Tell anyone you're off to Amsterdam for the long weekend, and they'll nod knowingly, wink, tap their nose, or make another "subtle" gesture to indicate that they know why you're really going.
Yes, it is common knowledge that there are items for sale in Amsterdam that are not readily available in most other countries, but it's kind of sad that people assume that is your only reason for visiting. Amsterdam's charms go way beyond its coffee shops and skanky chicks-in-windows in its red light district. For a city, it has a surprisingly relaxed (and NO not in the way you think I mean) and friendly pace.
Visually stunning, it is just such a lovely place to, well, be. A leisurely stroll, bike ride or boat trip around the canals that encircle the city is all you need to do. And yes, if you think it enhances the experience, by all means stop in at a coffee shop along the way, but don't get lost in there.
Bicycles are more than just a handy mode of transport in Amsterdam. They are a way of life - no self-respecting local would walk somewhere or take public transport when they could just as easily cycle.
Outnumbering people by at least 3:1, bicycle parking is at a premium, with every bike rack, lamp post or any upright-looking structure crammed with the things. I was surprised to find so many rusty old wrecks lying around. Barely anyone keeps a mountain bike or road bike out on the street. Street bikes are functional - big heavy lumps of metal with comfy seats and an upright seated position.
People cycle EVERYWHERE - to work or school, to the shops, to friend's houses and even out at night. You see all sorts of amusing bicycle sights - like baskets and luggage racks crammed with stuff, people riding a bike while wheeling another one alongside, and family bikes with attached sidecars packed with children.
My visit to Amsterdam was very different to the first time I visited in 1992 with my family. Back then, we stayed in a little guesthouse overlooking one of the canals, visited the Anne Frank museum and rented bicycles. It was all very sweet and innocent until we inadvertently meandered into the red light district and rode past rows of naked girlies gyrating away behind the glass. Imagine being my mother and having to explain that to my (then aged) 11-year old brother!
This time though, I had the benefit of local knowledge - a good friend from Australia now lives here. Geoff took us on a long but leisurely cycle trip following the banks of the Amstel from the centre of town right out into the countryside to a town called Ouderkerk.
Being early spring, it was still chilly when we visited, but fortunately we struck a sunny day. Our ride took us past immaculate rows of bell-topped houses, quaint bridges and chugging barges. The rows of buildings soon turned spread out into large two-storey houses with well-tended gardens.
Within a few kilometres, the houses were still further apart and surrounded by lush daffodil-studded fields. Tiny little white dots in paddocks turned out to be, on closer inspection, newborn lambs - I did mention it was spring, right?
Enroute we stopped in at a property containing a dairy and cheese factory. The firm yellow wheels of dutch cheese took four weeks to mature in the factory's cavernous interior, we learned, in between helping ourselves to the array of bite-sized samples on display. In the next room was a set of powerful-looking machinery used to carve out chunks of wood into clogs. The entire ceiling was adorned with rows and rows of freshly carved shoes, hanging up to dry.
Our cycle trip took a little longer on the way home, as we popped into a few different bars set up on the river bank. In case you weren't relaxed enough after a day or so in Amsterdam, pull up a chair and just gaze at the canal, and your troubles will simply melt away.
Amsterdam has a complete personality transplant in summer, according to Geoff. Like the tulips, the re-emergence of canal-side bars are a sign that the warmer weather is on its way, and the city is ready to come out and play. In spring you see the first signs of this, but the weather can still be cold and changeable, so you don't get the full relaxed, happy vibe that a visit in summer can offer.
Aside from the Amstel and the ubiquitous Red Light District, several other Amsterdam neighbourhoods are worth exploring. Prinsengracht is probably the best looking of the canals, with overhanging trees and well-groomed houses. To the west, past the Anne Frank house, is the trendy neighbourhood of Jordaan. Also neat and leafy, it is packed full of cafes, galleries and in September plays host to a massive street festival.
Dutch food has a reputation for being fairly bland, but we managed to eat at several nice restaurants and cafes in Amsterdam. The city boasts fantastic Indonesian food - a Dutch colonial legacy. Even better - it is available everywher. Satay skewers, Gado Gado and Beef Rendang pop up on cafe and pub menus alongside burgers and steaks.
