Amsterdam, At Last

Last year as you may recall we didn’t get to visit Amsterdam. tl;dr we started the trip in Rotterdam instead. No regrets, Rotterdam is cool, but getting to visit Amsterdam was one of the key reasons for taking another tour.

Street Scenes

And not just streets. Amsterdam is famous of course for its Canal District.

The canals are lined with houseboats, many of the rather luxe. And the best ones cost more than our house!

I suppose this is a must-see destination for a lot of people.

I’ve tried repeatedly to grow hollyhocks. In carefully tended beds. It turns out all they really need is a crack in the sidewalk.

I might also mention that Amsterdam is really, really, bike friendly. Every road has dedicated bike lanes. When I think of how certain Maplewood, NJ, residents bitched and moaned about one lane on my old street … Anyway, if you’re there I might as well warn you, and you’ll hear it frequently — watch out and listen up. Don’t walk in the bike lanes. And when you have to cross one, if you hear a bell ringing get out of the way. You won’t get a second warning!

The Museums

Just outside the outer ring where the canals end is the museum district. We spent parts of two days there visiting the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh museum, and catching a concert at the great Concertgebouw.

Very late Van Goghs, in the Van Gogh museum.

I’m not even sure which museum this was a part of, but it was cool.

At the Concertgebouw

A fine performance by the Netherlands Philharmonic. Going to a concert here is so much — friendlier? — than anything in New York.

The Concertgebouw Amsterdam. A beautiful hall with beautiful acoustics. At intermission, coffee is free in the lobby.

The Netherlands Philharmonic at the Concertgebouw. The Grieg Piano Concerto, and Holst’s “The Planets.”

We also got a stroopwafel, hot off the waffle iron. Just our luck we stumbled across the oldest bakery in town, famous for their stroopwafels made to order. Fabulous. For foodies, the recommendation is to go to an Indonesian restaurant for the rijsttafel. We did — twice — and I highly recommend it.