Aug 2-3 Amsterdam
NIGHT OF AUG 1
My flight from Geneva to Amsterdam featured pristine views, smooth landing, and complimentary snacks and beverages. The latter two I had not experienced on most recent flight with a budget airline.
Leaving Geneva - fields, mountains, sky
Flying between the clouds - there were so many different types
Approaching Amsterdam - SO MANY WINDMILLS
As I arrived, what struck me first was the beautiful architecture. After turning a corner, I was soon met with Amsterdam's night life. There were people drinking beers at bars and coffeehouses which reeked (legally) of weed. As I lugged my suitcase across the brick path, I took to care to avoid dazed tourists and stone-eyed individuals exiting from coffeehouses. Nevertheless, everything seemed more or less under control and not too unsafe. While Amsterdam is a clean and beautiful city, I experienced the city's issue with overtourism first hand.
Other aspects that struck me pretty much immediately:
- Everyone is so tall! In Italy, I'm either average or above average height. Here, I'm definitely below average.
- The steep stairs! Sightly precarious to balance on when carrying a suitcase.
- The streets! First the bikes definitely rule the road. They go pretty fast and sometimes don't follow the streetlights, if there are any. Also, they are not as easy to notice as a looming car in your peripheral vision that has an audible engine sound. Speaking of which, there aren't too many cars around, which makes sense while most people don't wear helmets. The only people I've seen wearing helmets are people who bike for sport. The others drink beer, reorganize their bags, etc while biking. In addition, there are not many street lights, which made it a little scary to cross the street at night. Other times, it seems to work out that there are not many lights, since it's mainly cyclists.
DAY 1
I stepped out the door a little past 8AM. The streets were much quieter and the beer cans that were on the stoop last night had disappeared. Most of what little noise there was came from the garbage trucks.
Given that most stores don't open until 10 or 11AM, I had breakfast at the only pancake shop open at the time. Turns out that pancakes are often not eaten for breakfast here.
PANCAKES Amsterdam
Freshly squeezed orange juice - tasted exactly like eating an orange (definitely a sweeter one), with pulp!
After my orange juice arrived, it was at least 20 minutes before my pancakes arrived. As an American and as a New Yorker, I'm not very good at waiting. Nevertheless, I did my best to enjoy the canal view.
Upon paying the bill, I was surprised to receive a clog keychain as a souvenir. Perhaps, overtourism can be good sometimes :)
DAM SQUARE
Complete with palace and church. I really liked the white unicorns with the 3D gold horns on the palace. Different from what I might see in Italy.
Also, it's the first time I wore a sweater in a while. Felt like spring!!!
BEGIJNHOF
It used to be a private community for religious women who were like nuns but not quite. People still leave here today, though I'm not sure if they all still hold the same religious beliefs.
The church here was definitely less opulent than those I've seen in Italy, but it was nevertheless decorated with awesome stained glass. Perhaps, it is more accurate to say that the architecture may be less grand, but the decorations were still other-worldly.
DE 9 STRAAJES
Neighborhood for vintage boutiques and cafes.
As I walked through the streets of Amsterdam, I barely saw any other people. Probably because many people are on vacation.
Not a soul in sight
TEN KATESTRAAT
Affordable fruit! (Especially big mangoes and half kilo cartons of blueberries. Mangoes probably from former colonies and blueberries grown in the Netherlands!) Cheese and fish as expected, but also nuts, spices, and hummus and dips due to international influences.
Haring broodje (herring sandwich) - salt cured herring with diced onions and pickles. onions and pickles helped balance the strong flavor of the herring. i liked the pickles which were both sweet and sour, relatively crisp too.
FOOD HALLEN, DE HALLEN
De Ballenball
Bitterballen with beef - crunchy breading, sticky roux, not as salty as I expected for bar food
Bouillabaisse bitterballen - tasted like cajun spices with small chunks of seafood
Cool denim shop that sells denim by the yard, or probably meter
ARNOLD CORNELIUS
Saucijzen broodjes (meat filled pastries) - laminated dough. beef filling has cumin and some other spices I could not identify. I'm lacking in the spice department, particularly if it's not used in Indian cuisine.
Gevulde koeken (almond paste cookies) - soft and buttery, moist probably from almond paste, though almond flavor is not overwhelming
JORDAAN
More tourists here, which justifies...
CHEESE MUSEUM
- *Vintage - winey, funky, orange in color
- Goat Old - sweeter than Vintage
- Old Farmers Cheese (Jaap Schep) - slight spice to the tongue
- Flink Blue - mostly sweet gouda flavor with blue funk at the end
- Goat truffle - straight truffle flavor
- Farmhouse Truffle - sweeter than goat truffle
- Smoked - as expected, I liked that it was creamy on the inside
- *Matured Gouda - fruity notes
- Cumin Matured - what it sounds like
- With Peppers - tasted like pepperjack, except gouda
- Farmer's Pride Honey - what it sounds like
- *Old Amsterdam - fruity, winey, cavey, nutty
- *Gouda Old - standard, balanced, sweet and not too aged
- ^With Olives (Vieux Gris Olijf) - sweet, aromatic, some sharpness
- Klaver Contadino - cheese itself is more mild but the bits mixed in are probably smokey sweet peppers
- DMVK The Special One - on the sweeter side, orange in color
- Beer Cheese - what it sounds like
* ones I want to try again and ^ was also particularly special to me
WINKEL 43
Famous for their apple pie which is what I got
Still a little warm. The crust is more cake like, but with normal rather than cake flour. The top is crunchy with the sugar. Apple filling is pretty simple but elevated when it mixes with the butteriness of the dough. Very good!
STADSBAKKER JONGEJANS
Ginger tart - just candied ginger on a butter crust
Black forest cake - chocolate cake, marzipan center, thin chocolate frosting, topped with almonds, dried sour cherries, and some reduction
Because I didn't have my morning tea, I was tired and had a headache at this point. So I headed back to the apartment for some tea and to charge my phone. I appreciate that Eliza's place is close to the city center.
WARUNG SPANG MAKANDRA
Surinamese restaurant
Suriname was a former English and Dutch colony in South America. Thus, there were slaves and people from other English and Dutch colonies. So the cuisine includes Chinese, Indian, and Indonesian.
Lamb curry - meat itself was pretty salty and had some savory spices that added to the umami. I encountered similar spices throughout my time here. When dipped in the sauce, there were some sweetness added from celery and carrots. I also appreciated the vegetables, with consisted of lightly pickled cucumbers and onions, as well as simply cooked green beans and cabbage.
VONDEL PARK
Here I relaxed for a bit before the concert, it was cool to see all the bikes strewn on the grass.
HET CONCERTGEBOUW
National Youth Orchestra of USA
Elgar's Cello Concerto, with Alisa Weilerstein
Mahler's Symphony No. 5
As the orchestra trickled on stage, I noticed that they were all wearing black blazers, red pants, and Converse shoes. Right away, they broke the assumption that classical music is all about tuxedos and the elite; rather, it can be new and exciting. They also made the statement that this concert was going to be different. Indeed it was! I have confidence that every member of the orchestra was giving it their all. Their energy likely made the music sound better, and their enjoyment probably made my mirror neurons fire off and my experience extra special. It is up there in my favorite concerts. (The others on the top of my list are the BSO 2021-22 opening concert with John Williams and friends and the BSO concert with Yefim Bronfman's Rach 3, Borodin Overture to Prince Igor, and Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet Suite.)
Elgar's Cello Concerto - The version I hear in my head is that of Jacqueline du Pre. It is likely that no one's interpretation is as solemn as du Pre's. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed Weilerstein's version, which was noble and humorous.
Encore - something from Bach Cello Suite
I got really close to the musicians during intermission
since there's seating behind the orchestra.
Mahler 5
1st movement - I like how the opening motif develops through the movement, particularly at the end where it is shared between the trumpet and flute (I think). I could tell the Klezmer influences
2nd movement - Lots of emotions that I didn't really understand but swept me away. Ending with multiple instruments was cool.
3rd movement - This movement sounded pretty familiar to me, but I always thought it was written by Wagner or someone else. I love how everything is weaved together and that it can almost stand as a piece on its own. (In fact, a few people clapped at the end of this movement.)
4th movement - Very romantic. The alternating lively and lamenting movements work.
5th movement - See alternating movements comment. I'm starting to take back my past comments about Mahler's lack of structure. The lack of unity may still be true of his 1st symphony.
Encore - I was not expected an encore from the orchestra! And of course it was Star Wars
DAY 2
CHEESE MUSEUM 2.0
In hopes of tasting some of the cheeses again with fresh tastebuds, I headed to the cheese museum in the morning. Unfortunately, it was closed despite that Google Maps said it was open.
ALBERT CUYPMARKT
Fresh stroopwafels - soft and chewy. fragrant sweetness with hint of cinnamon
Poffertjes - mini pancakes. cooked similar to some Japanese cakes. unleavened and chewy, similar to pancakes we made as kids on weekend mornings. topped with butter and powdered sugar.
RIJKSMUSEUM
This museum was rather mixed media. Paintings hung on the walls, while displays of wealth, war booty, and other treasures sat in cases at the center of the room.
Turns out the Dutch are crazy about porcelain.
Fishing for Souls, Adriaen Pietersz van de Venne
Cool statement about basically how Protestants are better than Christians
Something about perfection and imperfection
Perfect circle printed on crumpled paper and then paper is unraveled
I like how the paper is progressively crumpled. Has a meaning of innovation and development - I can imagine the artist trying to become increasingly complex. Or one could argue, increasingly frustrated with more crumples.
RIJSTTAFEL
Again, I'm not super familiar with the spices etc, so it was hard to describe some of the dishes.
Middle twelve are the main dishes. Mild to spicy is right to left (mild is 2nd and 3rd columns from the right, medium is next three columns, spicy is 2nd column from the left)
Side dishes
- Chicken satay - slightly sweet, some lemongrass
- Sweet and sour cabbage - more sour than sweet in my opinion but vinegar etc helps cleanse palate and reduce spice. some garlic there too.
- *Coconut and peanuts - great to top rice! coconut is sweet, salty, and spiced!
- Shrimp chips
- White rice topped with fried garlic and scallions
- Yellow rice (coconut milk, galangal, and probably other stuff) with same toppings
Mild spice, aka no spice
- Zucchini, corn, carrots, cabbage in green sauce
- Seitan (?) - sweet and crunchy
- *Beef - sweet and savory, some cinnamon and clove, bay leaf, additional depth of flavor maybe from soy and/or oyster sauce?
- Chicken - turmeric, extra lemony lemongrass, reminds me of some drink from Ikea in its herbalness
Medium spice, aka some spice
- Green beans and potatoes with a little bit of kick
- *Cucumber, tofu skin, cabbage in sweet peanut sauce
- *Chicken - with kefir lime leaf, pink sauce
- Beef - mostly soy flavor, heat in back
- Eggplant - sweet and spicy, almost like Chinese sweet and spicy garlic eggplant but perhaps less sour so slightly more one dimensional than the Chinese eggplant I've had
- Hard boiled egg, lightly fried - with sweet and spicy tomato relish
Spicy, aka it burns if I have more than piece
- Beef - similar to medium spice one except with larger kick
- Chicken - in addition to heat, also some celery flavor (and hence probably carrots and stuff too)
* ones are my favorites
Also, thanks Karla for teaching me to not let the food touch my lips if it's extra spicy.
RED LIGHT DISTRICT
Netherlands has a history of being more accepting of prostitution, particularly with seafaring husbands, wives needing to support themselves, and many foreign sailors. Prostitution was legalized in 2000, with prostitutes paying taxes and participating in unions. However, there have been recent movements to make it less central to the identity of Amsterdam, since it has become a major tourist attraction. I went around 8 PM, but there weren't too many prostitutes in the window. There were a few and that was enough to get a sense of what it was like.
I went to bed early to catch my sunrise train.
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