Note of the Living Deb

Tropenmuseum

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.

Our neighborhood

Today was museum day. To get to the museumplein, we tried a new tram into town. This required us to turn the other direction when leaving our hotel.

First, here is a picture of a window just like ours. (Remember, I told you it would be smaller than it looked.)



Here's an interesting building just down the street.



And remember how we're in the area with the zoo? It's also the area with the aquarium and quite a few other things we didn't see. But I couldn't resist this stegosaurus, perhaps my favorite dinosaur.



And this apotosaurus (aka brontosaurus). Not usually a favorite, but totally irresistible here.



Lunch

The first thing we did when we got to the Museumplein was to get hot drinks. Yea! They came with cookies!



We almost forgot to pay. We went to several places where you order at a counter and then they don't take your money. Then they serve you. Then you go back to the counter to pay. Disconcerting.

Then Robin couldn't resist this burger stand.



Look at their truck (for catering?)!



Speaking of cute little motorized vehicles, check this out.



There's actually plenty of room inside for two people. And Winnie-the-Pooh.

We spent time time in a gift shop and then headed for the Stedelijk Museum (City Museum), a really big art museum. But it was basically closed. A guy in the security area said no paintings were available for viewing but the Rodins had been moved to the Van Gogh museum.

Van Gogh museum

Vincent Van Gogh and his brother started life working for an art dealer. Vincent had to be let go when a new-found religiousness interfered with his job duties. Then he decided to make art himself.

The museum exhibits were very well done. There were lots of interesting descriptions, plus they included artwork that inspired him (sometimes with quotes from him) and art by people who were inspired by him.

I found out the reason he did a lot of self-portraits was because it was a way to practice doing portraits without having to pay for models. He also practiced by re-doing other paintings and even Japanese prints.

We also got to see an actual vase his sister-in-law saved that was pictured in several of his paintings, and it was displayed next to one of those paintings.

It was during Van Gogh's lifetime that it became reasonably possible to paint outside for the first time. For example, paint became available in tubes. Later, one could paint from photos, adding color back in, and still being able to change the emphasis, exaggerate things, change the time of day, etc.

He thought it would be cool to start an artist commune where the residents would be an inspiration to each other. To lure one of his friends to join, he painted several paintings for his rooms. His friend stayed something like three months before they argued and split up, and that was the end of his commune.

He always tried to really say something special with his paintings and always felt that he had failed, partly because everyone told him so. He was mostly made fun of during his lifetime. At best, he was considered a crude imitation of other, better painters. He attempted a masterpiece with The Potato Eaters (several different people all in one painting), but when it flopped, too, he decided never to do another.

All in all, a really great museum, even though I'm not much of a Van Gogh fan.

(Note: we could find only one Rodin in the Van Gogh museum.)

Lunch

Next, we hunted for Wagamama, recommended highly by Robin's friend, J.O., as his favorite noodle house ever.

On the way, there was an unexpected lizard.



And this building has very interesting windows, both in the corner and on the side.



The one we were looking for was said to be near the Hard Rock Cafe. We were getting warmer.



Score!



I tried a potsticker thing and a fried noodle thing. They were whole grain, tasty, and interesting, and probably the healthiest thing I'd eaten so far, but not a favorite of mine. So sad. (Though the nearest one to me now is in Boston, so maybe it's just as well.)

Here is a nice bicycle. Check out the basket, leather handle grips, leather seat with spring, reinforcements. This one also has a mesh reinforcement for the rear fender.



Rijksmuseum

We spent an hour at the Rijksmuseum (State Museum) (pronounced sort of like RIKES-museum) before it closed.



(Robin liked this next building better--you'll hear more about this company later because we signed up here for a canal tour the next evening.)



The Rijksmuseum was full of fabulous paintings from the Dutch masters. We also saw two dollhouses that were each so big that we were provided step ladders so we could see into all the floors. And we saw a huge model ship.

Dinner

We wandered around a bit more, then ate groceries from yesterday's trip to the store. I learned that I quite like Swiss cheese at room temperature. Who knew?

I leave you with this image of neon mammals from somewhere in Leidseplein.

Robin wanted to rent bikes and ride them everywhere. I didn't like how it would be so easy to get lost and so hard to talk to each other, plus being in a foreign country I didn't feel comfortable, plus I don't like riding bikes. So we decided to start with a bike tour. This was my favorite part of the whole trip.

