Amsterdam musings- 2011:
When you know you have arrived as in being a local or at least looking like one: when tourists and locals ask me for directions or information and I can actually handle it. This happened twice within 2 minutes after writing this 15 minutes earlier and going out into the streets.
How is it that I establish a daily stam cafe [neighborhood bar] every visit here within the first day and do not go out at all or rarely for a beer or wine in Santa Barbara.
In the Netherlands, all women have more fun. They`re all blondes.
It`s nice that English is their 2nd language, but makes it tougher to learn Dutch which is difficult enough.
Being on vacation in Amsterdam, holiday as it`s called here and throughout most of Europe or vakantie in Dutch, is different from any other place especially home in SB. Get up at 8-9 am, leave for breakfast at noon, beers at the stam cafe from 5-7 pm and dinner afterward at 8, early for Amsterdamers. Walk everywhere- we average 4-6 miles a day.
As in Belgium and as it should be, each beer is served in the beer glass designated by the brewery that showcases their beers in the best way, just as it is with fine wine and appropriate stemware.
Theres only one true pancake in the world and its not from Aunt Jemima and it`s called pannenloeken and served with everything under the sun. Pancakes are not just for breakfast anymore.
Although I love warm maple syrup, the major sweet topping here [other than powdered sugar] is stroop, like molasses.
Interestingly, I come to the Netherlands and drink only Belgium beers, the best beer on the planet IMHO. They`re so good, they merit tasting notes.
My current fav is drafted unfiltered Palm, 4 weeks old and only available at one place in Amsterdam, my stam cafe, de Engelbewaarder [ the guardian angel]. The owner, Gus, has befriended me and each year delights in turning me on to the Old Masters beers he selects, all from Belgium.
The drink of choice amongst the locals is jenever, a juniper-flavored and strongly alcoholic traditional liquor of the Netherlands and Belgium, from which gin evolved. Traditional jenever is still very popular in the Netherlands and Belgium. European Union regulations specify that only liquor made in these two countries, two French provinces and two German federal states can use the name jenever.
Jenever is like all other hot, high alcohol drinks, think grappa, I`m not a big fan. Bring on the Belgium beers or wines/ Champagne.
Amsterdam is in Holland, a province, that includes 2 of the 12 provinces, North and South. The whole country is appropriately called the Netherlands.
One of my top 5 cities in the world [Paris, Venice, Brugge and San Francisco], Amsterdam may be #1 after these 2 weeks.
Theres talk about the Dutch building a 10,000 ft. mountain. If anyone can do it, its the Dutch. The mountain could even be made on land recaptured from the sea. YES!
Although we had a stretch of really great weather in the mid 70s for 1 week in Paris and the first week here, it`s now doing typical Netherlands weather= intervals of rain and sunshine amidst gusty winds that produce a wind chill like winter in northwest Arkansas.
Amsterdam has got to have more bicycles [fiets] than any other city on the planet. They`re everywhere at all times. And, creative too. They have every conceivable means of carrying bags, groceries, kids and pets and whatever else needs to be transported. The bakfiets, are bikes that have big, usually wooden baskets on the front and/ or back end. They were originally used by bakeries to deliver their breads, thus the name, bakfiets.
There are over 100 canals and 1,000 bridges in Amsterdam.
What a treat to be in the bars and restaurants and not have to deal with cigarette smoke. The country passed a law almost 2 years ago to prohibit smoking in all public places and it was received with joy and compliance. There is no question, Amsterdamers smoke a lot less that Parisians.
I love windmills.
Proost [cheers]
The 2012 edition [in progress]:
During our annual visits in late September early October, I find the weather to be usually on the cool side for a Santa Barbara native. Almost always windy, some intermittent rain and mostly cloudy skies.
As with the locals in the mountains at ski resorts, these locals are dressed in tee shirts and short sleeve shirts while Im wearing a tee shirt under a long sleeve shirt under a sport jacket and under a rain coat if its raining, all with a scarf.
For a city built in circles, the challenge is to get from point A to point B in a straight line, impossible in many cases.
Is there a more difficult language to learn than Dutch? Fortunately, most in this city speak English, but you have to be careful with the words they use; they often have different meanings than intended.
We do not have a neighborhood bar in Santa Barbara. Here, we have 2. Called Stam Cafes, we visit them almost daily and have been welcomed into the scene as locals.
How you know you have been accepted as a local in the Stam Cafe is when you walk in and your favorite beer is already waiting for you when you sit down.
Another sign is when you go to pay the tab, it includes about 1/2 to 2/3 of the actual cost.
Museums change their themes from time to time; a must visit is to the Amsterdam Museum, Kalverstraat 92, which has the fantastic history of the city from its origin. It includes the fascinating construction of the canals, population growth over the last century, etc. There`s a separate showing of 105 photographs of pop stars visiting Amsterdam over many years by world renown Claude Vanheye. These include the Beattles, the Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Rod Stewart, Alvin Lee, the Bee Gees and many more.
Is there anywhere on the planet that has more bicycles? Always look both ways before crossing a street, bike path, anything on which a bike could be traveling.
I must have been Dutch in a previous lifetime.
Proost!
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