you see?

I took a photo of this same building the first time I went.

We passed by the Bloom Market which was empty of flowers being too late in the season -- but hawking as many bulbs as you could fit in your suitcase! Which will probably be confiscated by customs... I think they all offer shipping services to back home though.

As we continued the orientation of the streets changed and we found ourselves wandering the narrow pedestrian streets of downtown Amsterdam.

Below, Dam Square, the Royal Palace and the Nieuwe Kerk.

We walked into the New Church and found it being used as an exhibition space! Nice.

The 19th century beauty below was the Amsterdam Main Post Office, until it was turned into a luxury shopping mall in the 90s.

We walked some more, passing multiple cheese stores -- so many in fact that we noticed. I later looked at google maps and counted twelve.

We walked by the Oude Kerk (Old Church), from the 13th century (the New Church is dated to the 15th) although we didn't go in.

Notice anything strange about the buildings above? No, you didn't eat too many special brownies -- the buildings are really leaning! To be more specific -- the front facade is canted towards the street. To reduce the likelihood of hoisted goods slamming in to your building. Genius. Perhaps this aspect contributes to the feeling of the city being charismatic. Instead of looming, it feels like the streetscape is addressing the user.

We finally made it as far north as we would go -- to the Centraal Train Station, a beautiful 19th century structure in a neo-renaissance style. The interior was spectacular and reminded me of NYC.

The backside of the train station was totally different -- new construction -- and a very nice shopping center. We noticed a lot of that in Europe -- the "mall" is part of the train station. Makes sense to me.

We stepped outside and tried to stay out of the way of the fervent cyclists, simultaneously peddling with nonchalance and pin-point precision.

Across the river was some very nice contemporary architecture. Below, the Eye Film Museum, dedicated to film in the Netherlands.

We continued towards the Basilica of Saint Nicholas, though we didn't go in.

We met a scruffy looking cat who looked like an old man on his daily walk that we had interrupted. Get off my sidewalk!

We headed back home on a different route and in the evening we took another walk north to see the infamous city by night.

We set out right around sunset.

Lots of people were out.

At last -- we arrived in De Wallen, aka the main Red Light District of Amsterdam. What a storied place.

Photography of workers is rightfully illegal but I did find a nice bridge where no one was visible. It was too early anyway (10pm) and curtains were just starting to open.

We walked the length of the street and came back. We found ourselves with more questions than answers as we headed back home. It was great to see sex-work well-regulated with the health and safety of the workers the foremost priority. *Cries in American*

On our last day we walked over to the Van Gogh Museum. We were officially Over churches, basilicas, cathedrals, palaces, and museums... but we felt we owed it to our art student selves to go see some work by this master.

We met this pretty boy a couple times in our neighborhood. Note: this is not the polydactyl mountain lion. It was more of the shape and size of a robust bush, more like a shrubbery, in fact.

After entreating the cat to let us pet him to no avail, we continued towards the Museumplein, where we passed the Rijksmuseum, another neo-renaissance/neo-gothic number, completed in 1885. A careful viewer will have noted the similarity to the train station -- they were in fact completed by the same architect.

Of course, the building included a bicycle traffic pass-thru.

We passed below the Rijksmuseum and walked a short distance to our destination, a nice contemporary piece of architecture, with a lot of glass.

The atrium was quite nice. We showed our tickets at two spots then were ushered in. We had to check our bag and we decided to rent audio guides.

The museum was excellent -- good pacing, nicely curated, and an easy to read and understand written history of the painter's life. The audio guides were very good and included interactive elements on the touchscreen of the device.

Cobwebs from Art History classes surfaced. 'Oh yeah,' I'd say, remembering some interesting and obscure piece of long forgotten knowledge as we crowded around to look more closely at one of his masterworks...

It was pretty incredible tracking van Gogh's work throughout the periods of mental illness in his life and seeing how it changed and fluctuated with how he was feeling. Here is a link to the museum's page with a great explanation of what we know about his struggles.

I was particularly captivated by how he captured movement with stylized lines in his later work, and how he combined colors by laying them side by side on the canvas instead of mixing them on the brush.

We finished up in the Van Gogh exhibits then realized our ticket also included admission to a few more exhibits in the building. The one we liked the most was Colour as Language, featuring the work of Etel Adnan. Her work was what I would call abstract geometry, and some of the color combinations and compositions were quite striking.

We left the museum and headed back to our hotel, passing by an eye-catching building, the Stedelijk Museum, a museum of contemporary art and design.

Here's a good look at the backside of the Rijksmuseum.

The interior had been under renovation for 10 years and had re-opened in 2000.

"The contemporary architectural interventions are quite compelling," I stated, looking through the glass windows in our threadbare t-shirts and barely washed shorts.

(We used detergent sheets for the entire trip -- re-stocking once, I think in Slovenia. They work well enough, but don't really get your clothes clean clean like liquid detergent does). This is a reality of long-term travel.

Like I said -- we were Over touristing cities, although it would have been nice to have a bigger budget to dip in and out of all the museums here.

But here are two more pictures of architecture to close out our Eurotrip posts for good measure.

We both had a good time in Amsterdam. But really, we were just passing through to get to the main attraction...

In the next post, storied Amsterdam leaves us with a parting gift as we prepare to visit one of the most beautiful places in the world.