Amsterdam (Day One)

Welcome to Amsterdam, city of tulips, clogs, and canals.

My first impression? Maybe it’s the Canadees in me, but I’ve spent my day steeped in buildings and objects of impossible age, searching for the hidden. In the city that hid Anne Frank and family for 761 days, I guess it makes sense that you would need to look closely…

For instance, this is De Papegaai Hidden Church. It’s a Catholic church, and in the 1500’s Catholics were forbidden from worshipping openly in Amsterdam. Back in the day, the papegaai (parrot) on the door was the only sign to the faithful that there was a church there. Today it is equally cleverly disguised between a cellular shop and a health food store.

I walked by many other historically significant and just plain notable sights before I figured out that where I was expecting grandeur, the object of significance just was. No pomp, no circumstance, just a tower on the streetcorner.

A speaking of streetcorners…

Almost everywhere you walk, you are walking on cobblestone of some size, shape, and description. This is a sample of the fancywork in front of the New Church (first opened in 1408) and the Royal Palace (built in the 1600’s), but for pedestrians, it’s all cobblestone all the time and if you DO happen to be walking along a beautifully smooth piece of paving, you may want to rethink your strategy before the cars, bikes, or public transit train comes along.

I’ve been on public transit twice now. The first time was the result of a mis-communication between myself and Expedia, who offered me an airport-to-city-center transfer for only This Many Euros, which seemed like a fine idea. I thought I was signing up for a shuttle service, and Expedia did not disillusion me. After using my super-sharp deductive reasoning skills to figure it out on-site, I got on the bus. It was either take the ride I’d already paid for or figure out the taxi thing.

As it turns out, the transit system is fairly easy to use, and all announcements are in both Dutch and English. Very stoopid tourist friendly, and I ended up a mere five blocks from my city center hotel, as advertised.

English is very pervasive in Amsterdam. Signs, service agents, random people on the street – all speak English to one degree or another. Even the other tourists from non-English speaking countries speak a little English, so we can all apologize to each other, which is nice. I’m still trying to figure out how this one works, though…

Oh, and a word to the wise. If you’re going to drink these….

Then you need to remember this…

Tomorrow? Canals, boat snacks, museums and yarn.