We took off from Calgary at 4:40 pm local time on Friday for a 9 hour flight to Amsterdam. We will be stopping in Amsterdam for a couple of days before moving on to Turkey. We reached Amsterdam at 8:30 am local time on Saturday, March 23, 2013. After going through passport control and getting our baggage, we took the train from Schiphol airport to the city centre station Centraal and then a tram to our hotel. We reached the hotel at 10:45 am but since check-in was not till 2 pm, they offered to hold our bags but asked us to come after 2 pm. We went back to the city centre after a 10 minute tram ride and walked around. We had some snacks (Dutch stroopwafels and Chicken Schnitzel) and did a tour of the Bijenhof monastery.
It's only 2 degrees Celsius but it feels unbelievably cold because of the strong wind. We were half frozen and kept on ducking into stores to warm ourselves up. We got back to our hotel at 2 pm and checked-in. We were so cold and tired that we went to sleep almost as soon as we felt warmer. We slept for a good 6 hours and woke up fresh but hungry. Although we had thought before the trip that we would sight-see in the evening but given how cold it was, we just ended up having dinner.
We left for dinner after making a reservation for 10 pm. We took the tram but reached earlier than our reservation so walked around the area. We dined at an Indonesian restaurant. The food was fabulous! Interesting concept too - we had what's called a Rijsttafel (a Dutch word that translates to "rice table") where you get to sample a few bites each of some 20 dishes. Most chicken, lamb and beef dishes were superb. They had arranged the dishes in order of increasing hotness so the last two dishes (one beef and one fish) literally felt as if they had put our tongues on fire - THE hottest dish we've ever tasted! You must be wondering why we chose to have Indonesian food in Amsterdam. Well, the reason is that after Dutch conquests of Indonesia back in the day, lots of Indonesians settled in the Netherlands so the Indonesian food in Amsterdam is excellent. In fact, there isn't any native cuisine of the Netherlands - their culinary claim to fame is inventing "French" fries (yes, the name is misleading) and Dutch pancakes (all the ingredients are added to the batter before frying it). We've had Dutch pancakes before in Calgary so it'll be interesting to try the authentic ones here for a comparison.
Again, it was extremely cold. Unlike Calgary's dry cold, the cold here is wet which makes it a lot worse. When the temperature is -2 degrees Celsius, it actually feels like -20 of Calgary! The wind is very strong and it feels like it'll blow you away and just gets into your bones!
After taking a tram back to our hotel, we discussed our plan for tomorrow and marked places on the map. In fact, Samia is marking the map as I write this update. Before the trip, we had planned to visit the tulip gardens tomorrow but given the strong wind and the fact that the tulip fields are open and hence colder, we'll just stick to exploring the city.
Things to do for tomorrow include waking up early, Dutch pancakes (if we can find a good place), Anne Frank Museum, canal boat cruise and exploring the city on foot. We love the city, it has an aristocratic feel to it with a distinct brick building architecture and canals running throughout the city. The infrastructure is really impressive and the people extremely friendly. Till the next update, bye from us!
It's only 2 degrees Celsius but it feels unbelievably cold because of the strong wind. We were half frozen and kept on ducking into stores to warm ourselves up. We got back to our hotel at 2 pm and checked-in. We were so cold and tired that we went to sleep almost as soon as we felt warmer. We slept for a good 6 hours and woke up fresh but hungry. Although we had thought before the trip that we would sight-see in the evening but given how cold it was, we just ended up having dinner.
We left for dinner after making a reservation for 10 pm. We took the tram but reached earlier than our reservation so walked around the area. We dined at an Indonesian restaurant. The food was fabulous! Interesting concept too - we had what's called a Rijsttafel (a Dutch word that translates to "rice table") where you get to sample a few bites each of some 20 dishes. Most chicken, lamb and beef dishes were superb. They had arranged the dishes in order of increasing hotness so the last two dishes (one beef and one fish) literally felt as if they had put our tongues on fire - THE hottest dish we've ever tasted! You must be wondering why we chose to have Indonesian food in Amsterdam. Well, the reason is that after Dutch conquests of Indonesia back in the day, lots of Indonesians settled in the Netherlands so the Indonesian food in Amsterdam is excellent. In fact, there isn't any native cuisine of the Netherlands - their culinary claim to fame is inventing "French" fries (yes, the name is misleading) and Dutch pancakes (all the ingredients are added to the batter before frying it). We've had Dutch pancakes before in Calgary so it'll be interesting to try the authentic ones here for a comparison.
Again, it was extremely cold. Unlike Calgary's dry cold, the cold here is wet which makes it a lot worse. When the temperature is -2 degrees Celsius, it actually feels like -20 of Calgary! The wind is very strong and it feels like it'll blow you away and just gets into your bones!
After taking a tram back to our hotel, we discussed our plan for tomorrow and marked places on the map. In fact, Samia is marking the map as I write this update. Before the trip, we had planned to visit the tulip gardens tomorrow but given the strong wind and the fact that the tulip fields are open and hence colder, we'll just stick to exploring the city.
Things to do for tomorrow include waking up early, Dutch pancakes (if we can find a good place), Anne Frank Museum, canal boat cruise and exploring the city on foot. We love the city, it has an aristocratic feel to it with a distinct brick building architecture and canals running throughout the city. The infrastructure is really impressive and the people extremely friendly. Till the next update, bye from us!
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