Final thoughts on Amsterdam

Now that I have had time to think about our last trip, and let it sink in that it will probably be a very long time before I see Amsterdam again, I have a few thoughts and experiences to share. Having been twice in one year is obviously a luxury we will long cherish and gives me a great opportunity to make observations I would not normally have the ability to.

I must admit, that even though the weather was less than welcoming, I much preferred our second visit. Perhaps it was the familiarity with the city gained from our first trip, or the Christmas spirit. But, I'm pretty sure it was the lack of other tourists. The Mrs. pointed out the other day that we did hear more american accents more this trip. I'm not sure if we actually encountered more Americans or just heard more, due to the lack of maximum occupancy in every place we went. Mind you, it was still quite busy, but not the total chaos seen during the spring. I, really, can not even imagine being there at the height of tourist season. With one exception, the service at restaurants was better. Though, with the bar set so low from our previous experience and the reputation the city has hard earned for server apathy, we had no where to go but up. The one thing missing, however, was the great throngs of people sitting at the cafe tables that spill out onto the sidewalks, streets and alleyways from every brown and eetcafe that has at least 1 sq. ft in front of it. These seas of tables and chairs come together in a way that sometimes you don't even know which establishment you are patronizing. This constant buzz from late morning late into the evening gives the city a great sense of vibrancy, that was a little lacking in the winter. On the upside the crowds at the museums were much more manageable. This time through the Rijksmuseum was more like a cultural experience and less like lambs being lead to slaughter. The highlight was the ten uninterrupted minutes with Rembrandts "Night Watch". Just us, a guard, and a painting the size of my house. on side note; upon our arrival home we watched "Rembrandt's j'accuse" an interesting look at the conspiracy theory behind the painting.

Genever, the real reason we have gone to Amsterdam twice. This trip, we not only visited our favorite 400 Sq. Ft. on the planet, we also found time to try our luck at "de drie fleschjes", which was formally the tasting room for Bootz, until their takeover by Bols. It is now a Bols tasting room with more charm and less glits, also no entrance fee, than the Bols Experience across town. I had the one drink I had been eager to try, the 6 year korenwijn, which did not disappoint. The thing I love about Jenever is that it is refreshing in the summer and warming in the belly in the winter. It is truly a magical potion. The other tasting room in Amsterdam was a sad and sorted tale. The Admiraal tasting room is the tasting room and Belgian influenced restaurant for the A van Wees Co.. Our first try found them closed due to the 8-10 inches of snow on the ground. A condition for which the Dutch find themselves quite unprepared for. Our second attempt we peered into the window to see an empty space with one bartender cleaning glasses. and a menu hanging on the wall next to the door that was not particularly inviting. Sadly, we did not brave the empty restaurant. So we headed toward our first visit to the previously mentioned, although not by name Wynand Fockink. Truly, my favorite place in all the universe. Which actually brings us to our other visit to Wynand Fockink.

The day before we were heading out of town we needed to pick up some gifts and things so we headed over to the bar to pick up some bottles for others as well as some for ourselves. While making our purchase, the bartender mentioned that the distillery was open for tours next door. "Oh really", we said; And they were doing tastings of the seasonal Christmas tipple, an orange and spice liqueur called Kerst Borrel. The distillery is half kitchen half mad scientist lab with jars of dry ingredients and tinctures lining the walls and barrels with various concoctions aging happily away. The whole distillery was, maybe, eight hundred square feet, including the gift shop area.

Other highlights included a trip to The Hermitage - Amsterdam and The Dutch Resistance Museum. Both nearly empty of people but full of enlightenment. Another day was spent in the city of Gouda for their tree lighting ceremony.

And that was that, mostly we ate fried bar food and pea soup and drank local beer. I will be doing a separate post about beer, just because I feel it needs some quality time devoted to it and I'm sure you're sick of reading by now.

But to wrap up the whole adventure, my suggestion to anyone contemplating a trip themselves, if you want to do the museums and spend a more leisurely trip, and don't mind the cold; go in the winter. If you don't mind huge crowds and love to people watch then spring/summer are fine. As for lodging we opted for an apartment rental, this trip, which was definitely the way to go. Having the ability to reheat leftovers is a big advantage. I can't wait to go back, but like I said, it'll be awhile.

A Sia Saide

Oh Crap, I'm late again

To the two people who read this drivel, I apologize for my neglect in updating. The past two months have been quite action packed and I have barely found time to sit down let alone collect my thoughts. So, with that said. I wanted to do a quick update while I continue to arrange my thoughts for Amsterdam part deux.

