Ski Break Part 3: Holland

No Hungarian for the day this time. Instead my favorite quote from the break. The scene: eating a maoz falafel on an Amsterdam corner before entering the Rijksmuseum, discussing how beautiful the city is.
Me: It would be such a shame if this place flooded, but it's surrounded by so much water I'd imagine it floods here all the time.
Taylor: Well, their dikes are really high here.

Unfortunately we didn't have a lot of time to explore Holland. We went up there on Friday but because of a late start and ridiculous traffic we didn't make it all the way to our hotel north of Amsterdam until pretty late. We did manage to go into the city however, and what an interesting place Amsterdam is on a Friday night. As we took the bus from our hotel's neighborhood into the city we read the police warnings posted prominently in the tourist guide and had a good laugh. Amsterdam's reputation precedes it and it seems that the police are used to dealing with some pretty ridiculous things. They do, however, seem to take a commendably patient approach to it: "Please do not use our streets as restrooms, there are designated free public toilets throughout the city, or just come by a police station and we will allow you to use the restroom," or "If you would like to hire one of Amsterdam's ladies, please only do so in designated areas, and remember that just because one looks like a woman doesn't necessarily mean that it is. Also, please remember that they are business women who deserve respect." We walked through the red light district when we arrived in the city and judging from the large proportion of women in windows decked out in leather and brandishing whips, they are unlikely to be disrespected without inflicting considerable injuries upon the offending party. A bit weirded out by this neighborhood where prostitutes aggressively beckoned from every window we wandered out of the area and grabbed dinner at a place called "wok and walk " (the name had me at hello) before relaxing in a hookah bar until we were too tired for any more touring and just made it back to the hotel.

The next day was Saturday and the day before Taylor and I had to return to Szentes so we were determined to see as much of the city as possible. Really our brief time in Amsterdam was not even sufficient to skim the surface and all it did was make me determined to return one day to explore it in detail. It's a remarkably interesting place and though it's reputation is mainly that of a wild place to party because of its liberal policies, it is perhaps one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. We spent most of the day on foot just trying to see as much as possible.

Amsterdam is a city where bikes probably outnumber cars and pedestrians combined. This is the first time I had ever seen a bike parking garage.

Micha and Taylor navigating

Here is Anne Frank's house. We were planning on going in and this was the first place that we made our way to. Unfortunately there was an enormous line and we had to forgo the experience because we didn't want to spend our single day in Amsterdam in line. Next time!

After a time in the bustling center we made our way to the quite and artsy Jordaan area and enjoyed the views of beautiful architecture along the canals.

Cheese! One of Holland's best known exports and one of my favorite things. Taylor, however, bought some cheese that was so stinky I couldn't handle it, marking the first cheese I've ever been overpowered by. I was feeling slightly emasculated, but Taylor smelled like a goat's ass gone sour all day so you decide who the real loser was.

The main cathedral on Dam Square

Amsterdam, for good reason, is known as the "Venice of the North" because of it's numerous canals. The center of the city is made up of over 90 little islands! The canals lend a really unique beauty to the city. I only regret that we were there before the city's numerous trees and flowers were in bloom.

The Zuiderkerk, built in 1611, was a Protestant church and is one of the city's most famous postcard spots.

After walking around for many hours we decided we should visit at least one of Amsterdam's numerous world-famous museums. There were many to chose from, including the Van Gogh museum and the Rembrant House, but in the end we chose the Rijksmuseum because we figured it would be the broadest introduction to Dutch art and culture. It turned out to be a good choice, and we had a very enjoyable afternoon looking at works by the old Dutch Masters as well as taking in an exhibit about the rise and fall of Holland's empire that stretched around the world.

After we were finished in the Rijksmuseum it was getting dark so we caught a tram back to the train station to get a move on. I feel that the train station deserves some mention as it is by far the most ornate transportation hub I've ever seen, even including the "people's palaces" of the Soviet era metro stations in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Also interesting is that it was built over three islands.
A couple quick Holland observations:
1. Micha noticed this first, but after she pointed it out to me it was remarkably ubiquitous: the Dutch do not close their window curtains. Walking down the city streets you gaze right through large street level windows into people's lives. It doesn't seem to make them at all uncomfortable, indeed I think it was weirder for us to feel intrusive than for them. It's quite a nice idea, however, this general openness.
2. Amsterdam is diverse. Indeed, it is perhaps Europes most diverse city, and more than 50% of the children in Amsteram have some sort of non-Western background. After spending so much time in Szentes where diversity is a foreign concept, it was nice to hear many languages and smell different cuisines.
3. There really are windmills all over the place.


After our day in Amsterdam we drove out to the university town of Leiden where a friendly couchsurfer had offered to put us up for the evening and where we were also to meet a friend of Taylor's studying at the university there on an Erasmus scholarship. We rounded everyone up in Micha's car and then spent the evening enjoying a big dinner of more Asian wok food before stumbling upon a charming little pub populated mainly by Dutch good-old-boys. We got to know our kind host, Judith, over a few beers and eventually the singing of old Dutch folk songs broke out around us. Late that night we'd had more good Dutch beer and patriotism than we'd bargained for so we made our way back to Judith's to catch some sleep. The next morning we woke up with only enough to time to jump into the car and head for Cologne, where Taylor and I said our sad goodbye's to Micha and caught a flight back to Hungary.

Also, click here for my online ski break picture album.