It's pouring. I don't mean a little drizzle, I mean pouring. The cats I'm babysitting in exchange for the cheap digs have decided to tear apart their litter box in protest and for some reason planes keep going overhead with engines roaring.
There are some downsides to Amsterdam. Very few in my opinion, but there are a few.
1. The selection for cooking products is rather non-existent - especially when it comes to meat.
I'd like to talk to some cooks about this because even at Albert Heijn, which is the posh grocery store I can't find anything but chicken and rather poor cuts of beef and pork. No duck, no lamb, no goose, and no massive steaks like I have in France in abundance.
There's nice strawberries at the moment and corn on the cob, but the same amount of produce isn't available here either. The only bonus is I could cook mushrooms (the non-groovy kind) because there are more varieties here than in France.
2. Everything seems to have high fructose corn syrup in it.
I don't need to be fluent in Dutch to see that the most common ingredient in pre-made anything in Holland seems to be high fructose corn syrup. Which is evil and should be a substance controlled by some special department of every government. In France there is legislation that says there can't be high fructose corn syrup in certain products and then only in certain percentages. I am very thankful for this as HFCS has been proven to lead to fat ass syndrome - or in my case fatter ass than usual syndrome seeing as I've put on 3 kilos since coming to A'dam!
3. Public transport is expensive and fairly useless.
The RAPT/SNCF might go on strike a lot and tourists might complain, but hands down, Paris has the best public transportation in the world. It's cheap (with a Navigo pass you can ride buses, trams, and the Metro as much as you want for less than 60,00 euros a month); it goes everywhere (aside from a few no-Metro zones, there seems to be a Metro station no more than a 10 minutes walk in almost any direction); and it's frequent.
I still don't get how to use trams in A'dam. I get the regular stuff, but what I don't get is how to make it more cost effective. It's pretty expensive to pay 3,40 for a single ride. In Paris 3,40 is a round trip journey with the right to change to any amount of trains in the Metro and one change to a bus ride per leg.
I also think some A'dam bike rental company needs to do the Velib. I would be so much more willing to ride a bike I could then put back on the special bike rack and not have to worry about. Otherwise it's rent bicycle, ride around, realise your calves are burning, stop for a drink, lock up bicycle, and then worry about whether or not it gets stolen. Or you get to ride around on a bicycle that screams tourist and I didn't learn to ride a bike in Holland because I wanted to look like a tourist. I can hang.
After six years, including once or twice having to deal with some legal-bureaucratic issues (I lost my identity card when I lived here, but someone actually turned it in to the police station), of living, visiting, driving through, taking day trips to, and renting apartments to live a sort of more daily life here these are the only things I can think to complain about.
Yesterday I did one of my favourite things to do in all of Amsterdam. I walked down to the Leidesplein and watched people play chess in front of the Hard Rock Cafe. Watching people play chess, talking to locals, seeing a little boy chomping at the bit to test his skills - I can sit there for hours and hours or at least until 10:00 pm when the guy comes to put all the gigantic chess pieces away for the night.
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My day was to wake up, do a little housework, write a blog post, hang out at La Tertulia (which is a great coffeeshop on the Prinsengracht), play cards, write in my notebook, eat Thai food at Thaise Snackbar, watch chess, walked around until I was exhausted, ate a giant waffle with chocolate chip ice cream (which I made at the flat), watch old episodes of Big Bang Theory, and fell asleep to the sound of rain.
My friend is coming from London today, so that's why I've held off on doing any touristy things. We're off to the beach tomorrow if the weather cooperates and to visit Haarlem. On Saturday we're taking a booze/smoke friendly boat ride along the canals. We might even go to the Rijskmuseum - especially if the sun holds out since we figure people will want to be outdoors so it might be less crowded.
I'll be home in less than a week now and maybe it might be a few months before I'm able to return here, but this sense of feeling like I am free here - not so weighed down by the minuitae of French culture and all its ouis et nons and how conservative it all is - it brings out the very best in me. I can spend the day just walking with no desintation in mind, with no worries in France too - mais bien sur. But here in Amsterdam I can meet other flâneurs more easily it seems. And they're not all polished up and making so much effort (which is exactly the kind of flâneuse I am in Paris too). They're hippies; bankers, students, ladies who work in a bakery; and a Dutchman reading four newspapers while smoking a joint.
Yes I am lucky to live in France and it does suit me. I just feel luckier that I get to come here every now and then and let that little part of me that loves Amsterdam get up, crimp her hair, put on a "I Heart Zombies" t-shirt from The Walking Dead comic books with a fancy skirt, and shake her booty. Mostly because my hair looks awesome crimped.
