Amsterdam - the place with endless rows of crooked buildings! You half feel like some buildings would topple over if not for the fact that they were propped up by the neighbouring buildings.
The houses in Amsterdam are thin and long cos in the old days they charged for land based on the width of the frontage. Much like the peranakan houses in Singapore. In fact, the narrowest house in Amsterdam is only as wide as Jon's outstretched hands!
We had decided to spend Christmas in Amsterdam thinking it would be bustling, but it was a lot more quiet than we expected. The Dutch themselves take a holiday and most businesses are closed. But it was all fine, the museums kept us busy anyway :)
On the whole Amsterdam was less Christmassy than the Belgian cities we had seen. But at least there was one huge Christmas tree in the middle of the Dam, even if it was mismatched in its lighting - half yellow, half white. But the Dutch really aren't that into Christmas. On 26th Dec, they started to take down the tree already!!
In any case, Jon and I were really keen to attend a Christmas service, so after a lot of searching we found a protestant church with English services hidden in a begjinhof - a set of houses set around a private courtyard. Such a lovely setting for a church :)
We also had a really nice place to stay in Amsterdam. We put up at Hotel Sint Nicolaas which was just 5 mins from the train station. It was beautifully decorated in a boudoir style and very cosy :) I'd definitely recommend the place!
Well we were wandering to check out the red light district, and on the way came across a souvenir shop that had quirky decor - cows walking on the ceiling, and outside, a giant clog :)
The red light district itself was really a sight to behold ;) Women of all shapes and sizes, of all nationalities and races, and wearing (or maybe not wearing) all manner of clothing. The ladies there have to rent window space in narrow lanes which they stand in and try to seduce passersby. Behind each window is a little room, so when the curtain is drawn you know that someone's attracted some business. As I was walking in front of Jon, I joked that no one would be interested to seduce him cos they knew I was with him. Then, just as I had said that one of the ladies beckoned to me signaling that she'll take us both in! (And, no, of course we didn't take up her offer!!)
No photos are allowed in the area. I've heard and read plenty of stories about how if you try to take a photo, a bouncer will appear from nowhere and throw your camera into the river, tear out the film, or carry out some other destructive action.
The other more wholesome areas of Amsterdam featured its many canals. On a map, Amsterdam looks like a series of concentric circles - land, canal, land, canal.
Although less pretty and photogenic compared to Bruges, especially having seen Bruges magically covered in frost, Amsterdam does have its own character. We indulged in a canal cruise since it was a nice sunny day and we had some time on our hands. It just so happened that the particular one we took was called "Lovers Cruise" ;) We had already walked most of the paths covered on the canal cruise, but the cruise still gave a different perspective to the place. The buildings looked a lot grander from the river, and I found the commentary very informative, giving background to the city's architecture, and some other tidbits.
We visited the Rijksmuseum which we agreed was very well curated. There was restoration being done, so quite a bit of the museum was closed off, but the main highlights were still displayed. And actually it was a good thing cos we had a more manageable collection to deal with. Rembrant's work really is very impressive, and the famous Night Watch deserves the admiration it receives. It's a huge painting, and your eyes dart all around trying to take in all the action.
The Anne Frank museum was also an experience. I found walking into the rear annex quite exhilarating, trying to imagine what life must have been like then. It is much more spacious than I expected, and it's amazing it remained hidden for as long as it did. I also found it sobering to read the Franks' names in the book containing the names of those sent to concentration camps.
But my favourite museum by far was the Van Gogh museum! I love his work, and found the trip there absolutely worthwhile. It was fascinating to see that he went through a period where he was exploring Japanese art, experimenting with the techniques and stylistics employed by the Japanese. I was also particularly touched by 2 pieces. One was a painting he painted for his nephew. Even though he was in the depth of depression, he painted a lively picture of almond blossoms specially for his new-born nephew. The other was the ominous painting of a wheatfield with crows. I really felt sad and even teary thinking about how he must have been feeling and what he was going through. To feel that life is hopeless and a dead-end. It was really quite moving.
On our last day there we took a half-day tour to check out some windmills! :) The tour also included a stop by a clog workshop and a cheese-making house. It was nice to get out of the city and see the countryside. I was particularly impressed with how the Dutch had drained out the water to increase their land. I had always known they did this, but to see physically the scale on which it was done, and to know that water must continually be pumped out to this day, I thought the Dutch really deserved respect for that. It was such an incredible idea. I was imagining how it might have been at that time. Was the person who suggested the idea taken seriously at first go? It must have seemed an incredulous idea to drain out all that water! But it was done, and it is impressive.
I thought the clog making demonstration was also intriguing, mostly because of the demonstration on how fresh the wood was. The presenter was showing how from a lump of wood the clog is made, and then he declared that the wood has to be very fresh. And to prove just how fresh it was, he blew hard inside the clog, and suddenly water (and quite a lot of it!) flowed out! I was surprised! It looked and felt like a dry piece of wood!
For lunch we popped by a little lakeside town of Volendam. Quaint, small, and not much to do. At least the fish and chips were alright :)
Food wise, I think the only really Dutch food we had was pea soup! There really wasn't much 'dutch' food around anyway. Tons of italian pizzarias, kebabs, argentinean steakhouses...er..where was the Dutch food??! We had Indonesian Rijsttafel on Christmas eve, which was yummy! And we chit-chatted with the Indonesian staff there. In some ways, it was like ka-ki-nang cos we were from Southeast Asia. A "Pak" here, and "terima kasih" there, we made friends with the waiters and (we think) the boss. At the end of dinner they served us tea on the house :) We also found out that the restaurant was named Tujuh Maret cos that is the birth date of the boss :)
Oh! I remember what Dutch food we had now. Pancakes! Dutch pancakes are more like crepes actually...so even then, it's kinda French? heh..
We also added to the beer count in Amsterdam, trying the Amstel and Wieckse in...a gay bar! We wandered in without realising it was a gay bar. We just thought it looked like a really nice place. And it was! The people were friendly, and you can tell the place has regulars cos the bartender knew the customers well. The place was airing 80s MTVs, and it was real fun when a song like "summer rain" came on and everyone, including the bartender, would start to shimmy to the song and sing along :)
Overall, we had a load of fun in the little bit of Netherlands that we saw :)
