Amazing Amsterdam

Whatever the Weather, Amsterdam is Dam Nice

Riding the sleek, quiet train from Shiphol Airport, outside Amsterdam, to the center of the famous and fabulous city known for its rings of canals was the first sign of a country that is progressive in many ways other than just its transportation system.

Having flown British Air in that morning from London, where my wife Kathy and I spent four days fraught with fickle weather with old friends, we were excited to see an old city we knew was small and beautiful but one that while centuries-old is still a work in progress community now boasting of its cosmopolitan, multi-cultural atmosphere, which we found appetizing and appealing.

Gazing out my window as our train glided from one station stop to another, I got my first glimpse of the connection of canals that criss cross the country and ring the city, all below sea level [New Orleans and Mayor Nagink, take note], and saw a bevy of the smart icons I'm waiting to see in Ohio, renewable power windmills that gracefully turned in the wind that blows constantly across the lowlands collectively known as the Netherlands.

Once in the stately brick Centraal Station that is a key landmark and reference point to the city originally located on the Amstel River and built close to the "dam" that got tacked onto the river's name, we followed the traffic of likewise departing passengers and found our way out of Centraal Station and took in our full breath of view of the postcard city.

Wheeling our one piece of luggage each behind us [neither my nor my wife's luggage weighed more than 22 pounds, a first for us], we exited onto a sunny plaza where trains stood quietly waiting for their fill of passengers before they clanged and moved on to their next stop.

The second happy site we saw, one I've never seen before, not even in Seattle or Portland where we lived for months years ago, was the mass of people on pedal bicycles riding in specially designated bike lanes. There are so many bikes, in fact, that special garages are built just to park them, as residents, workers and visitors alike use them as their primary form of transportation. Streets are small, even cramped compared to American standards, and cars, some of which are the smallest I've seen, even smaller than the Smart Car now made famous by the Paris code cracker Sophie Neuve in The Da Vinci Code, [which we saw her and enjoyed], are expensive to run at 0.95 Euros/Litre and difficult to park in a small city where every inch priced accordingly.

Following check in at the A-Train Hotel, conveniently located within eye shot of the train station, my wife took a nap while I took off with my camera for a short reconnoiter to get my bearings for later.

Despite my growing misanthropism, I'm always energized by bustling hordes of people, especially in a new city. Turning the corner from Prinz Hendrikkade, where our hotel is located, onto Damrak, one of several major traffic arteries that would become familiar to us over our stay, I saw the first of many views that would soon endear me to the city and one which nearly caused me to go back and roust my wife from her dreamy sojourn to see. But I left her to her relaxing reveries.

This year is the 400th anniversary of Rembrandt's birth and Amsterdam is going all out to pay tribute to the painter. Included in our canal boat ticket price was the entry cost to The Van Gogh Museum that we visited and saw a large collection of the painter's work. The painter's paintings, and his writings -- he wrote over 1,100 letters to his brother Theo and his painter friends like Gauguin -- were on display.

Riding the canal boat like a water taxi, we saw the beautiful city from water level and were able to hop on and off as needed. The city, and for that matter the entire country is located on a giant multi-river delta, and the canals that expand from the center were part of the urban planning that continues to this day.

That evening we met Andrea, an au pair who worked for friends of ours and who lives in Utreck, about 30 minutes by train from Amsterdam central. She took us to a small restaurant away from the hot tourist area. There we had local beer and fresh sole with the city's signature sidedish, fried potatoes with mayonnaise.

On our way back to our hotel, Andrea took us by what she said was the oldest cinema theatre, dating to 1921. The Pathe theatre, once run by the Pathe brothers who got into the news and cinema business early last century, was a wonderful example of art deco. We purchased tickets for the next day to see The Da Vinci Code. The movie was in English, but the subtitles for the scenes spoken in French were in Dutch, so we completely lost those segments of the movie.

The following day was another travel day, which would take us to Eindhoven Airport, a Ryanair hub. Ryanair is amazingly inexpensive to fly, but time is critical and they get you on and off with no frills, which is why their slogan is they are the "on time" airline of Europe. For two of us, the one-way trip was $95 or so, a real deal. And during special rate time, the ticket can be under $1 -- figure that one out American airlines.

We were on time for our bus to the airport. Even though the sign by the ticket seller directing us to where the bus would pick us up was completely wrong, despite being handwritten and the location highlighted in bright yellow, we made the bus and the ride to end point, about 45 minutes down the road was smooth and uneventful. Eindhoven is a small but snazzy and clean airport. Our plan arrived on time and left on time due in part to the stewardesses whipping people into their seats so time schedules could be met.

Flying over the Swiss Alps was a great site and the further we traveled away from England and Amsterdam, the sunnier it got. Posting from Lucca now, we have yet to use our umbrella in Italy, where the sun and weather have both been accommodating.