We met in Den Haag Centraal station, where we hopped on an intercity train to Amsterdam. The same train that I took from the airport to Den Haag last week, only in the other direction. When we arrived we stopped to buy some coffee and then walked over to Saint Nicolasskirk, which is near the station.
It was very pretty inside. I took several pictures with my phone, since I decided to leave my big camera at home for this trip. I'm going back to Amsterdam though so never fear my photography inclined friends, there will be plenty of nice Amsterdam photos to look at later.
After a peek inside the church, Bethy lead me through the Green and Red Light districts. It was day time, so they were fairly quiet, but there were still girls in the windows in the Red Light. She explained to me how Red Light businesses are marked throughout the city, and that a coffeehouse is NOT where someone gets a cup a' joe. Not that I couldn't already tell of course, since I could smell it. Amsterdam is a silly town.
We then headed towards Dam square. We stopped for street frites with fritessaus on the way. They were delicious! I don't know why we call them french fries at home, we should call them dutch fries, but then maybe we call them french because they pale in comparison. (No offense to french food of course.) I think I saw a place in the Hague that sells them earlier today. I will have to stop by next time I'm in Centrum and get them because they were AMAZING. Anyway, the delicious frites aside, when we arrived in Dam square, we happened upon the Homeless Cup. According to Bethy, this is a series of football (soccer) games played by homeless men from various towns in the Netherlands and all the proceeds go to charities that help these men. Holland is so cool. We should have something like this in the US. Really. Someone who plays more sports than me start this. I'll help with marketing. Here's a photo that includes the tents (as well as the Queens seat in Amsterdam).
We spent a few moments watching the game while we finished our frites, and then we walked in the direction of the Museumplein. It was a bit of a walk, but not too bad. We walked by the Bloomenmarkt on the way. That's the famous flower market, but it was all bulbs at this time of year. I wish I could bring some back to the states for my mother's yard, but I don't think California would be pleased (sorry Mom).
When we reached the Museumplein, we stopped by the "I amsterdam" sign for a photo (below) before heading to the Van Gogh Museum.
The museum itself was very interesting, and just the right size for the amount of time I wanted to spent in a museum that day. It was really cool to see Van Gogh's early work along with the paintings everyone knows. I saw a lot of paintings I had never seen before along with a lot of familiar ones. We saw the recently restored Bedroom in Arles, it's so bright now! I don't think there is an image of it since the most recent restoration on the internet, but it's quite colorful. One of the most interesting things that the museum has done with Van Gogh's work is try to figure out what he painted on top of, since he is known for reusing his canvasses. They had xray images of several paintings and all sorts of interesting details about how he did his work. Maybe it's because I'm an adult now, or because it's a famous artist, but I really enjoyed our visit.
After the museum, Bethy knew of a nearby bakery that we walked to. I got a Croque Monsieur and it was delicious! I feel like I've had one before now, but I don't know where. Perhaps in Puerto Rico. Regardless, it was a warm sandwich with ham and mayonnaise inside and cheese toasted onto the outside. Yum.
At this point, I was pretty tired of walking, so we went to find a tram that would take us back to Amsterdam Centraal. On the way we walked through part of Vondelpark, which is very pretty, and past a movie theater showing a Jack Nicholson film festival. There was a fancy looking party happening on the balcony.
We did find the tram soon thereafter and rode back through town, passing some places we had been earlier. We then took the train back, and I stopped at Lush on the way home to get a bath bomb to help ease my feet.
Once I returned to the apartment, I relaxed for a little while and then went out again to Albert Hein, which is the main grocery chain here in the Netherlands. I took the bike which Peter has lent me, and followed the route that we took on Wednesday morning. I bought all sorts of practical things, including veggies, cheese and bread. I already know that I will miss dutch cheese dearly when I return to the states. It's better than any cheese I have had at home. The jong cheese tastes like... maybe mild cheddar but better, and the old cheese definitely tastes like white cheddar but again, better. I also bought some fresh pasta and spinach sauce which I ate for dinner last night. My evening was pretty relaxed after that, and I slept very early.
Today I spent in the Hague, having a rest day. I went to lunch with Bethy in Centrum, and took a bike trip to Hema up here in Scheveningen (on Keizerstraat, a cute shopping area), which was near my destination of a bookstore with a post office. But the bookstore was closed, so I just went to Hema and bought a pen, since I forgot to bring one. I rode back part way along the beach and it was nice and sunny.
Then here I am, sitting at the table in the apartment facing the window looking out on the beach, listening to the chaos of karaoke and real bands playing in the various clubs along the boardwalk.
Tomorrow I am going to Delft!
I feel like a star. Except, the Homeless Cup isn't played by homeless people (that would be legit though), it's by local leagues representing each city :)
ReplyDeleteMy version would be played by homeless people. Give them something to do :)
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