Amsterdam - The Golden Child of Europe
Amsterdam
Arriving in Amsterdam feels like you've stepped back in time to the 1950s. A time when women stayed home wearing perfect hair and makeup so they could prepare wholesome meals for their hard-working husbands before shooing the kids into the backyard to play. The people of Amsterdam have open, honest faces and strong, sturdy bodies. The woman at the airport, in lightly accented English, tells us to "Make a picture," of the directions after joyfully helping us decide how to get from here to there.
Bicycles Everywhere
Amsterdam is full of people on bicycles. They all sit very upright, as if to somehow imply their moral standing or strong character and vitality. They almost perch on their bicycle seats, not one with the machine, but instead gracing the bike with their presence. The streets ebb and flow with bikes, first crowding one way, then rushing back the next. For the pedestrian, this can be quite overwhelming. Remember, you do NOT have the right of way on foot here. You WILL be run over.
The streets are littered with bicycles, but old ones, the one your father received as a graduation present from his aging grandparents. It is a nonstop parade of humanity, of people going about their lives: gentlemen in tweed suits, ladies in the newest floral rompers, dads with a child seat on the back, and women with sacks for groceries create an endless parade in the street. The Muslim women wear hajiib, and the mom pedals her 2 young boys, one in front and one in back, up one of the few inclines in the city of canals.
For now, I'll sit back and soak in my surroundings. I may grab a latte macchiato, and try the oorlog frittes. I may get brave and explore raw herring and the Red Light District. Wherever my adventure takes me, join me on my next post to see more of the City of Amsterdam as I work my way across parts of Europe. Let me know in the comments what I need to try while I'm here.
Thanks for joining me this time, and as always, for information on how to have your very own adventure, find me at http://travellifeservicesllc.com/ .
All pictures are my own, used with my own permission, from my own adventure.
Really beautiful City!
Yes it is! I'm hoping to get more pictures in a few weeks when I return. I'd like to get outside of the city a bit too!
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Amsterdam is lovely. Regarding their English: I think it's (on average) brilliant in comparison to what you'll hear in Austria. If you have communication problems, feel free to use the first part of my Austrian phrase"book" ;-)
So far I've been very impressed at how well everyone here speaks English. In Amsterdam, it was ubiquitous. Traveling through Germany I've found that most people speak enough to understand what I'm saying, although they have more difficulty responding in English.
I think I offended a man selling pomme frittes when I asked if he had sauce for them (I was thinking Netherlands style). He thought I was asking for salt and responded, "They are pomme frittes. Of course there is salt," in his gruff German voice.
Side note, he did not have sauce like they do in Amsterdam. I made do with ketchup and mayonnaise packets. It just wasn't the same. I need more Oorlog in my life. :-)
Nope, in Germany the only thing you get drenched in plenty of sauce is Schnitzel (breaded and deep-fried cutlet). Something Austrians see as complete blasphemy. I'm afraid there won't be much sauce for your fries in Austria, either. Only ketchup is common. I was shocked when I grew up, startet travelling and watched people munching on fries with all sorts of weird sauces. However, I'm pretty sure that once you've been to Austria, you'll need a lot of a lot more things in your life than just patat oorlog. There may be a lot of things about Austria that can be weird or even downright annoying but the food is amaing. Full stop. Also, since you're a vegetarian but you shouldn't miss out on the opportunity anyway, try to get hold of some vegetarian Leberkäse. (Personally, I only like the real stuff but since that only comes with pork, some people in my family do eat the vegetarian one and tell me they like it.)
Also, sausage stand vocab could be interesting to you. (Some sausage stands have vegetarian options and they are definitely a good option if you happen to be thirsty in the middle of the night.)
One more survival tip for Austria: Our supermarkets are closed on Sundays, Saturday evenings, and any evening really. They usually open between 7 and 8 a.m. and close at 7-8 p.m.!
Survival tips on grocery store hours - THANK YOU! I almost starved to death in Germany on Sunday because everything was closed. We had run out of cash, and couldn't find a bank or a place that A) was open and B) took credit cards. So we turned to the American standby - the convenience store. Nope again. They had tons of soda and candy bars, but nothing that resembled actual food. We went to 3 different convenience stores before we found lunch. We ended up with a bag of cashews, a bag of chips, some type of cheese spread, vodka, and juices. It was delicious, and even more satisfying for how hard we had to work for it. :-)
Expect a similar situation in Austria. Hardly any restaurants take credit cards either. A lot of people here live without credit cards: I'm the best example being 31 and never having owned a credit card. We even have this saying "nur Bares ist Wahres" (it loosely translates to, "only cash is the real thing").
Aaaaaaaaaaand by the way: There's a lot more about Vienna coming your way soon. I'm currently working on three blog posts (Museum of Illusions, Time Travel museum and the ultimate guide to Vienna if you've only got one day - inspired by you actually). So stay tuned for more real-time info for your vacation. :D
Edit (because I didn't want to write a third post): I'Ve found you an oorlog recipe. I suppose you'd have to use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth but that should also work fine :-)
The Ultimate Guide to Vienna sounds very cool! I don't know that I will be getting that far East this trip, but several members of the group I'm traveling with will be heading to Vienna on 4 August. If it's up by then, I'll share it with them. They will love it!
That recipe looks fabulous. I'm definitely making it when I get home. And I posted my review of the herring...Check it out here: https://steemit.com/travel/@mattifer/amsterdam-raw-herring
After reliving that experience, I had to break, so my review of the War Fries is still in the works.