travelswithalice

May 07, 2018

Getting Lost in Amsterdam with Annette

“When angels travel, the sun shines,” Anna at the front desk declares, thanking Annette and me for bringing beautiful weather that had eluded the city for days on end.

It’s a splendid Saturday afternoon and we eagerly set out to explore. Alas, it doesn’t turn out to be the brilliant introduction to Amsterdam- actually, to the continent- that I had envisioned for my sister who is seeing Europe for the first time.

Keeping to streets I should feel comfortably familiar with proves increasingly difficult as I now find most of them closed to traffic. There are police barriers set up everywhere. I very quickly lose my bearings and proceed to get lost on our very first outing! As it turns out, the city is celebrating the anniversary of the end of WWII and the King and Queen are laying flowers at various memorial sites.

We have fun finding our way around anyway. Me failing miserably to make any sense of various maps I optimistically brought with me, along with my phone’s Google maps, still in denial about my total lack of navigation skills.

Having managed to make it back to the hotel in time for cocktails in the lounge, it’s early to bed for us, tired but exhilarated by the adventure.

Sunday

A Canal Cruise gives Annette a proper tour and me the chance to sit back, relax, and not worry about getting us lost.

An I amsterdam photoshoot plunges us into the chaos that’s at the heart of Museumplein.

A quick check on the queue situation in Rijksmuseum steers us into the relative calm of the museum cafe. They’re not ready to serve high tea, so we opt instead for Dutch hotdogs in Vondelpark.

As it is Sunday, we decide to attend mass in one of the city’s famously hidden Catholic churches.

Cutting across lovely Ooster Park just behind our hotel, we mingle among the Sunday family picnics liberally sprinkled throughout the peaceful, sun-dappled lawns of the park.

And just off a small quiet square beside the park, we find the very plain, hidden-in-plain-sight Anna Bonifatius Church.

Monday

At Westerstraat Market in Joordan, we buy souvenirs and trinkets. Favorite purchases are a leather bag, a silver chain, and an Afghan carved bone necklace.

I’m thrilled to find d&a, a cafe Stuart and I “discovered” last year. We have a healthy, hipster-ish lunch of shakshuka and lamb with aromatic breads and home-made dips.

Going home, we of course take the wrong tram. We double back from Ooster Park.

We’re entertained - and shocked- on board by a squabble among a group of passengers, uncharacteristic for the normally quiet and proper residents of this city. Two young girls are duking it out, very loudly, with an elderly couple who seem to be the guilty party in this fracas. One passenger, a well-mannered, well-meaning young man fails miserably at his attempts to calm down the increasingly belligerent squabblers. He finally gives up and gets off the tram, thrusting a fist up, and shouting a strangely triumphant YES! I don’t think there are any winners here.

Finally back in the hotel, feasting on pecan pie and fruit, we decide to stay put for the rest of the day. But the bright afternoon sun beckons and we change our minds.

We go out again and this time attempt to go to Centraal on the tram, which of course takes us somewhere else. It doesn’t really matter because we have no definite plans anyway...

We walk around the Jewish area by a picturesque canal and find ourselves in the Eastern Docklands. Very unfamiliar territory for me.

There are however, gorgeous views of Renzo Piano’s NEMO Building.

I also find an interesting art installation on a quiet street corner. I wonder if it could be one of the so-called Anonymous Sculptures that so intrigued me last year?

We finally find the #10 tram that takes us to Gravesand, our home ground. We must’ve asked a dozen people, strangers, for directions.

It takes a village to get us home. Happily, this village is full of charming, hospitable, incredibly helpful people.

Later, over red wine and local cheeses, two sisters chat into the night about life, love, and family. It’s been a glorious day.

Tuesday

Our final outing has to be Keukenhof Garden for Annette’s tulips.

You don’t find vast stretches of endless tulip fields in this garden; certainly not like those seen in magical advertising photographs. But Keukenhof Garden is so much more than the “kitchen garden” its name implies. This is almost 80 acres of expertly landscaped plantings and dreamy vistas.