We picked a place that was easy to get to. Just leave the hotel, turn left, go two blocks, turn left, and keep going until we get there. Turns out it was not so easy to stay on that street and we ended up way off course. We saw some nice things, though.





At one point, we knew we wouldn't make it in time for the tour, but then we decided to try anyway, and we made it after all.

History of the Netherlands

First we got a brief history lesson. The following is how I interpreted the tour guide and has not been confirmed and thus should be taken with a grain of salt.

The whole area is naturally boggy. If people stopped trying to keep the water out, all of Amsterdam would be under water.

Originally people came for the fishing and the bog peat (which makes a good fuel). It's always been a center for trade. And it's always been a shipping center. The people tend to be daring. They made bigger ships than the others, and this led to their hey day.

The Dutch are not creative with naming things. You have the Amstel River, the Amstel Dam, and the town, Amsterdam. You have the Old Church and the New Church, the East Church and the West Church. You can tell where they colonized by the names: South Africa. East Indies.



Britain and Spain cut them off, so they lost power, but they stayed out of World War I (though reputed to have started it). They helped move food around and got rich.

They tried to stay out of World War II, but Hitler bombed one city to the ground over five days. They learned the lesson and didn't resist. They were occupied many years and, being a haven to weirdos (like Jews) (remember all that bit in history class about people escaping to Holland back when America was a colony because of the open mindedness?), they suffered huge losses (1/4 to 1/3 of the population). The Canadians finally came to their rescue, but when the Nazis left, they took all the bicycles with them. You'll still hear creative cheers at sporting events against the Germans such as "Bring back my grandmother's bicycle!"

Hippies were big in the Netherlands, taking over all the parks. In the 1970s, real estate was down, so speculators bought it up, but they let it get run down. Meanwhile, there were lots of homeless hippies. So a law was made that if your property was vacant for over a year (as pointed out by a potential squatter and confirmed by neighbors), squatters could move in. After that it became difficult, though possible, to get your property back. It would take 1 1/2 to 2 years to get through all the paperwork.

Without these squatters rights, Amsterdam would not be what it is today. The squatters moved in, had the plumbing and gas turned on, and would start businesses. Being not being very entrepreneurial, they would have art galleries. Or collect things and become museums. Amsterdam still has a lot of art galleries and museums.

But letting all the hippies come in led to drug problems. The Dutch once had the highest rates for hard drug addiction. But the main drug was cannabis. Cannabis was decriminalized so you could consume it without being exposed to hard drugs. The Dutch had the first free needle exchange program, methadone clinics, and drug counseling. Fifteen years later, the Dutch were at the bottom of the list for hard drug addiction.

Cannabis is not legal, though, and is imported, so who knows what the money supports. The West (especially the US) is pressuring them not to make it legal. So in the future, tourists will not be allowed. You'll have to become a member, and to do that, you'll have to be a resident.

Canals

After the history lesson, we got lessons on how to use our bikes and then we rode all over the place. It was a three-hour tour with one pub stop.

Our first stop was on a bridge over a canal. All the canals have locks and these are managed to create flow. So although there is no tidal flow, there is very little smell, even in summer (unlike in Venice where the canals cannot be controlled).

Architecture

Salt water is part of the canals and is needed to preserve the building foundations which start, on the bottom, with wood (from the tall, straight poplar) and clay. Then layers of leather 1 meter thick and of sand 2 meters thick are added. The sand traps the water water as it rises and falls to keep the moisture balance needed to preserve the foundations. Of the 400-year-old foundations, 30% are still in good shape, 20% need fixing, and 50% have been repaired. There weren't really any problems with foundations until cars started tooling around the city--those vibrations were more than the foundations could tolerate.

When a foundation fails, the building on top of it may lean on its neighbor.

The houses are small and tall because they are taxed yearly based on their footprint. This leads people to politely save land for their neighbors. Small bricks are used because they have more flexibility; big bricks are more likely to crack.



Brackets are also used to help hold buildings together. (I first noticed these brackets, which look like giants staples, in Belgium. It's cool to finally know what they are for.) (I also learned that Belgium used to be part of the Netherlands.)





Hooks near the top of the building let you winch your things up and put them through a window so you won't have to bring them up the stairs. Having the top of the building lean out gives you more leeway on windy days.



Houseboats were introduced to house the people who helped with rebuilding after the war. They were made cool by hippies. They have no footprint tax but there is a limit of 2,600 houseboats allowed in Amsterdam. That limit has now been reached so, due to the laws of supply and demand, houseboats now cost as much as regular houses. They are just as comfortable (if not more so because there are no steps inside).



