My European Getaway: Amsterdam

I ended up in Amsterdam this weekend. It was a very last minute trip- I bought the ticket about 12 hours before I left. The result was a far-from-optimal train route that optimistically offered me time to catch up on sleep. I brought my inflatable pillow, which I initially got to add some firmness to my giant square German pillow. This pillow is in contention for the best purchase I’ve made, right up there with the fan.

I got to Amsterdam and was immediately confused. In the Netherlands, they don’t operate trains on the honor system- you have to scan a ticket to get in or out of the station. So I arrived and I was trying to get to be metro to go to the hostel, but I couldn’t figure out how to scan my ticket since it was a mobile ticket and the ticket scanners were just for RFID. Then to compound the confusion, the metro line I wanted to get on was at the same platform I just got off of my inter city train from Germany. It took me a fair bit of time to figure out what I needed to do. As it turns out, there’s 1 e-ticket reader to exit. Then you have to purchase the metro pass. The you have to re-enter the station to board the metro.... Luckily the rest of Amsterdam isn’t so confusing.

I got to the hostel and ate an incredible burger, then went downtown to check out the night scene. It was mostly a place for people watching, especially as I accidentally ended up in a stream of people traversing the red light district. A few comments on the red light district: it was definitely uncomfortable to be there. None of it felt “natural” to me... the girls in the windows, the drunk men gawking and cat-calling. What I did find really interesting, however, was some of the "pre-reading" I did on the train over to prep myself for Amsterdam. Prostitution is not only legal in Amsterdam, it's a very competitive business. You have to register as a business owner, obtain a license, and pay taxes. One positive in all of that is that healthcare is a mandatory part of life for these women. They also have unions. But I think it's really easy to get caught up in the legality and openness of the red light district and neglect some of the darker aspects. Human trafficking is still very much an issue in Amsterdam, and I wish that it got the same attention that the red light district itself gets.

Amsterdam is exhausting, and I definitely slept in the next day. After exploring the winding canal streets and doing some shopping, I got myself a proper Dutch meal for lunch: mashed potatoes with sauerkraut and some wurst. While out shopping, I encountered what I might just call one of the most American things I've seen while abroad: escalators for merely a few stairs. It totally blew my mind, but one of my friends has recommended I think of it as that European efficiency instead of the American laziness. Either way, seems excessive to me...

After lunch, naturally there was still more wandering around to be done. Eventually I walked past this chocolate shop that was tucked away in a basement. It seemed really familiar, then I realized that I'd actually had one of their chocolate bars in San Francisco but hadn't seen the brand elsewhere. Tony's Chocolonely is a company dedicated to producing slave-free chocolate. I think of them like the chocolate equivalent of fair-trade coffee. And here's the thing, there chocolate is REALLY quite delicious. I also love the fun shapes of the bars. This also just happens to be the only retail location they have, so I feel like I truly lucked out with my find. Inside the store reminded me a bit of Willy Wonka. Chocolate bars were everywhere, and they just had free samples of.. well.. all of them. It was beautiful.

The next stop was a canal boat tour of Amsterdam. If you go to Amsterdam, this is the one thing I definitely recommend that you do. Seeing the city by boat was stunning. The neighborhoods are really fascinating, particularly with the houseboats. And of course as an engineer, I really appreciated seeing the different designs for the draw bridges, but unfortunately did not get to see any in action.

The Netherlands is crazy about their bikes, and Amsterdam is no exception. I should have gotten that picture when I first arrived and there was an entirely separate road system set up for bikes, but it wasn't until I saw my first bike parking lot that it really hit me. They don't even lock their bikes up here for the most part-- I imagine the reasoning is something like, everyone has a bike so who needs to steal one?