Since last we spoke Broken Napoleons have finished recording our first record. An ordeal I will go into further in future post. Probably when it is finally ready for release. I have joined a second band currently named The French Handshake. Come to find out that is a much dirtier name than we had originally intended. As mentioned above, The Mrs. and I made our way back to Amsterdam. Work has been a roller coaster ride of emotions and my best friends keep getting pregnant. Also, The Mrs. and I have taken a serious interest in cocktails and with it collecting vintage glassware.

Sadly, my intake of food in new and exciting establishments has been a little lacks, but I do have a review coming up soon for the latest addition to the NoDa scene, Jack Beagles.

And, since it is the new year I suppose I should be making some kind of resolution that will undoubtedly unravel in three to four weeks. One change I have decided to make, with a nudging from The Mrs., will be the addition of photography. I have never been enamored of the idea, but she assures me it will be fine. For me this has always been about words and the need for me to write, however poorly, just because I don't get to do it at work and feel the need to do so. I will not be taking pictures of food in restaurants, that is so tacky and inconsiderate to fellow diners, but will try to add the occasional photo to ad context to a post.

I guess look for more posts in the near future and I will try to keep up better. But, don't hold your breath.

I think I get it now.

Today I want to start by saying, my first impression here was not a good one, but today we found out the reason the city is such a filthy sty is because there has been a garbage strike for the last three weeks. I couldn't understand why people liked it so much here. So, now as the trash slowle disappears it certainly has made a difference. We found this out while we were on our boat excursion for the trip, taking the hop on hop off museum boat. First stop for the day was the Rembrandt house. This is a recreation of the home as he lived in it using sketches and auction records from when he was evicted. I was most impressed that they still had auction records from the 1630's. It was worth the price of admission just to see some of the cabinetry. As you would imagine it is also full of lesser paintings and studies. After that we meandered around and then stopped a cafe with seating on a bridge and I got a Grolsch, which was fine but apparently Dutch beer isn't any better from the source. Our guide on the boat was not particularly kind to the home town Heineken as we passed by either. We then continued to stroll through the area until it was time to catch the next leg of our boat ride, around to the Anne Frank Museum. We had mixed feelings about going here and introducing such a soul crushing downer into our vacation but realized we owed it to ourselves to do it. It is every bit as devastating as I had imagined. I will not dwell on it here. After leaving we were both in need of a drink. We decided we would make our way back toward The Dam and if nothing caught our eye we would end up back at WF. On the way we ducked into an alley and stumbled upon In da Wildeman. A bar I had on my to do list for its selection of beer. The place was mostly empty, which was great because it gave us time to chat with the lovely bar maid about what we should have. The Mrs. decided to be brave and ordered a Mort Subite Cherry and I went for a Belgian called Floreffe Rousse. It was sweet and malty and very tasty. The cherry was sweet and sweet. Deciding to hang out a bit among the ancient bottles and alcoholics I asked our hostess about food options and we decided on a trappist cheese with crackers and a cheese and chutney pie. The cheese was amazing and the pie was good, but it was more like a baked Brie with chutney on the side. For a second round I had 't Volen which was bready with a hint of fruit. From there we moved on to WF for some Jenever action. I had a taste of the Rogge, which is a rye jenever. It was very harsh. So, I went back for some more Superior. While there we had a great conversation with the bartender and a coule of the regulars as we watched him pour a mixed drink in a jenever glass that was 1 1/2 out of the collection of flavored liquors and bitters. We informed them of the amazing world of bitters that lay out side their borders and watched their eyes light up. The bartender pointed us in the direction of a good bar for beer and with a couple of souvenirs we were on our way. Now pointed toward the Luxembourg cafe we dodged the people in The Dam and made our way up to the Leidesplein. Finding the cafe we swung in for a sit some people watching mostly so I could finally get an Amstel Gold. It was fine, basically, mass produced 8% abv beer. It did not suffer from the bitterness evident in the Heineken and Grolsch. Moving on for some dinner we found a nice little place called De Saloon. It was definitely more of a local place. For dinner I had a fillet with fried onions on top and The Mrs. opted for the burger with bacon egg and cheese. I think it about killed her. The steak was a typical brasserie steak, cooked adequately but not tough. My beer with dinner was a LaChouffe. A classic Belgian that we can get in the states but really suited my fancy last night and the freshness was definitely evident. This bodes well for Brussels. Speaking of which I am actually finishing this post as I sit there. Hopefully I can get caught up tomorrow but i'm having battery issues again so, see you soon.

