Amsterdam in bloom
Traveling home from Tanzania, my dad and I stopped for two nights in Amsterdam to have a look around, as we were passing through and neither of us had been to the Netherlands before. What a change from dusty, dry-season Tanzania. Surrounded by water and picturesquely built upon a network of canals—and unseasonably cool and rainy during our visit—Amsterdam is a city to fall in love with.
The old town is quite walkable, though locals (and, my god, they all seemed to be over 6 feet tall and beautiful) opt to zip around on bicycles. Charming, old row houses line narrow, cobblestone streets and canals that houseboaters call home. Front yards are nonexistent, but Amsterdamers indulge their love of flowers by hanging windowboxes on houses, container-gardening on houseboats, and planting every square inch of dirt available at their doorsteps.
A few observations . . .
Bicyclists ruled the streets, coming upon pedestrians quickly and silently. Dad and I were nearly run over a few times because of our repeated failure to notice that we were walking in a bike lane (a foreign concept on most streets at home). It was pleasant to watch people cruising along, their bike baskets full of purchases, children in child seats along for the ride. In the occasional downpour, cyclists simply opened umbrellas and kept pedaling.
Tiny cars. How in the world do those long-legged Amsterdamers fit into these things?
Flowers made a cheerful appearance wherever a little dirt could be potted up and hung from a window.
Small patches of dirt near doorways yielded vertical gardens.
Houseboats moored in the canals provided examples of creative gardening. This boat sported its own lawn with a “green roof” of grass.
And what about those tulips that Holland is famous for? Well, it was too late for tulips to be in bloom, but the tourist market was well served with tulip souvenirs, including sacks of bulbs for sale at the airport and in the Bloemenmarkt, a rather touristy floating flower market.
I expected the flower market to sell a rainbow of fresh flowers, but instead it contained some bedding plants, a few tulip bulbs, and souvenir shops selling Dutch-house magnets and rubber “wooden” shoes. The only cut flowers I saw were these pink peonies.
Pretty flats of bedding plants for sale in the Bloemenmarkt
These red gladioli stood in a bucket on the floor of Oudekerk (Old Church) near a gorgeous, old stained-glass window.
Look—they have lions in Amsterdam too. Unlike the ones we saw on safari, this lion appears almost tame, sitting up like a pet dog. This is one of the images in the stained-glass windows at Oudekerk, which, viewed through the long lens on my dad’s camera, enchanted me with their detail and color.
The Annunciation
Little dog at a penitent’s knees
Praying women
Hand detail
What could top these beautiful images? How about Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings, which we viewed at the Van Gogh Museum. As a certain Dutch blogger would say, “Ah, bliss!”
Later, we happened upon this mural of Van Gogh standing in a field of blue irises. I just had to get my picture taken with him.
Blue door and pink hollyhocks
We saw as much of Amsterdam as we could in two days, and we left feeling sorry that we didn’t have more time. That’s a good way to say goodbye, actually. I hope to visit again someday.
Great post,Pam. Your pics and impressions are very similar to mine, from my visit in May, 2003. Esp about everyone being over 6 foot-I normally wear small to medium, but had to get size “extra small†( which is apparently always sold out) when shopping. In fact just yesterday in Google news there was an article featured on how Americans are no longer growing in height, and it cited the average male height in Holland as 6 foot.
H&M had all these cool clothes at great prices, imagine my husband and male colleague ( well actually they both love trendy clothes) were going crazy shopping, carrying 5 and 6 pairs of pants to the changing room at a time!
Yes,apart from always having to worry about being run over by bikes or a tram, it is a lovely city to visit, and very well organised and easy to travel around. The Van Gogh Museum ad Rembrandt Huis were memorable.
I’d read that Amsterdam is a casual city, but by Austin’s laid-back, flip-flops-and-tank-top standards, Amsterdamers looked fashionably dressed. I imagine it would be fun to shop there, especially if you’re tall. —Pam
Thanks for the armchair visit to Amsterdam. It’s one of my favorite cities and my daughter and I plan to go there for a week next month. I loved your photos of Tanzania too!
