Amsterdam, Day 6
Jan. 22nd, 2011 05:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebTropenmuseum
This morning we started out for a local market, but first we noticed the Tropenmuseum, which I'd read that you might be tempted to skip, but you shouldn't.
So we decided to check it out. It turned out to be a culture museum, but it didn't have just artifacts, it also had videos.
However, much of the museum was putting cultural traits in the context of environmental traits, so it was generally quite depressing. For example, in Suriname, people in the south used to farm and those in the north herded animals because it was drier in the north. Then in the dry season, the herders would come south and their animals would eat the farm stubble and fertilize the crops. Now the southerners want to raise their own animals and no longer welcome the herders, and the northerners want to grow their own crops, too, which doesn't work well because of the dryness.
Robin enjoyed seeing jeepneys which are old jeeps which have been converted for use as public transportation, especially in the Philippines. In our country, they might be called art cars. Robin says one of these played a key role in the book Cryptonomicon. We got to see a real one which they let us actually climb into. And we got to see them in action in videos. The decorations are amazing.
Robin also quite liked a car form covered in knitting to look like a red Ferrari Testarossa. (Robin tells me that Testarossa means "redhead" in Italian and the engine heads are painted in a red crackle finish in Testarossas because they just couldn't resist the pun.)
I learned you can make a dome just by making each circular brick layer out of fewer and fewer bricks. This way you can have rooms wider than the longest available tree trunks.
There was an interesting quote about Mexico City I didn't think to write down about how the city was killing everything around it in a horrible tragedy, but those who loved the city just couldn't resist her.
Some of the displays came together to cause me to ask myself: If I left my native culture (of the United States), what would I try to bring with me? Which artifacts? Which cultural norms and practices? I sure love not having to be religious. And I like being considered a real human being even though I'm female (and whatever else). I love ibuprofen, but it would eventually run out.
Dapperstraat Market
As we left, we saw this bike with plenty of carrying capacity.
We did find the market and also three grocery stores, none of which apparently struck me as photogenic. Then we were off to find the Houseboat Museum.
Hausbootmuseum
On the way, I decided to capture the inside of a tram.
Note the single seats on one side, double seats on the other. The accordion-looking part is flexible for when the track turns, but people also leaned against it. The next stop was announced both visually, as shown (actually, this is showing the time and that we are on the #10 line), and verbally, often in both Dutch and Liam-Neesen-accented English.
We did find the museum.
The brochure explains that this is a former commercial sailing ship built in 1914. Here is the entrance.
"The deckhouse, where the skipper's family resided, including the cupboard bed, is still in place."
This is the bigger bed of the two, if you can believe it (the other is across the way on the left). It's both longer and wider. Apparently the taller spouse sleeps on the doorway side.
"The former cargo hold has now been converted into a comfortable living space."
This actually does look quite livable to me. Here's the other side of that room.
This was described as the kitchen.
Here's a passageway with the level of the water outside illustrated inside. So technically the windows don't have to be so high in order not to be underwater or anything.
They also had a slide show with pictures of all kinds of houseboats that was fun. And we got to learn a bit more about the houseboat lifestyle.
Many, but not all, houseboats have been converted from regular boats. This sort of house must, by law, be brought into the shipyard for maintenance every four years. The required maintenance takes about a week to perform, during which time you may continue living in your house, though I assume your commute to work could change quite a bit.
Another kind of "houseboat" is made form concrete which, since it does not rust, is not required to be taken for maintenance. It tends to be more block shaped. Neither kind of houseboat is likely to have a motor and thus must be towed in order to be moved.
Next stop: red light district.
Pannenkoeken
But first, here's another typical Amsterdam view, with one wonky building.
Canal view at night.
Here's another nice bike.
Note the rack in front and the seat in back.
On the way, we found a place with pannenkoeken, which I'd wanted to try. These are Dutch pancakes. I'd heard they are thinner than what I'm used to, but thicker than crepes, and they are served mostly in savory flavors. I ordered one with cheese.
It was the size of a plate, perfectly cooked on one side, then broiled to finish off the other side and to make the cheese a golden brown. (In real life, they are not nuclear yellow--this is just what my camera does in poor lighting.)
It was moist and soft--only the cheese was crispy. It was very tasty, but the pancake part was faintly sweet, so I think I would have preferred a sweet flavor.
