Day IV: Happy Queen's Day!

Monday, 30 April, 2012 - Our last day in the Netherlands, and as much as we were enjoying ourselves there, we were definitely exhausted. It probably didn't help that we woke up much earlier that morning than our bodies wanted us to. Unfortunately Kennedy's flight was leaving a little bit after noon, so we figured the best plan for the day was just going to be to head back to Amsterdam and see what actual Queen's Day was like. So we breakfasted at the hotel, packed our minimal belongings, and took a quick stroll down to the beach. After all, what's the point of staying in a place that overlooks the North Sea if we aren't even going to get sand between our toes?

A little bit more awake, we piled into the car and cranked up the radio - the Netherlands plays surprisingly good music, some of the best playlists I've heard in Europe, actually. Pulling into Amsterdam it dawned on me how impossible parking was going to be. I had expected it to be bad, but this... Not only was parking nonexistent, driving was all but impossible for the never-ending flood of people walking through the middle of just about every road. I figured that there had to be a parking garage near the train station and the train station was relatively close to the area we'd been hanging out, so I painstakingly slowly got us over there and found a garage that was almost completely devoid of vehicles. Odd. But we were parked, that was the important part.

We returned first to Koninklijk Paleis and were overwhelmed by the masses of drunken people staggering about and just passed out on the stairs of the National Monument across the road. And the trash. The reasonably clean cobbled streets that we had walked along Friday afternoon were just heaped with trash. With a pang I realized how much I appreciated the almost OCD level of cleanliness that Vienna lives by. But not to be put off by a little visual nuisance like litter, we decided that we would rather people watch than be people-watched, aka we wanted to find some café with outdoor seating, preferably in the shade, and watch the masses flow by instead of wandering around with the masses.

 These aren't actually near Koninklijk Paleis, but it gives an idea of the crowds (and nifty buildings!)

Once away from the central hub of things we managed to find a café and snag a table in the shade as a couple was leaving. We ordered sparsely, not really hungry or thirsty, and watched all of the people. Apparently Queen's Day is also a giant yardsale day, because every street was lined with tables that had been set up or just blankets laid out with stuff heaped on. We had seen all of these places marked off the night before and gathered that people would be selling things, or perhaps even just setting up chairs and hanging out, but somehow I didn't quite picture it to be like this. I was entertained watching people come by and poke around, though. There was also a band of four boys about 10-12 years old rocking out in onesies or bellbottoms or other slightly outlandish getups. They were actually pretty good, too, and played a lot of 70s and 80s stuff.

After about an hour we decided to walk around a little bit more, then start making our way back to the car to get Kennedy to the airport in time. If you gave me a map or plopped me down at our café again I could retrace my steps, but I haven't a clue what streets we were on or what part of the city we were in. We basically made a big loop, and this was pretty much our view the entire time:

I think this is about how 90% of the people around us felt...

We also passed a funk band playing on the other side of the canal and people were sitting along the wall on this side listening, too. I might have enjoyed that for a while if I had a good place to sit and maybe some ice cream (or a Belgian Waffle!) and didn't have anywhere else to be, but it wasn't a horrible loss.

The crowds were the most glaringly obvious and in your face as far as things to see in Amsterdam that day, but there were some other details that didn't escape my notice, too:

 Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, Queen from 1890 - 1948(!) and more spiffy architecture

Really neat mosaic bench with really not neat trash surrounding it

Eventually we made it back to the car and out to the airport where we said goodbye to Kennedy. Neither Anna nor I were up to braving Amsterdam again that afternoon, so we got on the highway and drove south until we came across a little town, no idea what it was called, and stopped for a more leisurely and quiet lunch. We had all of two options of restaurants and as one didn't have any available outdoor seating, we opted for the Italian place. It almost looked like a chain to me, but I was really impressed with the meal I had.

Still a little sapped of energy and enjoying the weather but starting to get a little warm, we decided just to head back to the airport and kill the extra little bit of time we had there.

And thus ended our Netherlands Adventure. All in all it was a great trip, and now I feel a bit more prepared should I find myself in the midst of another Netherlands-wide celebration again.

My parting words of wisdom:

Day III: Flowers and Queens

Sunday, 29 April, 2012 - Sunday. This was the day that I was most excited about, the biggest draw for me, the reason that I had pushed for our destination to be the Netherlands. This was the day that we were going to frolic through flowers. Can a girl want anything else in life?