Beer-wise we were well-looked after - there were international stalwarts Heinken and Grolsch, plus a wide selection of Dutch craft beers to choose from. We visited local brewery Brouwerij t'IJ, set in a former industrial site on a canal near the Eastern Docklands. The building opens out onto a courtyard with big wooden benches, in the shadow of a giant thatch windmill. You can't get more Dutch than this - and its rusty brown dubbel beer wasn't bad either!
A good thing about Holland's miniscule size is that you can rent a car and drive to the other end of the country in just a few hours. Always a novelty for an Australian. Driving around in spring gives you box seats to the flower power explosion in fields along the west coast of the country.
On our country drive we stopped briefly at Haarlem, which looked to us like an exact, but smaller, replica of Amsterdam. Continuing west, we noticed a sign for a Dutch beach resort, and couldn't resist having a look.
Zandvoort is a long, flat expanse of sand on the ocean side of a hilly range of sand dunes. It sort of reminded me of the West Australian coastline, only really cold. Looking out to the brownish expanse of the North Sea, swimming didn't look very inviting, but it wasn't really the right time of year. This didn't deter the locals though. The wide sandy beach was packed with families running around, kicking footballs and flying kites. But it was an odd beach scene - instead of being clad in swimwear, everyone was rugged up in winter coats and hats.
Further south towards The Hague and Rotterdam, we eschewed the motorway for smaller country laneways, weaving our way through the lush green paddocks and leafy overhanging oak trees. Every few corners there were blinding flashes of colour - wide stripes of red, white, yellow and purple. The flower fields were enormous, filled with immaculately planted blooms stretching as far as the eye could see.
Gradually, the flower fields disappeared and livestock came into view, mostly friesan cows, heavily pregnant sheep and tiny newborn lambs. The lanscape was dotted with thatch windmills and gorgeous bell-roofed farmhouses encircled by trimmed hedges and neat front gardens.
Our destination was the southern city of Eindhoven, not far from the Belgian border. We were visiting some Dutch friends that we met on our trip to South America. Arriving on Easter Sunday proved to be good timing, because it was the day of a football match between local team PSV Eindhoven and their arch-rivals from Rotterdam.
We watched the match on a big screen in a local bar where one of our friends worked. I had envisioned this to be a fairly sedate affair, where I would sip on a beer while sitting comfortably around a table. Wrong! When we arrived, the place was packed to the gills with hardcore techno was blaring from the speakers - and the match hadn't even started! The techno music was interspersed with cheesy Dutch folk ballads, which to my surprise proved very popular - everyone knew the words and sang along!
The crowd was pumped - and when PSV scored its first goal, the chanting started. "What are they saying?" I asked my Dutch friend? "They are chanting 'Farmers! Farmers!'" she replied, explaining that the region is often derided by city types for being farmsville, so they proudly respond by sticking it to them! PSV ended up winning, and after the match, there was a huge influx of supporters on their way back from the stadium.
Yes, it is common knowledge that there are items for sale in Amsterdam that are not readily available in most other countries, but it's kind of sad that people assume that is your only reason for visiting. Amsterdam's charms go way beyond its coffee shops and skanky chicks-in-windows in its red light district. For a city, it has a surprisingly relaxed (and NO not in the way you think I mean) and friendly pace.
Visually stunning, it is just such a lovely place to, well, be. A leisurely stroll, bike ride or boat trip around the canals that encircle the city is all you need to do. And yes, if you think it enhances the experience, by all means stop in at a coffee shop along the way, but don't get lost in there.
 |
| beautiful Prinsengracht |
Outnumbering people by at least 3:1, bicycle parking is at a premium, with every bike rack, lamp post or any upright-looking structure crammed with the things. I was surprised to find so many rusty old wrecks lying around. Barely anyone keeps a mountain bike or road bike out on the street. Street bikes are functional - big heavy lumps of metal with comfy seats and an upright seated position.
People cycle EVERYWHERE - to work or school, to the shops, to friend's houses and even out at night. You see all sorts of amusing bicycle sights - like baskets and luggage racks crammed with stuff, people riding a bike while wheeling another one alongside, and family bikes with attached sidecars packed with children.