Zoo

Our hotel is on the old Jewish side with the tax-free docks. A lot of ships would arrive from distant lands with pets or mascot animals that they dropped off in Amsterdam. So the area became known for the mystical creatures that roamed it. And this led to what is now the oldest zoo.

Windmills

There were once 800 windmills at the harbor. Why windmills? They couldn't build water mills because the land was so flat that the water flow was too slow. But flat land is good for wind and thus windmills.

These were used to pump water. First, you build some high ground. Then start the perimeter walls. The top section of the windmill turns--the wheel does not make contact with the deck. Set up the sails so they cover the trellis. (These are rolled up at the edge of the trellis in the pictured windmill.)



The wind turns it which turns a vertical cog which turns a horizontal cog which powers an Archimedes screw which pumps water up when suction is created. Once the islands were formed, some windmills might continue to pump water, but the others were converted to other uses. The one pictured above is a brewery. Maintaining a historical windmill reduces your tax, so you can charge less for your beer.

Old Entry Harbor

We also saw an armory/naval headquarters, at the old entry to Amsterdam. If you attack, they will defend.



Now there's a science museum that looks like a sinking ship. Cruise ships dock here. And there's a library that's considered one of the top five libraries in the world even though it's only five years old. It has great technology, the space is fantastic, and it's basically everything a library should be.



St. Andrew's Crosses

We saw a church with a St. Andrew's cross on it, which is tilted so it forms an X (see the top window below).



We've been seeing X's everywhere, usually in groups of three. It turns out that the three X's are for protection from the three scariest things. Want to guess what the three scariest things were to the Dutch in the olden days? Remember, it's at sea level or below. Also, the houses used to be made of wood.

One of the things was fire. The entire town has burned down. Twice. You used to have to pull your house down when it caught fire by using a hook to pull on loops in our walls to hopefully save your neighbor's houses.

The second thing was flood. Other Dutch cities have been completely flooded in the past.

The third thing was disease. This was quite prevalent before they learned not to throw their waste into the canals.

Calvinist churches like the one shown above were traditionally round so the preacher wouldn't be in front of and above everyone.

Brown Bars

Brown bars are green but full of wood panels inside. To impress the locals, order a jenever (the Dutch word for juniper).



Tram Tickets

At the end of the tour, Robin got our tour guide to tell us how to deal with trams. He said you can buy tickets, for cash, at any news agent. Such as the one just up the street. Which we easily found. And we bought five-day passes which turned out to be a fabulous idea (except 7-day passes would have been better). Our maps showed the trams, and we never really got lost again the way we would have with bikes or with only walking.

Spui

After getting tram tickets, we went back to our favorite part from the tour: Spui (pronounced sort of like "Spow"). I really wanted to check out the almshouse courtyard. Anyone can just walk right through that arched wooden door.



Then you are here.



Check out the floor.



And all this is inside.



Did you know that some people have a hobby of touring almshouses?

We spent the rest of the evening just wandering around town.





We had some street food. Robin had the famous raw herring ("haring" in Dutch).



We also had pastries. (Sorry about the terrible lighting--these were actually good.)



I don't know why everyone is bent over (except the kids) in this mural.



This was very sparkly, all done up for Christmas.



I really liked the ceiling in this shop.



Then we took the tram back to the hotel and collapsed.

On Biking

If we lived in Amsterdam, we would be bicycling everywhere. They have more bikes than people. They have bikes lanes everywhere, separate from the sidewalks, the streets, and the parking. Bicyclists have their own traffic signals--so if they have a green light, cars will have a red light and won't turn right in front of you. Most of the lanes are wide enough to pass people on. The only confusing thing is that the bike lanes look sort of like sidewalks, though a different color. If you do accidentally walk in a bike lane, an approaching cyclist will ring a bell (natives only once, tourists, perhaps more). (I'll show you some pictures later.)

I had no trouble biking during this tour because things were so flat (except the bridges). For a while I was panting and having real trouble keeping up, but it turned out it was because my tire was going flat. After that was fixed, it was easy again.

In the US, avid cyclists say it's safest to ride in the street with the cars (at least at the intersections where drivers tend not to notice anything in bike lanes or on sidewalks). I think people in Amsterdam would be just as horrified by that idea as I am.

But while we were in Amsterdam, we went with trams. We were still clueless tourists, after all.