Here's to all of us being at our best!
There are some downsides to Amsterdam. Very few in my opinion, but there are a few.
1. The selection for cooking products is rather non-existent - especially when it comes to meat.
I'd like to talk to some cooks about this because even at Albert Heijn, which is the posh grocery store I can't find anything but chicken and rather poor cuts of beef and pork. No duck, no lamb, no goose, and no massive steaks like I have in France in abundance.
There's nice strawberries at the moment and corn on the cob, but the same amount of produce isn't available here either. The only bonus is I could cook mushrooms (the non-groovy kind) because there are more varieties here than in France.
2. Everything seems to have high fructose corn syrup in it.
I don't need to be fluent in Dutch to see that the most common ingredient in pre-made anything in Holland seems to be high fructose corn syrup. Which is evil and should be a substance controlled by some special department of every government. In France there is legislation that says there can't be high fructose corn syrup in certain products and then only in certain percentages. I am very thankful for this as HFCS has been proven to lead to fat ass syndrome - or in my case fatter ass than usual syndrome seeing as I've put on 3 kilos since coming to A'dam!
3. Public transport is expensive and fairly useless.
The RAPT/SNCF might go on strike a lot and tourists might complain, but hands down, Paris has the best public transportation in the world. It's cheap (with a Navigo pass you can ride buses, trams, and the Metro as much as you want for less than 60,00 euros a month); it goes everywhere (aside from a few no-Metro zones, there seems to be a Metro station no more than a 10 minutes walk in almost any direction); and it's frequent.
I still don't get how to use trams in A'dam. I get the regular stuff, but what I don't get is how to make it more cost effective. It's pretty expensive to pay 3,40 for a single ride. In Paris 3,40 is a round trip journey with the right to change to any amount of trains in the Metro and one change to a bus ride per leg.
I also think some A'dam bike rental company needs to do the Velib. I would be so much more willing to ride a bike I could then put back on the special bike rack and not have to worry about. Otherwise it's rent bicycle, ride around, realise your calves are burning, stop for a drink, lock up bicycle, and then worry about whether or not it gets stolen. Or you get to ride around on a bicycle that screams tourist and I didn't learn to ride a bike in Holland because I wanted to look like a tourist. I can hang.
After six years, including once or twice having to deal with some legal-bureaucratic issues (I lost my identity card when I lived here, but someone actually turned it in to the police station), of living, visiting, driving through, taking day trips to, and renting apartments to live a sort of more daily life here these are the only things I can think to complain about.
Yesterday I did one of my favourite things to do in all of Amsterdam. I walked down to the Leidesplein and watched people play chess in front of the Hard Rock Cafe. Watching people play chess, talking to locals, seeing a little boy chomping at the bit to test his skills - I can sit there for hours and hours or at least until 10:00 pm when the guy comes to put all the gigantic chess pieces away for the night.
My day was to wake up, do a little housework, write a blog post, hang out at La Tertulia (which is a great coffeeshop on the Prinsengracht), play cards, write in my notebook, eat Thai food at Thaise Snackbar, watch chess, walked around until I was exhausted, ate a giant waffle with chocolate chip ice cream (which I made at the flat), watch old episodes of Big Bang Theory, and fell asleep to the sound of rain.
My friend is coming from London today, so that's why I've held off on doing any touristy things. We're off to the beach tomorrow if the weather cooperates and to visit Haarlem. On Saturday we're taking a booze/smoke friendly boat ride along the canals. We might even go to the Rijskmuseum - especially if the sun holds out since we figure people will want to be outdoors so it might be less crowded.
I'll be home in less than a week now and maybe it might be a few months before I'm able to return here, but this sense of feeling like I am free here - not so weighed down by the minuitae of French culture and all its ouis et nons and how conservative it all is - it brings out the very best in me. I can spend the day just walking with no desintation in mind, with no worries in France too - mais bien sur. But here in Amsterdam I can meet other flâneurs more easily it seems. And they're not all polished up and making so much effort (which is exactly the kind of flâneuse I am in Paris too). They're hippies; bankers, students, ladies who work in a bakery; and a Dutchman reading four newspapers while smoking a joint.
Yes I am lucky to live in France and it does suit me. I just feel luckier that I get to come here every now and then and let that little part of me that loves Amsterdam get up, crimp her hair, put on a "I Heart Zombies" t-shirt from The Walking Dead comic books with a fancy skirt, and shake her booty. Mostly because my hair looks awesome crimped.
Here's to all of us being at our best!
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