We repeated the process of the morning before, also packing our few belongings as we were to spend the night again in the Hague, but this time in a hotel down by the coast. We input Lisse into the GPS and set off through a slightly damp morning. We seemed to mostly be on back roads through the countryside, which little by little turned into cultivated fields of tulips covering the full palette of your basic ROYGBV, and just about every shade in-between. As we pulled up to the perimeter of the garden, we realized how lucky we were to be coming in from the south - the line of cars waiting to turn in coming from the north stretched back far beyond anything I could see. Conveniently we didn't have to wait at all and turned right on to the road back to the parking field. After driving almost a full circle around the gardens, we were ushered into a row of one of the multiple parking lots set aside to accommodate all of the bulb gawkers. Although we were there early, we were far from being there first. We hiked up to the closest entrance, waited in a considerable line, and were at long last expelled into flower heaven. We had just stepped into an area half a mile wide by a quarter mile long overflowing with 7,000,000 (that's seven million) bulbs - each of which is planted annually. That means that every person in the state of Wyoming could come to this little paradise, each pick a dozen flowers, and there would still be some left over. Interestingly Keukenhof, the world's largest flower garden, only opened to the public in 1949, the same year that saw Ireland's official withdrawal from the commonwealth and fully recognized as the Republic of Ireland. Incidentally also the same year a certain favorite relative of mine was born. But I digress. Flowers, we were talking flowers. But perhaps it's best to share this wonderland using pictures:

Views from the Keukenhof Flower Festival 

We easily spent over two hours traipsing around through the flowers, trying to avoid crowds (as if that was possible), indulging in the heady fragrances, and reconnecting with our native american roots by hanging out in a wigwam (pictured above) that we found in the middle of the garden. We snacked on Belgian waffles and little Holland pancake bites, but after a while our appetites really kicked in and we decided we were flowered out. Thus, picking our way back through the considerable crowds, we returned to the car and drove back to Amsterdam for the rest of the afternoon.

We had been hearing a lot about this alleged Queen's Day Festival that was to commence unofficially that evening and officially continue throughout the rest of the following day, and from what we could tell those Dutch folk got pretty into it. So we figured the first responsibility that we had was to ensure that we were properly attired for the party. Luckily there were many tourist and costume shops at our disposal, all overflowing with obnoxiously orange accoutrements, so we weren't lacking for options. Having thus adorned ourselves accordingly, we returned to Koninklijk Paleis as we had again parked in the vicinity. Kennedy's eye was drawn by the many rides and thrills in the little carnival there, so we indulged our inner children and got in line for the most hairy-looking ride, one quite similar to Speed for you amusement park aficionados, that had a set of seats each holding eight people (four facing forwards, four facing backwards) at the end of each of two arms. While the arms rotated in a standard circle, the sets of seats also spun independently so we often found ourselves admiring the architecture of Amsterdam for only a moment at a time while upside down. It was great fun. I wanted to get a picture of the view, but was terrified of losing my camera and was too busy screaming, anyway.

Carnival ride and cool Amsterdam architecture (not taken from upside down while pulling 3.5 g)

Once satisfied on that count, we went in search of food. Probably a good thing we didn't reverse the order of the two. We ended up at a Mexican restaurant of all places and had an enjoyable time people watching - the merrymaking had definitely begun. Not really having much of an agenda ourselves, we began wandering up the streets that called us, curious which form the revelries would be taking. We found some fun shops to poke through as well, though nothing to write home about.

The orange was already out in full force and people were mostly mingling in small groups or casually gathered in larger squares just drinking, as was expected.

We spent a few hours getting lost and making our way back to places we knew, then getting lost again, stopping for a drink or some ice cream now and again. At least the views were nice!

We finally figured out where the red light district was and, taking a moment to steel and compose ourselves, stepped into the infamous region. We walked up the length of the canal, gawking slightly, before deciding we needed another drink and settling at an outside table at one of the tamer bars we found. We had a few rounds, but decided it was time to move on when the Canadians at the table behind us started ranting loudly about how much they hated Americans. Anna was not pleased. But we had more interesting things to do and see.

About this time we dawned our bangin' orange accessories to better blend in with our surroundings.

I don't think it's necessary to expound upon the rest of the evening, but suffice it to say we enjoyed the local beverages, made some new friends, wandered to some new places, and eventually made it back safely to sleep comfortably in our seaside Victorian hotel.

Day II: Delft and a Horrid Rendition of a Great Novel

Saturday, 28 April, 2012 - Anna, Kennedy, and I rose at a reasonable hour - well, in time to shower and snag something to eat before the complementary breakfast closed - and solidified our plans of starting out in Delft and seeing where the day took us (aka not having plans beyond that) over yoghurt and toast with jam served in little leaves folded into dishes.

