Amsterdam: It's Great

Amsterdam itself is the highlight. Spend some time wandering along any one of the many canals ringing the city and you will understand why: the city is beautiful. And coming from New York City, the contrast is stark: the low buildings and ubiquitous canals contributed a sense of spaciousness to what is actually a crowded city. More importantly, to me at least, was the quiet--Amsterdam is remarkably peaceful. That may have to do with the relative lack of cars in the city (Amsterdammers seem to prefer bicycles).

Quick Tips:

Learn to speak Dutch. Sure, everybody here speaks fluent English, but that's not the point. The point is that it's difficult to remember what street you're trying to get to if you can't pronounce it.

Rent a bicycle, if you can. It's probably the best way to get from place to place in the city, and it lets you see more of the city than you would walking. This is important if you're just there for a short stay.

I would suggest going when it is warm. I would suggest this because I went when it was hovering around freezing, which, by the end of the trip, was really annoying. Mind you, the crowds were probably smaller and the price probably cheaper, so fine, go whenever you want. Just know that you'll want to spend time wandering around the city, and that is best done when it is warm and the leaves are on the trees.

Seriously, though, this is such a great city, I think it would be hard to get it wrong. The best suggestion I can offer is just to visit.

Best Way To Get Around:

Bicycle. They're everywhere in Amsterdam and available from several places to rent. Just outside the train station is a sight I had never seen before: a three-deck parking garage just for bicycles! Bicycle lanes are everywhere, and wherever I went, I got the sense that all other means of conveyance deferred to the bicycles. Of course, that could be because it was obvious I hadn't been on a bicycle for 10 years and people were just keeping a safe distance from me.

If bicycles aren't your thing, walking is a good option, too. The city is compact, and everywhere you go it seems there's a good view. Trams are useful if you're tired, or cold, or in a hurry. They are comfortable, quiet, and seem to cover the city pretty well. They were also my arch-nemesis while on a bicycle, though.

You can also get taxis if you need to. And sometimes you do need to. It's better if you can avoid these, I think. I spent 10 euros on a taxi ride that I could have biked in about 5 minutes. There are plenty of one-way streets and streets along canals that just cannot be driven quickly. This may be the least car-friendly city I have ever seen, which was just fine by me.

"What a nice hotel; if only it were closer to town." That pretty much sums up my attitude about the hotel I stayed at on my last trip. So, this time around, for a little extra cash, we stayed at a hotel right next to Dam Square. As it turns out, that was money well-spent: on such a short trip, there was no time to be wasted getting to and from the hotel. Dam Square is the center of it all: walking distance to all the major attractions and also a short walk from the train station, where you can catch a train directly to the airport. The hotel was also across the street from a bicycle rental place.

Aside from that, there is not much to tell about the Swissotel. The room was almost identical to the one I stayed in on my last trip, at a Crowne Plaza (Travelocity makes these decisions for me). It was big enough to be comfortable, but no bigger. I guess at a place like this, you don't want surprises. Well, there was one odd thing -- for some reason, the shower had only half a door. As it turns out, half a door is about as effective as no door at all. Either the Dutch don't understand showers, or I don't understand Dutch showers.

If you're looking for charm and character, go somewhere else. This is just a comfortable and convenient place to sleep.

Several people had recommended the Pancake Bakery to me before my trip. Instead, I went to this place. By accident, mind you: how many specialty pancake houses can one city have, I thought? At least two, it turns out. I didn't learn of my mistake until I got back, but no matter. This place was interesting to visit and featured some mighty delicious pancakes.

Finding the place was a bit tricky. It is hidden away on the second floor of a narrow building and marked by an unassuming sign that is easily missed. Yet, it seemed to have it own special magnetism: twice I stopped, just to get my bearings, only to see the sign for the pancake house right in front of me. If fate was that determined to feed me some tasty pancakes, I was not going to fight it.

