Amsterdam
Each time we had a long stopover at Schiphol, Rolf and I planned "to see the tulips of Amterdam". Twice we failed and we didn't intend to miss it a third time. On our next trip, our itinerary included a full day at Amsterdam.
We didn't get to see the tulip fields but we saw a lot and quenched our thirst with the delicious Heineken beer. There is something about Heineken that I, who don't drink beer, (hate it, actually) got quite addicted to it.
Right at Schiphol is a train station from which one could take a train to the
Central Station in downtown Amsterdam and, from there, to any point in Western Europe.
From the central station, we would take the ICE (inter-city express)
to Köln and we had almost 10 hours to tour Amsterdam.
The Green Man
As we walked out into the bright sunshine, the fist sight that greeted us was the busy canal with small quays. As soon as we got our bearings, we hurried to the quay across the canal to take one of the boat tours. But we could not resist stopping to watch a most unusual sight. At first we thought that it was a huge mechanical toy that greeted the passersby; all green from the mop of leaves that was supposed to be "hair" down to the tips of the big toes. Suddenly, the "toy" took hold of Rolf's hair. It was a man, a Green Man ! ! ! That was a very creative way of earning a living, entertaining people, and
I just hoped that he got enough coins in his little bowl that lay on the green rug
where he stood. I wanted to stay some more but Rolf hurried me to the quay
where we would take a cruise on one of the boats, dutch-clean and pretty.
There were several cruise boats lined along the quay and the queue of
excited tourists did not have to wait too long.
Amsterdam's "Water Streets"
Amsterdam has a fantastic canal network that totals about 100 km with 1,100 bridges and 2,500 houseboats. In a way, the canals constitute the "water streets" that have helped develop Dutch trade and commerce. Reclamation projects have increased Netherlands' total land area by at least 20%. Hence, the city government would no longer give out any permits for more houseboats, as it is no longer necessary to build "floating" houses, offices, and cafés.
The main canal loops around the city, branching off into numerous smaller
canals over which were quaint bridges for streets that cross a canal. Not
surprisingly, the cruise boats were low-roofed, The canal cruise boats were
almost flat, little more than 2 meters high so that they can easily
pass under the canal bridges.
Two interesting features in Amsterdam's architecture are the facade
and the house gibbet. The central train station has a 19th century facade, but
that is misleading because the only "old" feature of this very modern
facility. Likewise, practically all buildings and houses in Amsterdam
have facades in the the 17th -19th century styles but
everything else is modern from the roof to the walls.
In summer outdoor cafés are in every street, but all tables are filled by mid-afternoon. Rather than have a late lunch inside a café dining room, we opted to have a little picnic at the quay right next to the Central Station. The day was over all too soon We took our luggage from the lockers and went up to the platform to wait for the ICE train to Köln. Next time, we we are determined to see the tulips in Amsterdam.
