The Leacock gang’s mini northern-European tour ended with a quick stop in Amsterdam, the city of one million bicycles (yet curiously, only 700,000 inhabitants).
After arriving at Schipol airport, we made the 20 minute trip into the centre by train (3.90 EUR each). Our apartment was situated on the quiet Raamgracht canal right in the heart of the city, just a stone’s throw away from the Chinatown and the Red Light district. The apartment owner left us instructions to retrieve the keys from a small key safe at the front of the building, and we succeeded in hauling ourselves and our suitcases up the steep narrow staircase typical of Amsterdam canal houses. The apartment itself was bright and spacious, with views over the canal and the Zuiderkerk church steeple — all in all pretty fantastic, even given the alarming violence of the flush on the upstairs toilet. We had a pleasant stroll out to the Regulierswardsstraat area, where we had dinner at an Indonesian restaurant called Sahid Jaya. We suspect we were misguided in our food choices by the extremely chatty Shanghainese waitress who had only been working there for a few weeks and seemed no big fan of Indonesian food, but dinner was enjoyable overall.
The next morning, after a breakfast of orange-yolked soft-boiled eggs and toast, we struck out on subway and tram to the Museum district. We spent the morning at the Van Gogh Museum, where we were lucky to catch a special “Colours of the Night” exhibit alongside the excellent permanent collection. After some lunch and shopping, we made a quick stop at the Rijksmuseum. Although currently undergoing massive renovations, they are exhibiting a collection of masterpieces including five Vermeers (one on loan from National Gallery in Washington), The Night Watch (which we learned is NOT Rembrandt’s best painting), and Jeremiah (which apparently is, at least according to some tour guide mom was eavesdropping on). Returning to our apartment via the Old Town and the Red Light district, we ended the day’s wanderings at a café by Nieumarkt, watching the citizens of Amsterdam stopping for a drink or doing some grocery shopping on their way home from work.
Thursday was the Ascension Day holiday in the Netherlands, where it is called Hemelvaartsdag — funny, but not as funny as in Norway, where it is called Kristi himmelfartsdag. We subwayed and trammed our way to the Albert Cuyp Market in De Pijp neighbourhood to eat raw herring (okay) and fresh stroopwafels (good), and to look at small cars. Lunch was at the small marketside Café Krull — we tried the mint tea and toasted sandwiches, but not their famous hot chocolate. We admired the “Golden Bend” of the Herengracht canal on the way to the 400 year old Rembrandt House, whose staircases were deemed more navigable than our apartment’s. Passing by the central train station en route to dinner, we stopped to gape at the bicycle parking areas, some of which rival the car lots at Pearson.
We enjoyed our last meal in Amsterdam at a traditional Dutch restaurant called Dorrius (thanks to some spot-on web surfing by our North American-based support crew), where we sampled specialties like Hendrika’s herring (€11- blech), pea soup (€7.50 – excellent), stockfish (€25.50 – very good, very filling and prepared table-side) and sauerkraut (€19.50), the Dutch version of which mashes the pickled cabbage together with potato and is served with seven meat “garnishes” (also very good). Of the less Dutch dishes, the sea bass (€24) was fresh and faultlessly pan-fried, but the lamb shoulder (€22.50) was a tad sweet for our taste — each of these dishes was accompanied by its own enormous platter of potatoes, to the horror of mom and 4 yee.
The next morning, a hop and a skip on the subway and train brought us back to Schipol. We had ample time to do some duty-free shopping, eat lunch at the noodle stand, and check out the small rotating exhibit from the Rijksmuseum in the international terminal before boarding the flight (three of us in row 43, one of us in World Business Class) back to Toronto.
Practical Information
Panorama Canal Apartment
Details: The apartment was impeccably cleaned, spacious, bright and very comfortable. It is on the top floors of a five storey building, so the views are great. The owner was helpful, responsive and professional in email and phone correspondence. Basic supplies like toilet paper, paper towels, dishwashing fluid, coffee, tea, coffee filters, sugar are provided; there are also several grocery stores a few minutes walk away. The staircases are steep and narrow, so bulky suitcases will be tricky to carry up. The Nieumarkt subway station is literally a minute from the front door, and the central train station is one subway stop or a 15 EUR taxi ride away. 180 EUR/ $290 per night (prices vary according to season and occupancy).
Sahid Jaya
Reguliersdwarsstraat 26
Telephone: +31-(0)6-239 08 355
17-23 daily
40 EUR/ $65 per person
Restaurant Dorrius
Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 5
Telephone: +31 20 420 2224
18-23 daily
50 EUR/ $80 per person
Rembrandt House Museum
Jodenbreestraat 4
10-17 daily
8 EUR/ $13
Rijksmuseum
09-18 daily, 09-20:30 F
8.5 EUR/ $14
Van Gogh Museum
10-18 daily
15 EUR/ $25
