Thursday, June 24, 2010

Amsterdam - Netherlands

Just returned from a 5 day visit to Amsterdam and some other parts of the Netherlands, I can strongly say that these are very pleasant and enjoyable and intellectually rewarding places to visit. I recommend them highly.

First, almost everyone seems to understand enough English so you don't have to struggle with a phrase book or stick with a guided tour all the time. The weather was very mild - about 65F and little heavy rain. We had some sporadic drizzle, but nothing that an umbrella could not deflect. Amsterdam is a great walking city - one can walk to all the main tourist sites with ease. It's flat and the streets have sidewalks and are safe.

The locals ride bicycles everywhere. There are more bicycles than people. That's one thing your do have to watch out for - the bicyclists. Bicyclists seems to peddle in a carefree manner, disregarding rules for cars and pedestrians, so look both ways in crossing. Why bicycles ? One of our drivers - a young man with a trip to NYC under his belt - said that parking permits have a five year waiting list. And parking costs 5 euros an hours IF you can find a space. Since spaces aren't available even at stores, etc., what's the point of having a car unless one lives in the suburbs. With flat terrain, bicycling is easy, too. We were told people bike in all weathers.

The Dutch are taller than the average American. The average height of an American man is about 5' 10". A Dutch man averages 6' 0.5". I'm 6' tall and there were many Dutch men who were taller than me - far, far more than for US men. The same applies to women. Also, Dutch women are rather attractive in general - they are not too thin nor fat. The ultra-thin fad does not seem prevalent there; Dutch women seemed to mostly have nice figures. Maybe it's the bicycling.

Normal Dutch food seems a lot like normal American food. Lunches in cafes were mostly indistinguishable from a similar cafe in NYC. I had several excellent club sandwiches for lunch with a fine glass of Dutch beer (large, of course).

The art in the Netherlands is spectacular. we visited the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Mauritshuis in The Hague and the Franz Hals Museum in Haarlem to see the great masters of the 17th century. All were incredibly good collections and the audio tour guides were simply the best I've ever encountered anywhere on earth. Another must stop is the Rembrandthuis (Rembrandt House) - the restored home of Rembrandt. It's a wonderful example of both 17th century life and how the artist lived.

Walking around Amsterdam, one can see fine old churches and many, many fine homes from the 17th and 18th centuries. A few gates from the old city walls exist, too. Amsterdam and The Netherlands are dream places for those interested in art and old architecture. The Dutch do a fine job preserving both.

For food, we mostly dined on Indonesian food. Indonesia was once a Dutch colony so many people with experience in Indonesian food brought it to The Netherlands. It's very tasty and nutritious - a bit like a combination of Indian food and Southeast Asian food. We had the "Rijsstaffel" every night - that's a "rice table". It's a combination meal of numerous small servings of all the styles and types offered by the restaurant. depending on the size, one gets 12-18 different meat or vegetable servings with different spices and cooking styles, and both yellow and white rice. All were delicious. Portions were very large. That meal goes well with either fine wine or Dutch beer.

Amsterdam and The Netherlands are fine, fine places for a vacation - very enjoyable.

Word of the Day

"Inanition" - noun [$10]
Inanition means 1. emptiness; 2. exhaustion from lack of nourishment.
Sentence: The American people's increasing sense of inanition in Obama's regime will likely bring major changes in November.

22 comments:

maverick said...

Attractive shapely women,great food and a red light district. Man, I am diggin this Amsterdam.

Bunkerman said...

lolol, yes, I think it's probably a fine city for "fun"

Bunkerman said...

I think if you wear some orange you'll get a smile from the ladies ...

maverick said...

So they love the Cuse and Tigers?

Bunkerman said...

Orange & Blue are the Dutch colors - especially orange.

During the soccer game, everyone was wearing orange

Frosty said...

did you bring back gifts....perhaps a pair of wood shoes for the bunkeboyz sir.

Bunkerman said...

sorry, no gifts.

We didn't bring much back at all - just about $65 of small items.

No photos, either, just good memories.

Frosty said...

Bunky...seeing in slow down in the skim...pimp pocket full of jacksons.

Bunkerman said...

lol, you wouldn't conclude that if you saw my hotel bill.

Frosty said...

EVERYONE I speak with action is slower Q2...except you of course...well played sir.

Bunkerman said...

the guy who just painted my house says business is booming ...

I guess New England leads ...

Bunkerman said...

midday traffic here is horrible again, just like 2006.

recession is over here.

Bunkerman said...

oh ... btw frosty, everyone knows time seems slower after a smoke, so for the common Oregonian, it would seem slow.

:))

Frosty said...

LOL...that wouldn't explain the slow down at monkey subs...you firm on the nono double dipper.

Bunkerman said...

yeah .. just a slog in the swamp, slow climb out.

no quicksand.

Bunkerman said...

450K new job losses ... huge pain continuing.

maverick said...

uh bunk...this painter work for
Christina Romer...sheesh

Bunkerman said...

lol, nope.

but he told me he was swamped with business.

Bunkerman said...

this area never had the big run up in home prices, or gross overbuilding.

Frosty said...

where are the real buyers...Krypto still in doggie vacation jail...nonono worry Krypto, frost will post bail...bunk tapped out hotel tab.

Bunkerman said...

Krypto wnted to sell some yesterday, but the signal was weak.

no buy signals in sight.

waiting for lower prices

Bman 1st half close target 1011.

Spin-em said...

Bunk.....when a short term trade is made next year,...what rates are we talkin about compared to this year?