To The Hague

This morning we had our plans to leave Amsterdam behind for a day and take in The Hague. We got our breakfast at the hotel and headed off to Central station where we would pick up the train out of town. Yes, us and every other tourist in Amsterdam were heading to the train station. Except, most of them had nasty hangovers from being in Dam square all night and we were farther up on the line, so we got a spot on the train. Central station was pretty easy to navigate once we found the ticket counter. You can use the machine if you have coin Euros or a chip and pin card. we had neither. But we got to listen to a group of old Canadian women, with family here, regale a young Canadian couple, with family here, of stories from visiting years ago. Actually everything went off without a hitch. About an hour later we were in The Hague. It was a little sleepier and more historic feeling than Amsterdam. Kind of like being in Boston and taking a trip up the coast to the Salem. We first planned on visiting the Mauritshui museum. Mostly because it is the home of Girl with a pearl earring and I have a man crush on Vermeer. Though, he might be a little old for me. When we arrived I found out that they were doing a special showing of early Vermeer's. In his historical phase of painting. It was odd to see the scale of the paintings being so much larger than his later work. The one down side was learning that there was a retrospective of Hans VanMeegeren, the famed Vermeer forger, in Rotterdam. This is, for some odd reason, a fascination of mine. Alas, I will not be going to Rotterdam. Next time, perhaps. Then it was on to Girl with a pearl earring. I'm still processing how I felt when i saw it. But, awe, about sums it up. There are 36 known Vermeers and 33 have known whereabouts. I hope to see them all, and I am well on my way. The Maruritshui is a very nice museum but a little heavy on the portraiture for my taste. Our second stop was the MC Escher museum. We found out about it by chance as it is not in any of our guidebooks. It resides in the old palace for the royal family and mixes the history of the family and the house into the museum. They also have a great collection of weird chandeliers. One was a huge scull and cross-bones. The museum follows the life and work of MC Escher from birth to death and is very interesting. It is also nearly empty. A drastic change from everywhere else we have been. The Highlight for me was two carved wooden balls of his tessellations. Tessellations are the two repeating figures drawn within each other and repeated. It was also interesting and mildly dumbfounding to find out that most of his work was done in woodblock stamps. I have a hard time wrapping my head around that. Then it was off for some lunch before heading back to the big city. We stopped in a place called Cloos. It was a little trendy looking but nice. I was a little scared about the service when the French family next to us as we sat down was becoming impatient with the waitress. If the French think your taking too long to do something you are in serious trouble. But, this turned out to be their problem, not ours. She was typically slow, by American standards, but fine. For beer I got the "seizoenbier", the seasonal I later learned. At any rate, it was an Affligem, I know this because it was on the glass. even though they do not take their beer seriously here they do their barware. It was outstanding. Much better than it is in the states, so fresh. For lunch I had the croquettes, I couldn't resist, and they did not disappoint. They were a little on the pasty side but very tasty. The Mrs. had a Parma ham sandwich with white asparagus and spicy greens on brown bread. Getting back to Amsterdam was a snap and after doing a little RnR back at the hotel we turned our attention to dinner. It was kind of a crap shoot so we picked Cafe De Duvel. It totally paid off. After a tram ride and semi-aimlessly wandering around we finally found it and were greeted warmly as we entered. The service was quite a bit more attentive than we have received thus far and a welcome change. The house beer was good but I don't recall the name right now. To start we had the Carpaccio served traditionally with Parmesan and arugula, also none of that quick hit on the grill b.s. we get in NC, straight up raw and so supple. It was perfect. My entrée was the roasted Iberico pork sided with green beans wrapped in prosciutto and a perfectly cooked au gratin. The Mrs. had a goat cheese ravioli that was also outstanding. Desert was syrup ice cream and funny little waffles sided with poundcake pancake wedges that had been dipped in a mint syrup, all to the good I must say. Again, back for some sleep. Until next time.

Trying to catch up

Trying to catch up from not having a computer yesterday. So, Here goes. We woke up early and took in the breakfast at the hotel. A nice continental while on the continent. Then we made our way to the Van Gogh museum. I have never been a huge Van Gogh fan but was nonetheless impressed with the diversity and range which was on display. We all know the paintings from our text books, but did you know Van Gogh painted in the style of Japanese block prints. Put your hand down Connie, I know you knew. I also discovered how identify nationality from museum viewing habits. The Italians are going the wrong way and bumping into everyone, the French are standing in the middle of the room not really paying attention, and the Germans and Americans are walking in lock step to each painting with the difference being that the Germans keep a safe distance and the Americans get nose to it. Oh, and the Spaniards are walking with the Americans and Germans but not paying any attention and talking with wild gesticulation about the meal they had. Three hours later we stumble out for a hot dog with curry sauce on the park and then head toward the Vondlepark. Vondelpark is basically Central Park only Dutch. It made for a beautiful walk on a beautiful day. We took it down back to the museum district and noticed the line at The Rijks was pretty short and we had plenty of time, so we slid in. The Rijks is under construction, along with the rest of Amsterdam, for that reason, all they have is the highlights of the museum on display. This still took a good two hours. It is a phenomenal look at the Dutch people and their history, through the lens of art. The highlight was, of coarse, The Vermeer's and the Rembrandt's, culminating in Rembrandt's "Night Watch", which is enormous. You also get a feel for how deep in talent the Dutch catalog is. After our visit to The Rijks we took some time at the hotel to recover and consider dining options. We found a couple and headed toward The Dam and Wynand Fockink. WF is a distillery and public house off of The Dam square. The Dam square is a squalid hell hole akin to Bourbon street. So we slipped into the tiny, very tiny, WF waited in line grabbed a bit of floor and watched as the mass of people ebbed and flowed in and out. It was great people watching and outstanding Genever, Including a Rye Genever called the Superior. It lived up to the name. Much better than Bols. With warmness in our bellies we wadded through the marauding hordes of tourists and yahoos looking for one of two restaurants we had picked. We kinda took the long way. Oops. And found that both were full to capacity. In desperation we wondered in to the Heineken bar. Mistake. We had a drink and then kept searching for food. Although, Heineken Galaxy is not bad on draft. Further down the road we found The Corner Pancake House. It was run buy a nice middle eastern man and the food was really good. I had Kip Bombay which was curried chicken with apples and raisins in a pancake. The Mrs. had a pancake covered and baked with a clove spiced cheese. The only real drawback to this place was no alcohol, but my liver might disagree with me. Then some sleep.