This restaurant also sold apple pie. Real Dutch apple pie looks different from how I make mine. The crust looks more like biscuits or cake and it's much taller. I never did taste any. (By this time, I was mostly craving savory things. The Dutch are really, really great at making sweet things that appeal to me, but not so much savory).
Red Light District
As we neared the red light district, the streets became crowded with pedestrians and were full of bars and delicious-looking restaurants and plenty of bright lights. The district itself was also crowded and well-lit, and thin ladies who wore bikini-type outfits and posed, wiggled, smiled (even to me), and motioned people in.
Our guide for the bicycle tour told us that in each room there are at least three buttons that the ladies can hit to get help so that no matter what someone does to them, there should always be one within reach. Some of them are hidden. And police arrive quickly, like one minute.
Adjacent to this district is, apparently, Chinatown. At least there are all kinds of Asian restaurants and markets.
We also saw this narrow church.
And here's a terrible picture, but it shows the hooks at the tops of the buildings.
In real life, these buildings seemed to lean in over us in a threatening way.
We popped out of this area of narrow streets at a building that looks like a castle.
It turns out to be a fancy restaurant...
...built in 1617.
The nearest tram stop was at Central Station, so we bought our tram tickets for the next day.
Going Home
We took a tram and train back to the airport after all, just as we had come, no longer afraid. The train was quite crowded--we were perched near the stairwell.
I couldn't resist getting a snack I found in a snack machine at the train station for a friend. Robin said, "Travis has dreamed all of his life of these gummy apeheads." They turned out to be licorice and banana flavored.
I had decided to exchange any remaining euros for Leonidas chocolates and did in fact have some money left with which to do so.
Due to the actions of a friend of Robin's, we got some fancier seating on the flight from London to Chicago. I liked that you could lean your seat back without affecting the person behind you. And all of a sudden, unlike in coach, they understand that people like to drink a lot of water. Being stuck between two strangers, I tried to time my bathroom trips while one of them was up. But people really set up camp in this section more than in the sardine section, so it's not that easy to get out.
I remember feeling like an impostor. Not even just as a prole riding with royalty, but also like a little kid trying to act grown up. (Only I have a much better disguise for the latter now than in the olden days. Surely.) No jumping up and down on the seat. And oh, yes, I know just what this hot wet washcloth is for.
We got back a little early(!?) and so it was no problem for me to go to work the next day.
While doing my final research for this entry, I found the ingredient list of some hummus that I really liked (except for the salsa on top) from one of the stores. I had no idea what most of it meant, but figured the internet would be my friend (when I got home and it was fast and reliable again).
* gekooktekikkerwten (42%) - cooked chickpeas
* zuurteregelarr (E-500) - apparently sodium carbonate, a base used as an acid regulator and/or anti-caking agent; zuur is acid and E-500 is, specifically, sodium carbonate.
* plantaardige oile - plant oil
* water - water
* sesamzaad-pasta (sesamzaad, zout) - sesame seed paste (sesame seed, salt) (aka tahini)
* tomaten concentraat - tomato puree
* wortelen, - carrots
* zout - salt
* specerijen - spices
* voedingszuur - food acid (?)
* citroenzuur - citric acid
* peterselie - parsley
* gedroogde chilipepper (0.2%) - dried chili pepper (0.2%)
* geconcentreerd citroensap - concentrated lemon juice
* gedroogde koriander - dried coriander
Well, I'm hardly cooking up something with a food additive as the #2 ingredient. I hope that's not what made this magical. I think I already knew to use tahini and lemon juice. Oh, well.
Overall a good trip, but I felt quite touristy in a bad way. Not as good as visiting friends who have a bit of a clue about what's cool and how things work. I may want to look into visiting my next foreign country a different way. Looneymarble has made it clear to me that a group tour is not necessarily the way to go, either, though some groups may attract more fun people than others (would tours for college alumni be better if you liked your college?).
I miss those bike lanes. I don't miss the cold (actually, I've been experiencing the same cold, but with no snow, all week). I liked the trams but they were expensive. I miss the sweets but not the savories. I don't miss spending so many euros.
So, I leave you with this typical tourist shot.
