Amsterdam

I wrote part of my first blog entry shortly before 3am (9am local) in a pretentious coffee shop attached to a trendy interior design and art store, in central Amsterdam (so I felt at home!). The bite of a brisk morning, coupled with the desperate need for caffeine, had me searching for an open café – I was surprised to find many of the cafés I came across were not open until 9am. As there was no sleep on plane ride number one, the plan was to keep active for the day, then sleep on the flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi.

I had a thirteen hour layover, and I was determined to take full advantage. My intentions began to wane around hour 8, however, so I did retire early to the airport, where I grabbed a bite to eat and promptly fell asleep on top of my carry-on stuff. At that point, I had been up for around 27 hours.

I had been to Amsterdam before, in 1994, as a young teenage (also on a layover). So, it was oddly familiar to grab a train to head to the city center. I then promptly looked for coffee.

The Anne Frank House, from the street.

After my fix, I headed towards the Anne Frank house, having been told that the line-ups get quite crazy. I presumed, wrongly, that going early would help. Perhaps I should have headed there first, as I was uninterested in the 80-100 minute wait to get in. Instead, I grabbed a brochure to read about it, took a picture of the building, and left.

I then headed to the Rijks Museum, to find even crazier lines. Apparently, it had been closed for a while, so it must have been a “must do” over the holidays for locals and tourists alike. Standing in line by myself to go into a museum by myself just wasn’t all that appealing. Add to that it was 4 am, and my desire to simply stand around was diminishing. I guess the line was probably at least two hours to get in, but I didn't inquire. Nor did I find the end of the line. So I headed to the Van Gogh Museum instead, partly because I know Leah would appreciate my going. It was only a ½ hour wait. I’m not a huge art fan, but it was cool to see some of Van Gogh’s famous paintings, and the evolution of his work. I did walk through pretty quickly, though.

I think this is the Van Gogh painting Leah said she liked the most.

The picture does not do it justice, but this was one of my favourite paintings. I like the thick brush strokes, and the style of the painting.

This was followed by just walking around, looking for cheese (wasn’t hard to find) to take to Uganda for Isaac (who says the cheese here is not very good). I thoroughly enjoyed all the samples offered. I also spent some time looking for a few recommended food items, but I didn’t come across some of them. I did enjoy being in a pretty cool European city, and often thought about how great it will be when I could do this trip with Leia and the girls. There were a bunch of cool shops I saw – lots of great décor, and even a store dedicated entirely to men’s socks.

The men's sock store! Each row of hanging socks had a pull-out full of various sizes. 

I also took an obligatory walk through the red-light district. When I visited in 1994, I was with my youth group, and the youth pastor insisted we walk through that area, at least a bit, to “experience the world”. I was curious to know how the experience would be this time around, given that I no longer have the same views. What struck me most, however, was that the women standing in the windows were primarily fixated on their phones – some talking, some texting or perhaps browsing.

Mostly I just walked around. I found that when I stopped for to long, the lack of sleep caught up with me. When I was eating lunch, for example, I’m pretty sure I dozed off waiting for my food. The last major stop was a pub, Arendnest, recommended to me by friends who visited it earlier in the year. Tonnes of local beers on tap, but I was only able to sample two. Both were delicious, but I especially liked the Ijs Stout, which is frozen during fermentation, the frozen water rises to the top and is skimmed off. Perhaps something the brewery co-op I’m involved with could attempt.

The obligatory bikes shot.

Then, feeling very tired, and tired of walking on cobblestones, I headed back to the airport for a bite to eat and rest. I felt like I wasn’t being adventurous enough, and that I should have eaten in the city. But by the time I got back to the airport, it was raining. So, I would have been tired and wet! After a simple meal, and a rest, I boarded my plane for Nairobi. I then slept. I woke up to eat the meal – it was lamb, and I’m glad the aroma roused me – and then I slept some more.

A brief stop in Nairobi, and I boarded the last plane of the journey to Uganda.