Quite the adventure

Well, we got to the airport way early and got checked in, Then as the plane was about to board we were told they had a new plane and, wait for it, it was too small. " would anyone volunteer to move their flight or go tomorrow?" . Not having a tight schedule we volunteered and found ourselves running and I mean running to catch a plane to Paris. Sorry Frankfurt, maybe next time. Best of all, the new flight arrived at the same time as the original one and we got flight vouchers. On the negative our luggage was misplaced. Which actually worked out since it meant we didn't have to lug it on public transport. And they delivered it for free. So when we made it to Paris we meandered around De Gaulle until we finally found the AirFrance desk where we were stymied until a very nice frenchman (they exist) took pity on us and moved us to the front of the line. Not having any clue what time it was we made our way to the plane, which was a KLM fight so I have no idea why we were at AirFrance but whatever, making it just in time for final boarding. We took off and were 25 min. early on a 50 min. flight. So far so good. We get off and go through the lost baggage shuffle and blame shift. Then I reach the magic KLM desk and when I give them my name, without typing anything, they tell me our bags are in Paris. Apparently, they were expecting me. I love the Dutch. So we hop a train, to the tram and get off where we think we are close to our hotel and look for food. The first thing we see is a sign for "Eten en drinken" sounds good. I got a lovely sliced beef on a roll with gravy and a Heineken (which evidently is just terrible beer. It's not good here either.) and The Mrs. had a croquette.

We checked our location and realized it was a bit of a hike to the hotel but decided it was worth it, especially since we had not figured out how to pay for the tram and hopped on and off with out paying, sorry. We made it to the street our hotel is on, past the museums and House of Bols, we'll get to that later, and walked to where we thought our hotel should be but was not, The Rijks was there. So as we walked back we realized that they do not number in block system here the numbers just start when they start. So, our hotel was two building in from where we had started, oh well. The hotel is clean, thats about all I've got, oh, and the shower kicks ass. Upon our arrival we find our way to our room and take a nap. I really needed a nap. At about four we decided to venture out, and knowing the House of Bols was a block away, was just too tempting. For those who do not know, Bols is a distillery, known mostly in The States for their insipid flavored liqueurs in the weird blue bottles. The rest of the world knows them as one of the foremost Genever distillers. So, basically, it is a liquor museum, with gift shop! Luckily it was ladies night, so the Mrs. got in half price. We made our way through the history, which dates back to the mid-1500's and smelled and tasted our way to the computer that helps you pick a cocktail based on your tastes and spits out a recipe for you to give the bartender and then take home. The bartenders whip up a drink and you can chill in the eurotrash decorated bar. Its cool enough and we guess the bartenders are from the bartending school, that Bols runs upstairs, doing some kind of penance or final exam. If you don't kill any tourists you pass. It made for great people watching. For dinner we made our way to De Wildschut for more "eten and drinken". We started with some Bitterballen, baby croquettes, and some homemade crisps. To drink the Mrs. had the house red and I got a 1/2 liter of Jupiler, an Inbev beer, that was fine. Then I got a Palm, which I can only say gives Belgian beer a bad name. It made Stella seem like liquid gold, won't make that mistake again. But my meal of chicken sate with chips was very good and the Pumpkin Lentil soup the Mrs. had looked tasty as well. I liked the laid back atmosphere and the fact that the waiter made change at the table and had a sweet "whiteboy afro". So we made our way back to the hotel for a night of fitful sleep not realizing it was 10pm. It was still light out for crying out loud. Tomorrow we look at art, lots of art.