This morning we started out for a local market, but first we noticed the Tropenmuseum, which I'd read that you might be tempted to skip, but you shouldn't.
So we decided to check it out. It turned out to be a culture museum, but it didn't have just artifacts, it also had videos.
However, much of the museum was putting cultural traits in the context of environmental traits, so it was generally quite depressing. For example, in Suriname, people in the south used to farm and those in the north herded animals because it was drier in the north. Then in the dry season, the herders would come south and their animals would eat the farm stubble and fertilize the crops. Now the southerners want to raise their own animals and no longer welcome the herders, and the northerners want to grow their own crops, too, which doesn't work well because of the dryness.
Robin enjoyed seeing jeepneys which are old jeeps which have been converted for use as public transportation, especially in the Philippines. In our country, they might be called art cars. Robin says one of these played a key role in the book Cryptonomicon. We got to see a real one which they let us actually climb into. And we got to see them in action in videos. The decorations are amazing.
Robin also quite liked a car form covered in knitting to look like a red Ferrari Testarossa. (Robin tells me that Testarossa means "redhead" in Italian and the engine heads are painted in a red crackle finish in Testarossas because they just couldn't resist the pun.)
I learned you can make a dome just by making each circular brick layer out of fewer and fewer bricks. This way you can have rooms wider than the longest available tree trunks.
There was an interesting quote about Mexico City I didn't think to write down about how the city was killing everything around it in a horrible tragedy, but those who loved the city just couldn't resist her.
Some of the displays came together to cause me to ask myself: If I left my native culture (of the United States), what would I try to bring with me? Which artifacts? Which cultural norms and practices? I sure love not having to be religious. And I like being considered a real human being even though I'm female (and whatever else). I love ibuprofen, but it would eventually run out.
Dapperstraat Market
As we left, we saw this bike with plenty of carrying capacity.
We did find the market and also three grocery stores, none of which apparently struck me as photogenic. Then we were off to find the Houseboat Museum.
Hausbootmuseum
On the way, I decided to capture the inside of a tram.
Note the single seats on one side, double seats on the other. The accordion-looking part is flexible for when the track turns, but people also leaned against it. The next stop was announced both visually, as shown (actually, this is showing the time and that we are on the #10 line), and verbally, often in both Dutch and Liam-Neesen-accented English.
We did find the museum.
The brochure explains that this is a former commercial sailing ship built in 1914. Here is the entrance.
"The deckhouse, where the skipper's family resided, including the cupboard bed, is still in place."
This is the bigger bed of the two, if you can believe it (the other is across the way on the left). It's both longer and wider. Apparently the taller spouse sleeps on the doorway side.
"The former cargo hold has now been converted into a comfortable living space."
This actually does look quite livable to me. Here's the other side of that room.
This was described as the kitchen.
Here's a passageway with the level of the water outside illustrated inside. So technically the windows don't have to be so high in order not to be underwater or anything.
They also had a slide show with pictures of all kinds of houseboats that was fun. And we got to learn a bit more about the houseboat lifestyle.
Many, but not all, houseboats have been converted from regular boats. This sort of house must, by law, be brought into the shipyard for maintenance every four years. The required maintenance takes about a week to perform, during which time you may continue living in your house, though I assume your commute to work could change quite a bit.
Another kind of "houseboat" is made form concrete which, since it does not rust, is not required to be taken for maintenance. It tends to be more block shaped. Neither kind of houseboat is likely to have a motor and thus must be towed in order to be moved.
Next stop: red light district.
Pannenkoeken
But first, here's another typical Amsterdam view, with one wonky building.
Canal view at night.
Here's another nice bike.
Note the rack in front and the seat in back.
On the way, we found a place with pannenkoeken, which I'd wanted to try. These are Dutch pancakes. I'd heard they are thinner than what I'm used to, but thicker than crepes, and they are served mostly in savory flavors. I ordered one with cheese.
It was the size of a plate, perfectly cooked on one side, then broiled to finish off the other side and to make the cheese a golden brown. (In real life, they are not nuclear yellow--this is just what my camera does in poor lighting.)
It was moist and soft--only the cheese was crispy. It was very tasty, but the pancake part was faintly sweet, so I think I would have preferred a sweet flavor.