My visit to Amsterdam was very different to the first time I visited in 1992 with my family. Back then, we stayed in a little guesthouse overlooking one of the canals, visited the Anne Frank museum and rented bicycles. It was all very sweet and innocent until we inadvertently meandered into the red light district and rode past rows of naked girlies gyrating away behind the glass. Imagine being my mother and having to explain that to my (then aged) 11-year old brother!
 |
| bicycle tour along the banks of the Amstel river |
Being early spring, it was still chilly when we visited, but fortunately we struck a sunny day. Our ride took us past immaculate rows of bell-topped houses, quaint bridges and chugging barges. The rows of buildings soon turned spread out into large two-storey houses with well-tended gardens.
Within a few kilometres, the houses were still further apart and surrounded by lush daffodil-studded fields. Tiny little white dots in paddocks turned out to be, on closer inspection, newborn lambs - I did mention it was spring, right?
Enroute we stopped in at a property containing a dairy and cheese factory. The firm yellow wheels of dutch cheese took four weeks to mature in the factory's cavernous interior, we learned, in between helping ourselves to the array of bite-sized samples on display. In the next room was a set of powerful-looking machinery used to carve out chunks of wood into clogs. The entire ceiling was adorned with rows and rows of freshly carved shoes, hanging up to dry.
 |
| beers at a canal-side café |
Amsterdam has a complete personality transplant in summer, according to Geoff. Like the tulips, the re-emergence of canal-side bars are a sign that the warmer weather is on its way, and the city is ready to come out and play. In spring you see the first signs of this, but the weather can still be cold and changeable, so you don't get the full relaxed, happy vibe that a visit in summer can offer.
Aside from the Amstel and the ubiquitous Red Light District, several other Amsterdam neighbourhoods are worth exploring. Prinsengracht is probably the best looking of the canals, with overhanging trees and well-groomed houses. To the west, past the Anne Frank house, is the trendy neighbourhood of Jordaan. Also neat and leafy, it is packed full of cafes, galleries and in September plays host to a massive street festival.
 |
| cheese shop in trendy Jordaan |
Beer-wise we were well-looked after - there were international stalwarts Heinken and Grolsch, plus a wide selection of Dutch craft beers to choose from. We visited local brewery Brouwerij t'IJ, set in a former industrial site on a canal near the Eastern Docklands. The building opens out onto a courtyard with big wooden benches, in the shadow of a giant thatch windmill. You can't get more Dutch than this - and its rusty brown dubbel beer wasn't bad either!
A good thing about Holland's miniscule size is that you can rent a car and drive to the other end of the country in just a few hours. Always a novelty for an Australian. Driving around in spring gives you box seats to the flower power explosion in fields along the west coast of the country.
On our country drive we stopped briefly at Haarlem, which looked to us like an exact, but smaller, replica of Amsterdam. Continuing west, we noticed a sign for a Dutch beach resort, and couldn't resist having a look.
 |
| beach resort - Dutch style |
Further south towards The Hague and Rotterdam, we eschewed the motorway for smaller country laneways, weaving our way through the lush green paddocks and leafy overhanging oak trees. Every few corners there were blinding flashes of colour - wide stripes of red, white, yellow and purple. The flower fields were enormous, filled with immaculately planted blooms stretching as far as the eye could see.
Gradually, the flower fields disappeared and livestock came into view, mostly friesan cows, heavily pregnant sheep and tiny newborn lambs. The lanscape was dotted with thatch windmills and gorgeous bell-roofed farmhouses encircled by trimmed hedges and neat front gardens.
 |
| fields of flowers |
We watched the match on a big screen in a local bar where one of our friends worked. I had envisioned this to be a fairly sedate affair, where I would sip on a beer while sitting comfortably around a table. Wrong! When we arrived, the place was packed to the gills with hardcore techno was blaring from the speakers - and the match hadn't even started! The techno music was interspersed with cheesy Dutch folk ballads, which to my surprise proved very popular - everyone knew the words and sang along!
The crowd was pumped - and when PSV scored its first goal, the chanting started. "What are they saying?" I asked my Dutch friend? "They are chanting 'Farmers! Farmers!'" she replied, explaining that the region is often derided by city types for being farmsville, so they proudly respond by sticking it to them! PSV ended up winning, and after the match, there was a huge influx of supporters on their way back from the stadium.
