The flight from Frankfurt to Amsterdam was a short one, but I finally got a window-seat. If I can’t be in the cockpit then a window seat is the next best thing. Hamish and I were both excited to wear our sunglasses. After days of gloom, we both smiled as we climbed above the cloud into a beautiful sunny day. The cloud layer was so extensive and uniform that we both wondered if we were flying over Germany and The Netherlands or Antarctica.
Getting from the airport to the city was quick and easy – we simply caught the train. This is a foreign concept to Melbournians of course. On arrival at Amsterdam Centraal (that is the correct spelling), we headed for the free 24/7 ferry that took us across to the island where we were staying. We can recommend the ClinkNOORD hostel. Built in a former laboratory it has a fun, funky vibe, great facilities and is really easy to get to.
Once we got everything up to our room we had to head straight back into the city for our allotted time to visit Anne Frank’s House (covered in the last post by Amelia). This is of course where things got interesting.
Bikes, Scooters and Baby Cars
Getting from the train station and on to the ferry we got our first taste of the new rules we had to follow in Amsterdam.
- They love their bikes in Amsterdam. They really love their bikes. Bikes are more important than pedestrians so do not assume that you have right of way at a pedestrian crossing. You do if a car is coming, but you don’t if a cyclist is coming – and they will readily exercise that right.
- You might think that letting someone go ahead of you is the polite thing to do. You might feel that you don’t want to be that boorish Australian upsetting the locals. You would be wrong. With people, bikes, scooters and even tiny little cars (more on that soon) going every which way, any form of hesitation on your behalf simply creates a traffic jam which will get you disapproving looks that equate to something like “stupid foreigner”. Make a decision early, commit and execute. You are not being rude – you are fitting in.
- Scooters=Bikes. A motor scooter appears to have the same rights as bikes. You will see them on bike paths and they will happily barrel through a crossing with the minimum acknowledgement that a human has dared step in their path. Watch out – pretty sure these would hurt more than a bike.
- They have tiny 1 and 2 person cars, and although they seem to stay on the roads (and not the bike tracks) they do happily line up in the chaos of people, bikes and scooters waiting to get on to the ferry. They are more careful than the bikes and scooters but still something to watch.
Despite all this we made it unscathed to see Anne Frank’s House and even managed a brief stop to fuel up on iced waffles and donuts.
Hash
When we were planning the trip with the kids we did spend some time explaining the freer attitude that Amsterdam has with marijuana. We spoke about the idea of the “coffee” shops and helped them to understand what they would come across. So it should have come as no surprise to us or the kids when we came across the coffee shops.
We were wrong. Although Megan had been to Amsterdam before and even tried to educate me on what it would be like, the kids and I were in for a shock.
What’s that smell Dad? It stinks! Around the train station and on the island where our accommodation was located there was never any real sign of the hash haze. Step out of the station towards the city though and the smell was everywhere and at times overpowering. I remarked to Megan that with this much dope in the air we’d all be feeling a little more mellow. Which is odd really, because I got the sense that everyone in Amsterdam is in a rush to get somewhere and will not hesitate to push you out of the way to get there. This could be seen as rude but then again perhaps I’ve missed the whole point. They are all in a rush … to get to their favourite coffee shop!
For the moment Megan and I can be safe in the knowledge that neither of the kids found the idea of smoking dope the least bit alluring. Piece of mind for now but I wonder if we’ll get a postcard or Instagram or Whatever post from them in the future telling us how “awesome” Amsterdam is and how they’ve made new acquaintances at the local coffee shop.
Hookers
“Eww. What is she doing? Why is she hardly wearing anything? What are those men doing?”
Just like we did with the “coffee” shops we tried to explain to the kids that there was a chance that they would come across scantily clad women touting for a certain type of business. We knew that there was a chance of seeing this even though we had no intention of visiting the Red Light District.
So as we were walking along a main street on our way to the Anne Frank House, Amelia’s words rang loudly and nearly caused Megan and I whiplash as we swung our heads around to see what Amelia had seen. Sure enough, there it was plain as day – we had not avoided the sight after all.
A quick explanation sufficed for Amelia, but the sense of missing out had Hamish jumping out of his skin to know more.
Later in the evening when we sat down for dinner, we had a discussion with both the kids about their day. It turned out to be pretty confronting with their first, first-hand exposure to drugs and prostitution and of course the sadness and horror of the Anne Frank story. It made for a pretty heavy discussion, but they both coped well. We’ve never shied away from answering all their questions – now was not the time to start.
Day 2 in Amsterdam should have been a return to some normality but that’s just not how we roll. The day dawned gloomy and drizzly but undaunted and filled up with breakfast at the hostel we set off to visit BodyWorlds.
This was a display of plastinated bodies and body parts. These are real bodies that have been donated for science. Pretty freaky, but totally fascinating. Over several floors we examined displays covering every system and function of the human body (including reproduction). To see the vascular system separated from organs, evidence of stroke, and even examples of orthopedic surgery really was a sight to see. A bisected torso, neck and head of an obese man was particularly confronting for me given my excess weight!
We would recommend BodyWorlds to anyone wanting a better understanding of the human body.
The exhibition was based around the theme of human happiness – how happiness is different things to different people and in particular how we are largely responsible for our own happiness.
If you can’t change your circumstances, change the way you think about them.
From BodyWorlds we headed of to the Van Gogh museum. The weather was a little worse on the way there and we were glad to get inside. Megan has done such a good job of thinking ahead on this trip and we had access via the hop on-hop off bus pass. Straight past the line of people waiting in the rain for tickets and downstairs for … the line of people waiting in the warm to check in their bags – no bags allowed in the museum.
Although we all found the artwork interesting and in particular enjoyed seeing the progression of not only Van Gogh but also his mentors and contemporaries, I must admit that I am a complete novice when it comes to art. I readily skipped past pieces that held no allure but happily stopped and examined many other pieces. Famous pieces including his self-portraits, Sunflowers and Almond Blossoms were easily recognised while most were completely new.
The museum is well laid out and takes you on a journey through the art over time. Perhaps with more time I could have gained a better understanding.
A lunch in the well-appointed and well-stocked cafe, prepared us for the next step in our journey with hot soup, bread and salad. We waited again in line to retrieve our bag (much shorter lines by this time) and headed out into pretty ordinary weather. In the relatively short walk to find the canal boat tour we battled heavier rain but even more annoyingly a strengthening wind. Wind is the nemesis of the umbrella and after many blowouts we lost one for good just before getting to the hop on point.
Boarding the canal boat it was warm, very warm. Combine this with cold glass and all the bodies and this meant that the windows were constantly fogged. For the duration of the trip I maintained a constant swiping with the squeegee, which gave us something of a view on our side of the boat but did render the trip a little less informative than it otherwise could have been. A trip in better weather would be well worthwhile.
Arriving back near the Central Station, we decided to call it a day, heading back to the hostel. With good lounge facilities, tables and charging points we spent the rest of the afternoon chatting, blogging, resting and laughing about our adventures and revisiting some of the things we had seen (I’m sure the kids will continue to have questions for some time).
We got a message from Kelly Andersen who I volunteer with at the CFA who was also in Amsterdam. We could not match our plans to catch up but it is a reminder of just how small the world has become. Safe travels Kelly.
Tomorrow we are off to Rome!
