Amazing Amsterdam

Where to begin? Amsterdam is truly an amazing city full of bicycles, canals and, yes, that pungent, skunky smell that marks the presence of pot.

After checking in after the train ride, we headed out into the rainy streets. The public transit passes we had purchased came in handy as the tram was just outside our hotel and they pretty much take you anywhere you want to go. You scan it when you get on -- and off. Pretty handy. There are also metros and buses. But really, everybody rides bicycles here. There are working moms who drop three kids at child care (they have these cool little front trailers for the kiddos), men in business suits and even old men wearing only boxer shorts. Yes, the Dutch definitely have a handle on public transit and infrastructure.

Amsterdam reminded Court of New York City neighborhoods. When she said this, Hal responded, “Well NYC was called New Amsterdam and settled originally by the Dutch.” Oh! That makes sense then. Lovely brownstones of seventeenth-century vintage, huge public parks and green space and street trees -- oh the trees, along with cute little shops, restaurants and further in the old town “coffee shops” where they do supply (reputedly) MJ and magic mushrooms.

Our first day was pretty much spent getting our bearings and eating at a high scale yuppie cafeteria. Day two we had a nice breakfast in the lobby of Hotel Zandbergen -- probably the nicest place we stayed and best hospitality by far. Several other American families shared notes and adventures. Our itinerary for the day included the Van Gogh Museum. It was truly breathtaking and we learned a lot about this Dutch impressionist that we didn’t know. We collected a number of interesting factoids along our tour of the museum, the more interesting including: his early religious Evangelical fervor that got him fired from his first job, his late start in painting (age 26) and passion for Japanese art. If you make it to Amsterdam, check out this museum and tribute to the man who created more than 800 paintings and 1000 drawings in just 10 years.

Afterwards we grabbed some street food -- sushi, English pies and chicken wings -- in the enormous Albert Cuyp market, named after a 17th century painter. It is supposedly the largest daytime market in Europe…but we think we’ve seen bigger. From there, Court decided no visit to Amsterdam would be complete without checking out the infamous and seedy Red Light district. Let’s just say street level windows and nearly naked young things are not very educational…just leave a lot of explaining to do. While the idea that making prostitution legal in Amsterdam helps improve working conditions for the women in this “profession,“ other reports show that pimps and organized crime still control the industry and that it is still a sex trade.

After this touch of reality, we had some gelato and sought out some peace in the tranquil courtyards of Beginhof, a lovely 14th century refuge for religious women who devoted their lives to caring for the poor and sick. Faith restored in humanity, we went back to our pad to chill out awhile. Then we grabbed some pizza and “Wok to Walk” Asian, and mango puree and sandwich for Hal, and splurged on some Harry Potter tickets in this impressive art noveau theatre that has been around since the days of the first black-and-white films. We all agreed it was a great if rapid end to the series, though Hal had to fill in the blanks for us throughout the film as the family Potter expert. Court’s favorite line in the movie was this quip from Molly Weasley (Ginny and Ron’s mother) to Bellatrix Lestrange (servant of Voldemort): “Not my daughter, bitch!” An impressive display of motherly ferocity and protective instinct. See the film; you’ll understand.