We have only two days and more night in Amsterdam so its been a challenge to think on what itinerary might maximum the best use of our time here given it is Lili and Hugo’s first visit here, but our second (third technically but a half day doesn’t really count). I am a firm believer you cannot judge a country by its capital or a city – and that to provide a balanced view a trip to the country and less crowded areas is worthwhile.  That being said one cannot judge a country on a two day flying visit either –  therein our challenge!

So we recommended a day trip to see the windmills at Zaanse Schans, and a traditional albeit touristy island village in the Waterlands area called Marken.  Both sites are north of Amsterdam and can be reached within an hour by regular train or bus from Central Station – or of course on a tour.  It took us a bit of nutting out at Central to work out the bus number and stand vs. train and Hugo managed to confirm the details and buy a day pass for he and Lili. Vern and I had our pre loaded chip cards so were fine (or so we thought) with that option.  Time had quickly flown by after our relaxed start so whilst we were waiting for our bus we both got some lunch at a fantastic health cafe at the station. They had gluten free, vegan, and organic products from juice, to salads, soups, meals, wraps, smoothies, cakes, slices and just about everything else a person with quite  sensitive dietary requirements would require.

Part of our delay was due to Central – somewhat like its counterpart of Schipol – is very large and even with a good grasp of Germanic language and plenty of English its can take a bit of time to navigate.  It is also very busy so lining up for an information desk can be quite time consuming. The bus stand end of the station faces part of the harbour and it was a lovely view to eat our picnic with cruise liners, lots of water craft activity and a skyline of interesting and contrasting old and new buildings.

The 40 minute bus trip was comfortable, quick and very scenic and I was excited to point out to Lili the charm and beauty of the Dutch countryside along the way.  The green everywhere which is very reminiscent of home, dissected by the dutch canals and waterways that I love so much.  Quite notable compared to southern Europe is the abundant birdlife that is seemingly not bothered by the presence of humans and their habitations and industrial activity.  Being keen bikers Lili and Hugo were envious of the beautiful and efficient bike ‘roads’ that accompany just about every roadway and canal.  We passed through a few charming flower filled, spick and span, orderly towns complete with waterways before we drove across a causeway-dyke to the island of Marken. It was a weird sort of feeling driving across as one side is at road level and the other has a 4 metre stop bank so you get a real sense that you are below sea level (much of Netherlands is of course) and your mind entertains what might happen if there was a breach!

Situated in the southern part of the Zuidersee Marken was separated from the mainland by a storm in the thirteenth century. This was followed by centuries of isolation for its population, who made a living as fishermen. It was not until 1957 that Marken was reconnected with the mainland and became a peninsula when a dyke was built. Even so, Marken’s authentic nature has been preserved and the inhabitants kept many traditions alive. Its main income today is tourism in providing an example of a traditional fishing village and culture complete with cheese and clog shops, museum and  authenitc little wooden houses.

 

 

Historically the islanders  built their houses on “werven”- artificial knolls right up until the seventeenth century. After that they built their houses on poles. Since the Afsluitdijk (the big dyke we visited earlier in our trip that ‘blocks’ the inland sea from the ocean) was built, the island is no longer inundated with water but the typical houses still remain. We enjoyed a pleasant walk around the small island including a detour to the cheese shop where Hugo and I had great joy in sampling the aged cheeses including a couple of delicious goat varieties.  On route Vernon explored and then suggested we take a ferry to the neighbouring village of Vollendam, and get a bus and then train connection from there to our next destination.

The day was nice and mild with plenty of sun and some cloud so it was unanimously agreed that it would be a good idea. At the harbour where you catch the ferry I was delighted not only to find a ‘harring’ stand, but one that also sold that lovely Northern Dutch specialty of smoked Paling .  Lili had indicated she wanted to try these foods I had previously described as so delicious but when faced with the real thing was somewhat reluctant to give it a try.  On the contrary Hugo leapt right in like a seal which had just finished a fast.

The ferry trip to Vollendam took about 1/2 an hour and was nice and relaxing. The strong breeze had whipped up a little bit of chop on the open water but the higher than average temperatures balanced it nicely.  A variety of sail craft were out and about making the most of the conditions.  Vollendam is pretty, clean and typically Dutch tidy. Being on the mainland it is naturally a bit larger than Marken.  It was bustling with tourists and the well equipped shops in the quaint Harbourside buildings were cranking.

Walking along my nose (which is as keen as a bloodhound where food is concerned) got a whiff of that unmistakable and ever so tempting sweet hot Dutch waffle scent. I had no problem picking up the trail and quickly found a shop cooking and serving hot waffles with an array of toppings to keep both the savoury and sweet palate happy.  I bought some for us with fresh strawberries and cream and they got a triple NOM NOM award.  They were both thick, and dense like a brownie but at the same time fluffy and light within that density and crunchy crisp on the outside.  Oh my! Had it not been sheer gluttony I would have gone for a second one.  Totally worth falling right off the ‘no sugar wagon’ for that hit.