This restaurant also sold apple pie. Real Dutch apple pie looks different from how I make mine. The crust looks more like biscuits or cake and it's much taller. I never did taste any. (By this time, I was mostly craving savory things. The Dutch are really, really great at making sweet things that appeal to me, but not so much savory).
Red Light District
As we neared the red light district, the streets became crowded with pedestrians and were full of bars and delicious-looking restaurants and plenty of bright lights. The district itself was also crowded and well-lit, and thin ladies who wore bikini-type outfits and posed, wiggled, smiled (even to me), and motioned people in.
Our guide for the bicycle tour told us that in each room there are at least three buttons that the ladies can hit to get help so that no matter what someone does to them, there should always be one within reach. Some of them are hidden. And police arrive quickly, like one minute.
Adjacent to this district is, apparently, Chinatown. At least there are all kinds of Asian restaurants and markets.
We also saw this narrow church.
And here's a terrible picture, but it shows the hooks at the tops of the buildings.
In real life, these buildings seemed to lean in over us in a threatening way.
We popped out of this area of narrow streets at a building that looks like a castle.
It turns out to be a fancy restaurant...
...built in 1617.
The nearest tram stop was at Central Station, so we bought our tram tickets for the next day.
Going Home
We took a tram and train back to the airport after all, just as we had come, no longer afraid. The train was quite crowded--we were perched near the stairwell.
I couldn't resist getting a snack I found in a snack machine at the train station for a friend. Robin said, "Travis has dreamed all of his life of these gummy apeheads." They turned out to be licorice and banana flavored.
I had decided to exchange any remaining euros for Leonidas chocolates and did in fact have some money left with which to do so.
Due to the actions of a friend of Robin's, we got some fancier seating on the flight from London to Chicago. I liked that you could lean your seat back without affecting the person behind you. And all of a sudden, unlike in coach, they understand that people like to drink a lot of water. Being stuck between two strangers, I tried to time my bathroom trips while one of them was up. But people really set up camp in this section more than in the sardine section, so it's not that easy to get out.
I remember feeling like an impostor. Not even just as a prole riding with royalty, but also like a little kid trying to act grown up. (Only I have a much better disguise for the latter now than in the olden days. Surely.) No jumping up and down on the seat. And oh, yes, I know just what this hot wet washcloth is for.
We got back a little early(!?) and so it was no problem for me to go to work the next day.
While doing my final research for this entry, I found the ingredient list of some hummus that I really liked (except for the salsa on top) from one of the stores. I had no idea what most of it meant, but figured the internet would be my friend (when I got home and it was fast and reliable again).
* gekooktekikkerwten (42%) - cooked chickpeas
* zuurteregelarr (E-500) - apparently sodium carbonate, a base used as an acid regulator and/or anti-caking agent; zuur is acid and E-500 is, specifically, sodium carbonate.
* plantaardige oile - plant oil
* water - water
* sesamzaad-pasta (sesamzaad, zout) - sesame seed paste (sesame seed, salt) (aka tahini)
* tomaten concentraat - tomato puree
* wortelen, - carrots
* zout - salt
* specerijen - spices
* voedingszuur - food acid (?)
* citroenzuur - citric acid
* peterselie - parsley
* gedroogde chilipepper (0.2%) - dried chili pepper (0.2%)
* geconcentreerd citroensap - concentrated lemon juice
* gedroogde koriander - dried coriander
Well, I'm hardly cooking up something with a food additive as the #2 ingredient. I hope that's not what made this magical. I think I already knew to use tahini and lemon juice. Oh, well.
Overall a good trip, but I felt quite touristy in a bad way. Not as good as visiting friends who have a bit of a clue about what's cool and how things work. I may want to look into visiting my next foreign country a different way. Looneymarble has made it clear to me that a group tour is not necessarily the way to go, either, though some groups may attract more fun people than others (would tours for college alumni be better if you liked your college?).
I miss those bike lanes. I don't miss the cold (actually, I've been experiencing the same cold, but with no snow, all week). I liked the trams but they were expensive. I miss the sweets but not the savories. I don't miss spending so many euros.
So, I leave you with this typical tourist shot.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
on 2011-01-23 12:06 am (UTC)no subject
on 2011-01-23 05:25 am (UTC)--texpenguin
no subject
on 2011-01-23 07:01 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2011-01-23 07:02 pm (UTC)