After climbing the narrow and absurdly steep staircase to the second floor, we came to a small room with maybe three tables, dozens of teapots hanging from the ceiling, and a working cuckoo clock on the wall. (I was very excited to actually see the cuckoo come out and chirp the half-hour just before we left.) The whole operation seemed to be run by one guy (that might explain why it opens at noon, and only for a few hours each day).

The menu featured pancakes filled with a lot of things you don't normally find in a pancake--bacon, for instance, or eggplant. I made a conservative, but delicious, choice: a pancake with pears, eggnog, and chocolate. I was sorry that I didn't have an extra day, or a bigger stomach, so I could sample some of the other options.

This place is just not to be missed. Go now before it's replaced by an IHOP.

I learned nothing about art at the Rijksmuseum, but I did learn one thing about museums: they are not for the exhausted.

The Rijksmuseum was the first place I went in Amsterdam, after checking in to the hotel. I had known beforehand that most of the museum was closed for renovations, and would be through 2008, yet I still wanted to go to see the small selection that was still on display. My visit started out well: I was fresh off the plane, excited to be in the city, and very relieved to be inside, away from the freezing cold. But as soon as I got into the exhibit, I began to regret the fact that I had not been able to sleep on the plane. So I rushed through the exhibits, looking for the good stuff.

That I found on the second floor. The highlight of the scaled-down, renovation-era Rijksmuseum is the rooms full of Rembrandts. Some of his most famous works are on display here. This perked me up a little bit, but not enough. I’m not even sure I saw the whole exhibit, because I got through it all pretty quickly and don’t recall seeing any of the Vermeers that were supposed to have been there. I gave up trying when I started to worry that I would fall asleep on my feet and topple into one of these paintings.

Luckily I made it out without incident, so all the paintings are still intact and ready for more alert museum-goers to enjoy. Sadly, because I was exhausted from the flight and the time change, I didn’t get much out of this visit. I hope that when the Rijksmuseum reopens in a few years, they will serve coffee.

Of course, no visit to Amsterdam is complete without a visit to one of its famous coffee shops. While I imagine they all do serve coffee, that is not what they are famous for. The coffee shops are the places you go to take advantage of Amsterdam's relaxed attitude to marijuana. Strictly speaking, possession of it is illegal, but apparently this is ignored when small quantities are involved.

So I sampled a few of these places. The first was a place called Siberië. It was a peculiar experience, walking up to the bar and being presented with a menu featuring prices for "grams" and "pre-rolled joints." But I gave it a shot, selecting a pre-rolled joint (and a coffee) and taking a seat to enjoy it. It turned out to be pretty mild, and all in all, it was a pleasant experience. I liked this place--it was not too big, not too crowded, and it offered free magazines and newspapers to pass the time (although most of them were in Dutch). I later visited another place, Goa, that struck me as similar in atmosphere to Siberië. Both seemed like casual, un-touristy places. I get the feeling that a lot of these places are tourist-focused, as the greatest concentration of them seems to be right around the train station.

On the second day, we went to a breakfast restaurant/coffee shop called Barney's. I figured that breakfast and a joint ought to have been a good way to start the day. Unfortunately, the joint we had here was a bit stronger than what I had expected, and that kind of messed up the morning for me. That was not the experience I was looking for. Barney’s disappointed me a bit; it seemed touristy and was rather crowded. Plus, I spent a few hours rather confused.

That was almost the end of my coffee-shopping in Amsterdam, until a last-minute change of heart brought us to a place called Greenhouse. There are several Greenhouses in the city; we went to the one farthest south, past the Rijksmuseum. And it was a good thing, because this was the coolest place of all. It was the kind of place that would have been nice to hang out in even without the novelty of marijuana for sale. The atmosphere was great, the staff was friendly, and I was disappointed when we had to leave because it was closing.

Overall, I had a good experience with Amsterdam's coffee shops. The Dutch attitude towards cannabis seems to be an effective one. I hope it spreads...