Thus we drove to Delft through a bit of a drizzle. We realized upon arriving that we didn't really know the parking rules, much less where we were allowed to park, but we found what looked like a non-offensive spot relatively near the central square, perilous though it was. As it was my first time ever renting a car, and I was doing so as an already noted 'high risk' driver (being under 25 and all), the last thing I wanted to do was try to explain to Hertz how we had accidentally parallel parked into a canal. Thankfully I didn't end up having to have that conversation.

We made the assumption that we still needed to pay for parking even though it was a Saturday as we had had to in The Hague as well, and this was confirmed when we saw a little old man park and get a ticket at the parking machine by the corner. Alas, all of our bills were too big for the parking meter and we didn't have enough combined change to get by for a couple of hours. Nor were we able to get our credit cards to work. We asked the little old man for help, but he didn't know English, so we split off looking for a café that would break one of our bills. However, the locals being as overly friendly and helpful as is their nature, Anna and I soon encountered the little old man again who had tracked down a woman who spoke English and delivered her back to us. We got our parking ticket sorted out then ventured off around the town.

Kennedy had found a little outdoor market in her ramblings so we figured that was as good of a place as any to start.

Not surprisingly, they had more stalls selling cheese than any other single offering.

We also stopped to try some stroopwafels, a "must-have" that a Dutch woman from my barn told me about. They're basically two particularly thin waffles held together by a layer of caramely-syrup. These delicacies proved a pleasant, though alas fleeting, distraction from the chill and damp slowly penetrating our waterproof layers. I don't think we made it another twenty minutes before succumbing to our basic animal instincts to escape the cold and ducking into a café for some hot chocolate. After a proper thawing we returned to the charms of Delft to explore the Market Square and whatever else the town had to offer.

 Nieuwe Kerk on the Market Square

Stadhuis (1618) on the Market Square

We meandered hither and thither, coming across such sights as the 13th century Oude Kerk:

and window displays of cheese and of Queen Beatrix decorated delicacies:

Windows and windows of CHEESE! 

Pastries and such to help get you in the proper mood for Queen's Day

among other things:

Other things... 

After ambling and poking into stores and circling the Market Square no less than three times we had worked up enough of an appetite and a desire to re-thaw to make stopping for lunch a worthwhile endeavor. Being the Americans that we are, we chose the bagel place on the Market Square because those little suckers are just so scarce in Europe that we felt it was an opportunity to indulge in our native  pleasures wasted if we passed it up.

After lunch the general consensus was that we had been there, seen that as far as Delft went, so we might as well make our way back to The Hague. And then things went south. Upon arriving back in our room and re-evaluating our afternoon and early evening prospects, we were more heavily influenced by the dampness outside and the warmth of our room (and more specifically the warmth under our blankets) than I would like to admit. But there you have it. I may have been swayed by my comrades, or just as likely by my poor choice in clothing for the weekend - although I knew it would be wet and a little chilly, I refused to believe that we would experience anything that actually qualified as "cold" in late April and subsequently didn't pack much in the way of layers. But what this all boils down to is that we decided that a movie sounded like a reasonable way to spend some time. We were between Titanic and Wuthering Heights until I realized that Titanic was not in fact THE Titanic of our fondest adolescent memories but rather The Titanic, a documentary on some late exploration of the submerged "unsinkable ship". Wuthering Heights it was.

So we dwelled in the room for about an hour before setting out in search of the theater. I should have sensed trouble as soon as I discovered that the theater didn't sell popcorn (seriously?! What kind of movie theater doesn't sell popcorn?), but we were drawn in nonetheless by the neon glow of the window signs. We settled in for what I was hoping would be a decent translation of a novel that I had grown quite fond of over the years. I couldn't have been more disappointed. This was atrocious. Don't waste your time, ever. End of story. If you want to really appreciate Wuthering Heights in cinematic form, or if you don't really know what that strange love-hate story that people talk about when reminiscing on the good times they had in high school is really all about, just watch this video by Kate Bush. This little masterpiece out of the 70's can not possibly disappoint anyone.

So, thoroughly disappointed as we were post film, we trudged out in search of some food. Alas, we didn't have a map, nor did we really know which direction to head to get to a more restaurant-saturated area of town, so for lack of any other food establishments in our line of vision, we went into Warung Mini, a Java restaurant, without the slightest idea what the cuisine would entail (even after taking a long gander at the menus). I asked our friendly waitress what she recommended (Rijst Kip Groenten) and Anna and Kennedy quickly took my cue and also got suggestions from her. We also ordered the striking pink drink that the folks next to us were sipping on which turned out to be sweet and every so slightly hinting of bubble gum. But when our food came out I knew I had made the right call in asking for advice. I had this giant heap of rice, probably about the size of a small termite hill, and an equally sizable bowl of chicken, veggies, and beans not too far removed from the refried kind we ol' Texans find so appetizing. It may sound like simple fare, but I will adamantly stand by Warung Mini's Rijst Kip Groenten. Kenn and Anna's meals were tasty, too, but I definitely got the best meal of the three. Having thoroughly sated ourselves and made friends with the waiters and chef, we eventually waddled out because our charming little restaurant looked more and more like it was about to turn into a night club. We graciously took our leave and started roughly back in the direction of our lodging, only to be sidetracked one last time by a bar. But it was getting late and we had flowers to see the next day, so we only stayed out another hour before returning to the warm confines of our room. A good redemption to an afternoon that attempted to get the better of us.