Oh, lucky you! Have a great trip. —Pam
The the stained glass windows are beautiful. Your pictures remind me of my visit to Austria; I loved the window boxes there.
Well, if Amsterdam reminds you of Austria, I’ll have to visit someday. Thanks for commenting, Robin. —Pam
Amsterdam looks like a great place to visit, and your pictures are beautiful. The pictures of the peonies almost look like a painting!
Carol at May Dreams Gardens
Thanks, Carol. —Pam
As I think I had emailed you before your trip, our grad students who travel to Holland for experience in their hort industry come back changed people. The Dutch interns that come to our school have been great. It’s a special place and I’d love to visit someday. I’ve also heard and read about the reports of height in that country and recall some attributing it to their excellent universal health care. Tall, healthy, beautiful people. What a concept.
I imagine that an extended stay in Holland would change a person. I didn’t mention the people we met in Amsterdam, but they were universally friendly. Not to mention tall, healthy, and beautiful. 😉 —Pam
i’ve had so much fun reading about your trip. amsterdam sounds like my kind of town. I’m a die-hard cyclist so hearing about a bike-friendly city is great. that green roof on the house boat is fantastic. nice shot with van gogh ( i think you got his good side). and of course, all those flowers…just lovely.
Irena
Irena, if you love cycling, you’d absolutely love Amsterdam. They had cycling all figured out. —Pam
LOL, what cracks me up everytime is that the bicycling thingy is such a shock to the system for non-Dutch people. For us Dutch cycling is a way of life; we’re practically born on a bike. 😉 And we can all swim too because of all that water we’re surrounded with.
Glad to see you had a blissful time in Amsterdam. Next time, try Leiden, that’s even nicer with a more relaxed pace of life. I was born in Leiden so I should know. 😉
Tall, healthy and beautiful eh? Well, I score 2 out of 3, not bad. 😀
groetjes from the Dutch smurf!
Austin is a biking city too (Lance Armstrong lives here, after all), but the bike-lane infrastructure is not there yet. Bikers just “go for it” on busy city streets, and on the medians of parkways for long-distance rides. Yes, there are some bike lanes here and there, but nothing like what I saw in Amsterdam. Plus, Austin isn’t compact like a European city, which makes it harder to use bikes for daily errands. It would be encouraging if biking were as road friendly here as it is in Amsterdam, but that will require a significant cultural shift.
Thanks for the tip about Leiden, YE. I will add that to my list of places to visit next time, in addition to Piet Oudolf’s gardens. —Pam
great danes! i mean, dutch! i loved amsterdam when we went a few years ago. we had a friend who had moved there, so we made a pilgrimage. i remember it being a really vibrant and beautiful city. and definitely laid back! when we got off the train, there was a man in the station kneeling every three steps and going “wooooooooooooo!” as loud as he could. there was a police officer who watched him with a smile for a minute or two, and my friend told us that when the officer did speak to the man, he just asked him to please go outside where the echo wouldn’t be so bad. and he wooooed off into the night… i love your blog. i come here for memories of austin and managed to hit my other favorite a-town. thank you!
It does seem that everyone who’s been to Amsterdam falls in love with it. Thanks for the Amsterdam story, Bright. —Pam
What beautiful photos of your tour. Thanks for posting them. You have a very good sense of composition.
Thanks for commenting, Bev. I’m glad you enjoyed it. —Pam
I love seeing your Amsterdam photos and am just catching up on the rest of your trip. Japan had the same thing with bike/ped lanes which I wish we’d adopt. But where there were no lanes, the bikes would screech their brakes to warn you. When my brother visited me, he was completely oblivious to this signal and I was always snatching him out of the path of a bike coming up behind us.
In England, I took some photos of the gardens on top of the canal boats, too–but none of them as elaborate as the ones in Amsterdam. Wow!
I love those little cars. I really want a little Smart Car–but they are too expensive in the US.
I hope you’ll post your canal-boat garden photos. I guess that’s a whole genre of garden that I never knew about. And yes, I’ve seen, once or twice, a small car like that here in Austin, but I don’t know if it was a Smart Car. Pretty cute, but too small for me! —Pam