Day 9: Reykjavit to Amsterdam

Day 9:  Reykjavik to Amsterdam

 

First shot of Netherlands

QOTD:  Yes, our apartment is on the same street that the mayor of Amsterdam lives on  

(it turns out to be a very long street, so the mayor is not right down the block)

Weather: Not same-same, different! Gee, my porridge is too cold. My porridge is too hot! It’s near 90 and humid, we’re sweating like pigs

Up and out early from the condo to catch a 7:40am flight to Amsterdam. The car drop off was unique: you leave the car next to their “office” (a trailer in a gravel lot) and then lock the keys behind the door to the gas tank. The airport security is so tight that THB’s nail file and heel cream were both questioned and the guy in front of me had to stand on a box without his shoes on and get wanded. Our bags were sent through twice. Hmmmm…something new or old in Keflavik Airport?

And, THB and DB are first on the plane…well, not quite: while we were walking down the jet way a guy was in such a hurry that he went by us. No, this is not Southwest, he had an assigned seat. And, this tied into something else THB noticed: three different times (all men) went In front of THB to get served, ignoring what THB thought was the queue. The only time the person handling the transactions said anything was if THB spoke up and said, I’m next.

We take the train in from the airport, only a 10 minute ride that takes 15 minutes for some reason. And, they don’t take AMEX or a VISA card without a pin. So, we pay 5E (pretend that this is the silly rounded E with a line through it for Euro), or about $7 each, to load our bags up a flight of stairs on the train (hmmm, THB is pretty sure the Dutch know that the train is running through the airport on its way to the Centraal Station. Maybe they could put some no-stairs cars on the train.

It’s a short 10-15 minute walk to our exchangers. That’s the good news. The bad news is it is nearing 90 and very humid. It turns out 15 minutes is

First floor ofapartment

2nd floor, see through walkway

Original pulley (and new rowing machine) from 1600s

Across walkway to small upstairs rear bedroom

about 10 minutes to long, we’re dehydrated by the time we get to Jolien and Cas’ 3^rd floor apartment/condo/loft, in a building from the early 1600s right on a canal. It’s awesome, dude! Complete with a roof garden. Of course, there’s no A/C so we’ll have to adjust. The good news: BLUE SKIES ABOVE!

Computer set-up between "ox eyes" at top of house

Cas plays, many pianos

In Dutch, some overlaps with THB

After getting a tour, Jolien and Cas depart for the second place outside the city to avoid a massive traffic jam that is going to happen this weekend: they are closing some tunnel (think Bay Bridge closing for a long weekend) and they are trying to beat the rush heading out of town. We do have time to share some excellent pastries.

Master bathroom

Master bedroom

Pigeon visits while THB checking e-mail

"mud" painting

No toilet in master bathroom, just a urinal

THB thinks this scale does an extra turn if you get over 135 kilos

After unpacking, we walk slowly over to Galerie Ra to look at some jewelry. This is a spot DB visited a bit moe 8 years ago; THB has been gone for longer than that, he was here around 45 years ago. Amazingly, little seems to have changed, though in truth THB has a hard time remember what happened last week (WAIT, were the skies grey?).

Galerie Ra

The town is also crowded with tourists. Though since everyone is wearing t-shirts and shorts or a sun dress or tank top and shorts, it is either 100% tourists or the locals have also gone to wearing less.

One of several electric refueling sites

Utility box

The thinnest building in town, fortunately not our exchange

Dinner around the corner at a place picked pretty much at random. It’s also awesome, dude! Restaurant Max Amsterdam, where we sit outside. Actually, everyone is sitting outside, including across the street. When the temp goes over 27C, the restaurants are allowed to colonize the sidewalks, including across the street. They can’t increase their seating, so they are moving the tables outside, meaning you can’t sit inside.

Outdoor dining and one of many bikers passing by

Restaurant Max has expanded to across the street

Excellent on tap

Cod

Seabass

-         Green rocket salad and green asparagus with hand cut Parmesan and crispy bacon (DB)

-         Bang Bang Rendang: spicy Indonesian beef curry on crispy vegetable salad (THB)

-         Cod fillet with skin on, Indonesian soft curry cream (shared)

-         Indonesian sea bass in banana leave (sp) with spicy lemongrass sauce

-         Two glasses French sauvignon blanc and one draft Heineken (great), total of $105 and the best meal of the trip (in THB’s opinion, there may be some votes for Fish Market)

More pastries up on the roof…life is turning blue skies again

Roof top garden and views

Book Review: Amsterdam, Russell Shorto. An American that relo’d to Amsterdam about 7 years ago and has written a tilted history of the city, through the prism of liberalism as a form of tolerance. Very well done, and a good read if you’re coming to town. He also had one great tip: the Six Collection. THB will report more on this visit in the Monday post (since THB would be making it up to write about it before he went, though who could tell the difference). Recommended.  And, consider Amsterdam, A Brief Life of the City by Geert Mak (translated). A bit more generic, may not feel as pertinent to a visit; Shorto quotes Mak several times, in English (phew). 

Wrote a famous book about how Dutch were treating colonials

It's a beer bike: you pedal while sitting at a table drinking beer