Thursday 24 April 2014

Beers, Bitterballen, And Meeting Another 'Jenever' In Amsterdam...

Let's face it- even if you have never been to Amsterdam, you feel like you have been already. You can picture the infamous Red Light district and smell the countless coffee shops. Yes, both of these are a unique and exciting part of Amsterdam- but somehow it's never quite emphasised just how quaint and beautiful the city itself is.

I should probably backtrack and give all this a little context! With four days off over Easter weekend, we decided to head to a city we've both been talking about for a little while. With a flight time of around 35 minutes from posh, built-for-businessmen London City Airport to Amsterdam Schipol, we felt like we were there in no time at all!

Now, I know everyone knows that Amsterdam has a lot of canals, but I feel this point needs to be reiterated somewhat. Amsterdam has a LOT of canals- if you are not walking one block away from a canal, you have probably somehow wandered out of the city. Somehow, even though we were a little disorganised with our accommodation, we ended up in a canal house on Herengracht- on the top floor. These canal houses- ours included- look like they haven't aged in around 100 years. Narrow, pastel coloured buildings, with kooky roof shapes...and the hidden danger of the stairs within. Not only are those stairs steep, but the ceilings above are low- considering the Dutch people are know for their tall height, this is quite a surprising architectural decision. Our particular stairs had a silver handle on the way down, otherwise you would probably end up sliding down the stairs as you tried to limbo under the low ceilings.

 

Hotel Hegra is definitely a great place to stay location wise- 10 minutes from the main station, Amsterdam Centraal (only 15 minutes to the airport! Amazing!), 10 minutes to Anne Frank's house (more on that later), and 10 minutes to the one and only Red Light District. As soon as we entered our hotel, we were told a strict rule about the latter: 'No photographs. I tried when I was a tourist...the polict chased after me'. Of course, this was enough to deter us, hence the lack of photos...but I will certainly describe it.

Patrick and I were relaxing in the pub 'De Berkeede Suster', drinking home-brewed wheat beer (quite popular in Amsterdam, it would seem), and enjoying bitterballen (round beef croquettes), when we had our first experience with the Amsterdam Red Light world. There was a commotion outside; we're still not sure exactly what went on, but it ended with lots of men being handcuffed and led into a police van, two sheepish looking 'Red Light' ladies, and the pub next door being closed at 6pm in the evening. As we left our pub and walked down a little side-street, we suddenly realised- you can be in the Red Light District, and not even realise it! It soon becomes clear, obviously, when you are surrounding by ladies behind windows in ever y direction- some beckoning, some opening and closing their door temptingly...and some texting.  Once we turned on the main strip, the atmosphere was something else. There was an air about the place that everybody knew they shouldn't be looking, but that anything was allowed that night.

Bitterballen




You can't talk about Amsterdam without talking about the bikes. It's true what they say- everybody rides a bike here. I would agree that Amsterdam is a 'bike-friendly' city- but this also makes it a little scary for pedestrians. Crossing the street was no minor feat- with trams, cars, buses, bikes and fellow pedestrians to contend with, you really have to have more self-awareness about you than I usually do when crossing a road. As a Londoner, we tend to take pedestrian crossing signals with a pinch of salt- but in Amsterdam, you really do need to wait until all possible modes of transport have crossed your path! In case you are wondering, we did not rent bikes while we were there- this is probably down to me, as I am a nervous bike rider at the best of times, and we saw several bike crashes on our first day there.






Ossenworst!

We really were lucky enough to have gorgeous weather while we were there- the perfect weather to sit by the river, with the sun sparkling off its surface, and enjoy a wide selection of Dutch beers, deep fried cheese straws, and ossenworst (raw minced sausage). A few more unexpected food discoveries here as well- everyone loves eating fries in a cone paper cup, Indonesian food is popular here, pancakes are also pretty damn tasty here, and croissants with any mild, delicious Dutch cheese is actually the best way to start your day. We visited a few cheese factories, and its fair to say that the Dutch, whether its Edam, Emmental or Gouda, know how to make a cheese to please the masses.




Immense pancakes- ham and cheese on my side, apple and bacon with maple syrup for Patrick (ever the Canadian!)




Indonesian feast!





As we're on the topic of food and drink, let me quickly discuss the Amsterdam liquor that we tried- jenever. My pronunciation of it was not quite correct- as one barman told me, it is 'jeneVER, not like the girl's name.' Funny I should try to pronounce it like that (!). On a mid-afternoon where the wheat beer and hot weather were making us a tad sleepy, jenever was the perfect pick-me-up (as well as an escape from the crazy carnival atmosphere of  Dam Square). A juniper-based drink, the tulip-shaped glass is filled with jenever to the brim; the only way to avoid spillage is to place the drink on the bar, bend over and slurp it up. It's definitely an acquired taste, but there are many varieties to choose from- bitter, sweet, whatever flavour you would like. No city visit is complete without trying at least one random local liquor!



De Drie Fleschjes- The Three Brothers pub, just off Dam Square







The Anne Frank House- a part of Amsterdam that you literally cannot miss, as it is right in the middle of the city. You can see it coming a mile off as well, with the two-hour queue outside. We chose to go on the rainy day- good decision for the museum itself, bad choice for the queuing. Thanks to a generous bystander with her umbrella, and my Kindle version of Anne Frank's Diary, the queue actually went pretty quickly. I know this is a crazy thing to say, but I wish Anne could see the amount of people inspired by her story; every day we were there, the queue just never died down. The house itself was haunting- all the rooms were empty, with photos of what they would have looked like in the war years. This was Otto Frank's decision, to reflect the emptiness left in many people's lives after the Holocaust. After reading Anne's diary in the queue, it was great to see the rooms that became her life for two whole years. For me, the most moving part was at the end, when her diary was there on show- it just brought it home, more so than ever, that this girl really lived this story she told, and that she was so dedicated to her writing. It was so humbling to be in this house, and to hear the quarter hour bells that rang, just as Anne described them...we were all witnessing a part of history, as well as an important reason to prevent such cruelty in the future.





I've rambled on a fair bit about Amsterdam, but I'll finish on what I think makes Amsterdam so special. It's not the Red Light District- not directly, anyway. It's not the bikes. It's not the canals, the kooky canal houses, the jenever. It's the idea behind them all- that unique Amsterdam psyche, whereby the simple pleasures in life rule over modern technology. Don't be fooled. Holland's capital city is certainly keeping the pace with the mod-cons of everyday life- but its main beauty is not caring what anybody else in the world thinks. It may not be a typical capital city in many respects, but it doesn't care- it's simple and it has its own rules. You'll leave Amsterdam having breathed in that attitude- and that is almost as beautiful as the city itself.