Day I: Amsterdam

Friday, 27 April, 2012 - After almost a year of us both being in Europe, my college roommate and I were finally able to rendezvous. Destination? The Netherlands. Anna was also able to come along that weekend, and the more the merrier in my book. Why the Netherlands? Well, why not, first of all; I've only ever heard fantastic things about that country, and especially about Amsterdam. However, the real factor that was drawing me there was the Keukenhof Flower Festival. Now, this isn't just any flower festival. Their specialty is tulips, and they do it them in a major way. At 80 acres and 7,000,000 (yeah, seven million) bulbs annually, this is the world's largest flower garden. But I'm getting ahead of myself... The three of us were renting a car and travelling around the Netherlands for the weekend. What could be better?

Anna and I landed in Amsterdam around noon on Friday to find that the airport was huge. We were planning on picking up the car, grabbing a quick lunch in Amsterdam, then getting back to the airport to pick up Kennedy. However, it took us so long to walk out to the car that we figured by the time we drove into the city and found a place to eat, it would be approaching the time of Kennedy's arrival, so we opted to leave our bags in the car but not take it yet so we wouldn't have to pay for parking, then hang out in the airport for another hour and a half. We found a good little café, wandered through a few of the numerous shops, and made our way up the the airport's "Panoramic Terrace" (we were underwhelmed by the latter).  Overall not a horrible place to kill a little time.

Once we picked up Ken we headed on in to Amsterdam, figuring we could see a few sights, maybe get to a museum, and eat dinner before going down to The Hague for the night. We got into Amsterdam without a hitch, but even I was slightly rattled once we started driving through the city because there were bikers everywhere. Of course I'm a huge advocate of biking and bike-friendly roads, but this was almost overwhelming. They came up one-way roads straight towards us (and these weren't wide roads to begin with) and would literally push off the car if they got too close. Pedestrians weren't much better. I was glad that I'm used to driving in Vienna and had a pretty good idea of what traffic signs to look for so that I could concentrate on not hitting anyone. Then there was parking, which was pretty much nonexistent (we probably should have known better than to go directly into the middle of the city), but we eventually found a parking garage and the attendant there was friendly and jovial and gave us a map and umbrellas and sent us on our way.

We set off wandering up Damrak past the Koninklijk Paleis towards the train station just to get a feel for the city.

Carnival in front of the Koninklijk Paleis

Wandering up Damrak

The first thing we passed was a mini amusement park right in front of the Koninklijk Paleis. I'm not completely sure if that's a relatively permanent carnival or if it was just there for Queen's Day, but people were certainly enjoying it. It was pretty overcast and spitting rain, but we kept going for a little while before circling back around to the Westerkerk near where we started.

Westerkerk

We were close to the Anne Frank Huis at that point. It was a place we all wanted to see and we weren't sure just how wild things would be once the Queen's Day festivities started, so we decided to go ahead and go, even if it would start our trip out on a rather sobering note. It was just as heavy as we expected it to be, but the house-turned-museum was very well done and informative. Walking through the hidden rooms in the annex that I had read about in grade school and seeing the magazine clippings Anne Frank had hung on the walls of her room to make it less gloomy was all so surreal.

Houses across the canal from the Anne Frank Huis

After we stepped back into the sunlight and recollected ourselves we went in search of somewhere to grab dinner. Anna and I had at least had a bite in the airport while waiting for Ken, but we'd only each had a Belgian waffle since then and were all hungry. After wandering aimlessly for a while, we came across Spanjer & van Twist, a promising-looking little place. The outdoor patio looked really pleasant, but it was a little chilly so we went inside.

We split a bottle of wine, an appetizer, and a few main dishes between the three of us and all enjoyed everything we were served.

By the time we finished we figured we ought to head out since we still had a forty minute drive ahead of us to The Hague (Den Haag), where we were staying for the weekend. After one quick lap through some of the areas we'd wandered earlier that day, we made it back to the car and hit the road. We arrived without much delay, got settled into our room, and fell asleep relatively quickly. A low-key night for sure, but we felt it was a good way to kick off the weekend.

Also, here are a few more pictures from around Amsterdam: