“Amster Amster Dam Dam Dam”

Whenever I think of Amsterdam, I can’t help but recall this children’s song and how naughty (and liberating) it felt to sing that bad word over and over!

Well, here we are in Amsterdam and having a wonderful time. Despite the cool April weather, we’re enjoying this very walkable city where one has to beware of the thousands of bicyclists zooming along and sometimes seeming to come out of nowhere!  Bikes are parked everywhere including a huge free bike garage at the train station.

We’re staying in a ground floor apartment right on one of the many canals, a short tram ride from the train station.  This time, our oven is on the floor rather than the ceiling (like our last place!).

We are here during peak tulip season and the flower markets are booming!


But this is nothing compared to the splendor of the Keukenhof Garden!  More flowers than almost any garden in Europe, we’re told…7 million tulips on 79 acres of garden! And it is only open for two months during the year.  We are lucky to have come at this time.

The Dutch also grow (and freely distribute) cannabis.  We saw this ‘starter kit’ in the market but doubt that it would pass customs.  But the distinctive scent of marijuana is ubiquitous as you stroll through town.  If you breathe deeply as you pass a coffee shop, you could almost get high!

One of the main attractions of Amsterdam is its museums.  The Rikjsmuseum houses an enormous collection of Dutch masters, especially Rembrandt.  Here are two of my favorites:

The Van Gogh Museum is wonderful! We wisely bought timed tickets on line and were able to walk right in!  The museum houses a huge number of Van Gogh’s paintings and drawings, but also includes work by painters who influenced him and those whose work he impacted.  Photos were discouraged inside the museum, but I did get this snap of one of his self portraits…

One disappointment was that we did not get to the Anne Frank House.  We learned too late that their timed tickets (the only way to get in without standing in line for hours!) go on sale 2 months in advance and sell out almost immediately. Next time…
We did see the Dutch Resistance Museum, though, which gave us some insight into what it was like to live here during the Nazi occupation.  This museum is less well-known and not crowded, but worth a visit.

On April 27, the Dutch celebrate King’s Day, the birthday of their King, with a country wide street party that is best experienced in Amsterdam.  We had no idea that we were going to be here for this festive occasion…just lucky timing, I guess.  Look at these young men hoisting each other and their flag!

We even put on some orange to get with the locals.  There was an endless parade of boats on our (and every other) canal…boats full of young people dancing and drinking and enjoying themselves.  I can’t imagine how much Heineken was consumed in that 24 hours!!

Now we’re off to Berlin by train.  We’ll post from there…