Onthaal aan Amsterdam!

OK, that’s all the Dutch you’ll see on this site (not really), but what better way to break the silence here than a good ol’ travel blog! (It says “Welcome to Amsterdam!”)

Schiphol airport is pretty neat and the attached train station is very convenient. Cab to my hotel in Utrecht: €80. Train to Utrecht Centraal (yes, spelled correctly, see pic): €8. Easy choice. I’ll try to get some airport pics on my way back since I’m supposed to be there 2 1/2 hours early! Something tells me I may have some time to kill.

I have been staying at the locally-recommended Karel V (Charles the 5th) hotel. It’s very cool in an old school sort of way and the service is fantastic. It was once a Teutonic monastery and was a military hospital until it was converted to a hotel about 10 years ago. I’ve got a pretty groovy bed. I can nod off to sleep while watching a Dutch subtitled episode of the Simpsons. “Mmmmmm, bier.”

Having not slept on the overnight flight, I was smart (or lucky) and took about a 5 hour jet lag nap after getting to my room. Getting up at 2:30, I had a meeting/walking tour with one of our local Oracle people, Frank Buytendjik (what a great Dutch name). He was a great tour guide having lived here most of his life. Apparently there was a big storm (hurricane supposedly) in 1674 that has affected life here ever since. It knocked down many of their windmills and buildings and many places have a “before/after” sense to them regarding that date. Anyway, it reminded me of how short our colonial history is in the U.S. Many buildings here are over 500 years old.

Had a drink with Frank at a “castle” which really seemed like just a normal building in the middle of town but at a closer look, it was clearly older than most others. It has been there since at least 1311! Neat feeling to sit and have a beer in a 700 year old space. And they have a stone tablet on the wall listing all of the owners. Thank you Mr. Vrederick Zoudenbalch for a spiffy place to grab a pint!

As you might expect in Holland, there are canals all through the city and many restaurants and bistros right down on the waterfront. It’s like a whole city in itself down there. Little boats (and some big ones) troll through the city. I had dinner on Monday evening with my fellow trainers at one of the canalfront restaurants. Not Dutch food, but a Spanish/Portuguese tapas meal. Something about hanging out near the water naturally relaxes people, so it was quite fun people watching (plus there was a cat that looked just like Chloe looking for scraps and, by the looks of it, was reasonably well fed).

On my way home, I passed a shop that I could not make sense of in the least. Check this out:

Excuse me? Did you really say “Verse vlaamse frites mannekenpis”? I had to know what it meant, so I ran this through BabelFish and the first part is “Fresh Flemish French fries,” which is OK but the last part is a bit creepy (say it phoenetically). Perhaps it is the feeling you get after eating too many “Fresh Flemish French fries.” OK, enough of that.

Another jarring reminder that you are no longer in America: bicycles everywhere. And I mean EVERYWHERE. Plain Jane ones too, not our expensive and fancy mountain or road bikes. All of them are the boring old single-gear, rattly-chain, mud-guard-on-both-tires, bell-on-the-handlebars, giant-butt-massaging-seat type of bike. The only ones like these I’ve seen in the US in the last 20 years are hanging in falling down sheds, markers of a time long since passed. Here though, the simplicity is in large part so that no one steals them and most are not locked. The ones that are locked often have heavy chains or a handcuff-looking device below the seat that clamps onto the back wheel (I like this contraption, though didn’t get a good picture of it; look closely below and you might see a couple). Anyway, you see a rack like this one about every 100 yards in all directions (and it’s holiday time here, so the locals have told me there are normally 2-3 times this many bikes). And check out all the bikes in the other pictures. Did you notice them the first time?

It is a small country and densely populated, so cycling is a way of life here, which certainly contributes to overall good health. I have been looking for the last few days, but I have seen practically no one who is more than a few pounds overweight.

<silliness>

I like to sample the local fare when I travel and Holland makes some great beers. I ordered one with my dinner tonight and it looked good.

But what’s this? Is the bottle telling me something?

Hmmm, it seems to be suggesting that I stop. But perhaps that is reverse psychology, which means it really wants me to drink it! What to do?!

I’ll show that beer. Resistance is futile!

</silliness>

The training class is going well and I was deluged with questions today after my session. Pretty sharp group they have here. I then did one of the dumber things I’ve done in a while: left my phone in the taxi after getting dropped off at the hotel. I noticed I didn’t have it about an hour later, got desperate and called my number on the insanely expensive hotel room line and a nice taxi dispatcher answered. Whew! (Nothing like dialing from Holland to the US so that a phone in Holland will ring.) He sent it over and refused my offer to pay something for his trouble. And the hotel sent the concierge up to my room with it. Relief!

Back to work, so I hope this satisfies you all. I haven’t actually done anything in Amsterdam yet as I’m in Utrecht, but I hope to with some potential free time Friday AM.

Vaarwel voor nu! (I’ll let you look that one up yourselves. )