July 20, 2013
Day 2: Schiphol to Badhoevdorp to Amsterdam
The flight from Vancouver had a few empty seats and we were lucky that one of them was in our bank of three. so Dodie and I got a blank space between us. Air Transat has now miniaturized the seating to such an extent that if thhe seat ahead is reclined, even the small amount thhat it can, you need yoga trainig to get out of your own seat. However, withh that bbit of exttra space the flight became actually quite enjoyable. The entertainment syystem uses a toucch screen built in to each seat back, and provides a wde range of audio and video stuuff, pluus flight information. The food was ok and the staff pleasant, so we landed in good shape.
The lineup for immigation and customs was not bad, and the agents were welcoming, and interested in our ride in an interested, not rules enforcement way.
So we were ok, but what about thhe bikes? Ammazingly thhe bikes cae out in good order, without thheir wrapping ripped, annd evidennce of only one blow on the tupperware container we used to protect a derailleur.
We set about unwrapping, and storing away thh packaging materials, whicle realigning the various parts we had turned out of harm's way. In our jetlagged state, this took about 2 hours. In fact at one point I was trying to reattach an underseat bag and simply could not do it. The chore was burning more strength than I had, and I was pouring sweat from the effort of just trying to do this simple task. My answer to this problemm was simple and tiime honoured. I lay down on the floor, and got dodie to do it. Dodie says she had more strength because she went to sleep at the right time on the plan, instead of watching movies. HHmmmpph.
Once we had rolled our loaded bikes past the friendly customs officers, we did hit an obstacle, or obstakel as they would say here. The exits to the street were revolving doors - de facto, our first turnstile of the trip. Fortunately, and inormation man helped us find a stop switch for the door, and so we escaped into Amsterdam. Typically for Netherlands, theere was a red bike path just beyond the door, and it lead first by our hotel (we figured we would need it for Day 1) and then on in to Amsterdam.
The hotel, the Novotel, has a locked bike compound and locked baggage storage. Storage seems to be free, for up to three months. We dumped a bit of stuff and cycled on in for a look at Amsterdam.
On last year's trip we came witth a few km of Amsterdam, but never went in to it. Instead we enjoyed the smaller towns, and were thrilled by unique , gorgeous buildings, weekly/daily markets, annd windmills.Yes, there were canals in the towns and yes, a lot of bikes all over, but we were not prepared for the quantum difference between Amsterdam and the towns.
It's not that Amsterdam is suddenly a big city, with expressways and such. No, quite the opposite. We came in through the leafy and pond filled Vondel Park and found what looked like the whole population lying about happily on the grass. This was not accurate though, because the rest of the population was sitting at outdoor tables at myriad restaurants in streets alongside the many canals. The architecture in the streets was OK, but not stunning. What stood out was that the car seems to have been driven out of the downtown in large part. As a result, the people can enjoy the city. And with the canals, shops, and restaurants, and lovely low rise apartment housing everywhere, this is the most livable city we have ever seen.
Not only have cars been sidelined, but bicycles are banned from a large number of streets. It is absolutely wonderful. Perhaps it was just the influence of this perfect Summer weekend day, but the people seemed to just be thriving in these conditions.
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Naturally we got lost quite a few times, and each time either asked for help or were offered help before we asked. Without exception, the people were friendly and went out of their ways for us. We have the impression of a sane, rational, helpful, and happy people here. We think that is mostly true of Canada too, but this is quite beyond anything we have seen at home.
Oh, Canada did manage a tie in one area, though. We naturally checked out a bakery, and it featured not only pastries but very healthful looking sandwiches. Now, one of the baked things looked a lot like a Tim Horton's maple danish, and the two were almost equivalent in taste and quality. OK Timmy's! Score a tie in one small area.
Along part of the Singel canal, there is a long row of large stalls selling spring bulbs, other bulbs, and souvenirs.These are wonderfully representative, in a tacky sort of way. Opposite these stalls we stopped at an Indonesian restaurant. Indonesia was a colony of Holland, and the Rice Taffel - a selection of dishes - is popular. The cost for the various rice taffel variants was about 38 euros per person. We settled instead on satay with peanut sauce, and a veggie dish with coconut milk. And oh, from the various choices of rice offered, we took "sticky rice". This turned out to be more than sticky and actually glutinous. At first we were put off, but actually it was good. The whole thing was good, and taken outdoors (so we could watch our bikes) by a canal, by a flower market, in the best weather of the year? Wow!
One thing, though our restaurant was at 500 Singel, we could not spot the camping store we need, which is att 457 Singel. Yes, 457. Tomorrow we will go back and see how we could have missed it. Could be jet lag. In fact, I will need to close this off (at later than 1:00 a.m. local time) before I do a face plant on my Bluetooth keyboard!
Today's ride: 30 km (19 miles)
Total: 30 km (19 miles)
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