Instead I ventured inside to investigate the product behind the signs claiming their ‘Stroopie’ recipe dated back to the 1800’s.  A Stroopwafel is a thin crisp waffle filled with syrup and sandwiched together.  Wolfies bakery have a museum and demonstration on making them below the shop, and upstairs are plenty of sample bowls filled with their traditional variety, honey filled, caramel filled, and caramel filled and chocolate covered.  After a good grazing I bought several packets to bring home for gifts.

After our sugar buzz we asked an information kiosk how to get to Zaanse Schans and headed inland to a bus stop a pleasant 5 minute walk away. We happened to pass a boutique brewery and as the sugar had made us thirsty we bought a couple of refreshing bottles  which were very nice!  The bus trip took us through lots of small towns – all relatively close together – to the train station about 30 minutes away. We worked out which direction we needed to go, and the right platform and waited about 20 minutes till our train came along. From there the day went a bit pear shaped.

When a train attendant came through and checked out tickets he found a problem with ours that they did not have enough money on them. Lili and Hugo were ok, as they had a day pass – I was surprised that our ones had run out of money (20 euro) each in less than 24 hours.  The man was really horrible and arrogant and started nutting off in a very condescending manner about we should not use the trains if we don’t understand the rules and more.  I did not respond too much as I did not want to inflame the situation and get a fine.  Lili got quite angry at his manner and basically told him that he need not be so rude. This sent him off on another level and he kicked us all off the train at the next stop. It was either that or a 150 euro fine each.

I felt totally crushed, and stupid.  I had considered myself pretty adept at this travelling thing and clearly had made very poor judgement in purchasing this top up card, and not understanding where and how to see the balance (I now know which machines and where you can do it, and how it works).  Not to mention the waste of time, and money having to top it up, get a fee on my credit card for doing that, and waiting another half hour before a train to the next stop – where we had to change again for the windmills. This really had ruined our afternoon and day of exploring out and about.  We were all hot, tired and thirsty and needing toilet stops.  I was also feeling very angry at myself and the man, and powerless to do anything. Where was his compassion or understanding for clearly a tourist error?  His vile nature had hooked directly to my experience of the hire car man when we lost our jacket in Giethorn.

These two experiences have totally changed my view of the Dutch and visiting their country.   I know they do not represent all, but I cant help but think that this attitude is prevalent. Other than my remaining love of the wildlife, the amazing tulips and quaintness of their architecture and engineering feats; I would no longer recommend going there.  I know it seems childish and silly that two bad experiences (in a period of less than 2 weeks) would make me do a flip flop, and I have thought  and battled with myself long and hard about why?  Is it hypersensitivity? Menopause? Not taking ownership for my actions and any resulting reactions? I have concluded that I need to own part of the experiences, albeit only a small part.  For me its about people – you can have all the beauty and cleverness by mans hands or nature – but if people are ugly – then this spoils the experience.  I detest ugly people – rudeness, arrogance, lack of trying to understand or respecting the basic mana of a person, making things personal rather than focussing on solutions – and my list could continue.

So, silently I tried very hard not to let my very stormy insides ruin the rest of the groups day.  We finally got to the windmills, but it was dead on closing time (5pm) and this meant we missed out on the very good traditional cheese factory, liqueur making pub and windmills inside workings. They had also closed the toilets to Lili’s displeasure as she had a pressing need and had to walk a further 1km to an alternative one.  For me, whilst I could see beauty – I could not feel it and wished I could turn the clock back to my wonderful experience in 2013 here.

We made our way back slowly to the train station, past the chocolate factory that had wonderful smells of roasting cacao filling the air.  A smooth train trip of 20 minutes and we were back at central station and connecting to a tram to take us to our vegan restaurant for dinner – a bit out of central town area. “The Meatless District” is a very popular upmarket vegan restaurant and we were lucky to get the last available table for the time slot. We started with a fried cauliflower in tempura with a sambal creme dipping sauce, followed by a really lovely dinner of a chicken caesar salad with a ‘meat’ which was so delicious and meat like.  I asked what and where it was from, and apparently there is a place in Amsterdam called “The Vegan Butcher’ who makes excellent products, this ‘chicken’ is soy based. The salad itself was made up of “Chicken”, romaine lettuce, field salad, kale chips, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, pesto MDnaise, parmesan “cheese” & MD caesar dressing. And a cheeseburger (Seitan patty served with field salad, pickles, avocado, tomatoes & red onion) served with fries & MDnaise. To finish we devoured a delicious Rhubarb trifle jar dessert with layers of Rhubarb, almond cake, some liquer, coconut cream and gogi berries.

As it was the last night for Hugo and Lili to do young people things we encouraged them to leave as soon as they had eaten and check out the ‘coffee-shops’ and ‘red light’ district – or what ever they wished and we would continue our meal at leisure and meander home.

We got a tram part the way home to a change point,  and then walked the short distance the rest of the way to enjoy our last evening.  Trying to push the unpleasant experience from my mind, I still couldn’t help feel that Amsterdam has changed since we were here in 2013.  I did feel this when we quickly stopped over before going to Liverpool earlier in our trip.  I hope this is more about me, and that Lili and Hugo are having some fun and experiencing the great aspects of the city with fresh eyes. Tomorrow is our town and around day so we will see what that brings.