Van Gogh and the essence of Amsterdam

The Van Gogh Museum certainly eclipsed anything I felt at the Rijksmuseum. I certainly do not pretend to be an art critic or a proper art connoisseur, but I love history and that includes coming face to face with the artists I would have studied along the way. I am always envious of the way Europe has memorialised its past through its museums and ongoing restoration and maintenance of its monuments. This is something sorely lacking in Trinidad and Tobago. I pass the Red House twice a day and always with a bit of annoyance and sadness, as this historical emblem lays prostrate in the middle of a city that has seemingly forgotten about it, in favour of its new, more modern little sister on the Waterfront. This simply cannot be the way we treat our history.

What is even worse in our case as Trinbagonians, do we care to teach this new generation about where we come from? Really? In an SEA/CXC/CAPE driven education system, are we truly taking the time to teach our children where they came from and who they really are? The museums over here are filled with children, who can tell you more about the history of the works of art than you dare to believe. There were school trips and parents bringing their sons and daughters to school them on Van Gogh and his legacy. Quite admirable. 

But this was an entry about my trip and not meant to be social commentary. For that, let's have drinks and discuss.  Getting to Van Gogh was not without incident as this was a super fantastic rainy day and unlike my good fortune at the Rijksmuseum, this time I met a queue as long as the road itself. I looked at the sky in a bit of a panic as I tried to wager with God to just let me get inside before he opened the skies and poured all over Amsterdam. It was not to be. Drop drop drop came the rain and hello...black hair in the rain, not to mention getting a cold I did not want - I was out of there. 

This was how I ended up buying the most expensive umbrella in the universe as the rain just refused to quit and my escape from the rain was soon stuffed with tourists in a similar predicament. With water now gushing through the roof of the tent of the roadside criminal, I mean, roadside vendor, I was left with little choice but to buy what I now refer to as my Collector's Van Gogh umbrella which cost more than the ticket to actually get into the museum to see the real works of Van Gogh. Priceless.

Spent an evening in the Vondelpark as well, beautiful green park in Amsterdam, where we came across a wedding and a free concert featuring a Ukrainian folk band. By this time, the weather had improved and it was crisp and warm, the beautiful flowers beckoned one to stay and one could sit with a danish hijacked from one's breakfast at the hotel and people watch as friends and families went by on foot or by bike.

Amsterdam is of course a city known for the plethora of bicycles. It took me almost the entire trip to get used to bicycle lanes, and I invoked the ire of many a pedal pusher as I was often caught unawares in the bicycle lane. As good as I am at blending in, this bicycle lane thing got me.

I still did catch that cold after the Van Gogh downpour, though but at least it was after my side trip to Belgium. No...this is not in chronological order at the moment.

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Cheese, canals, Amsterdam.

My very first day in Amsterdam was picture perfect. It was a gorgeous day. Blue skies and big white clouds, with the sunlight bouncing off the waters of the famed canals. That being said, it was the perfect day for a cruise along the canals, which also came "free" as part of my I Amsterdam card.

The cruise itself was lovely - an hour along the canals, getting a bit of the history of the city. It was for me, nicer to walk along the canals and see their beauty from the many bridges which provide that postcard perfect view.

Next up, was a cheese lover's dream - cheese tasting. I am a lover of gouda cheese and here was my chance to sample gouda in every iteration known to man. Pesto gouda, truffle gouda (divine and in the suitcase), cumin gouda, smoked gouda with herbs and spices (already in the suitcase cause you know I love some smoked gouda), black pepper gouda, asparagus and bacon gouda...and the list goes on and on. My cheese ambassador was amazing. Sweet and very willing to let me try every single cheese in the place - and I mean I tried EVERY last one. Divine. Loved my day with the cheese!

Dutch cuisine, unfortunately is not characterised by anything unique. There were a lot of different types of cuisine being represent and what I had was always fantastic, but it was not Dutch and one cannot really point to anything that screamed Holland. Still, I ate!

And drank. Of course, the Dutch have great beer and while I am not a huge beer drinker, I was in the land of Heineken and Amstel so okay...bring it on. However, the non-Dutch rose beers stole the show for me. Pink beer with a waterfront view - what could have outclassed this?

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Hello Amsterdam!

Here I am again. This time I am coming to you from my hotel's bar in Amsterdam. Almost did not get here. Lol. Sooooo...had some time to kill before my flight and headed to the London Gatwick branch of Jamie's Italian. I love Jamie's Italian. Anyway, got to talking with an older gentleman next to me and next thing I know my half hour lunch became an hour plus. After waiting way too long for my bill, I checked the screen to see my departure gate and the horror...it was closing in 4 mins. Of course the gate was at the end of the freakin' earth, and my morning runs on that treadmill came in quite handy, lemme tell you. Run, Forrest, run. I kept seeing my Euros slipping away as the closed gate loomed. Got there, breathless, but got there! The most maddening part? The flight was delayed. Lol.

So here I am in Amsterdam. I made an Italian friend on the hotel shuttle.  Yeah...about that. So I am a bit of a high maintenance traveller.  The train was the cheapest option at 5 euros. I bought said ticket to be fair. But upon weighing my exhaustion, my 17kg bag (a feat of epic proportions from Ms 23kg plus hand luggage! ) and this heat in my all black get up, I decided I work too hard to be lugging this pink suitcase behind me from some train station when there are perfectly good hotel shuttles with a/c and wi-fi available for 17 euros. And with nice Italian travellers on board as well.

My hotel. So glad I chose it and stuck to my decision.  I did not make a whole lot of effort in choosing hotels etc this year as I was just way too busy. Though not in Central Amsterdam,  Citizen M is comfy, modern, CLEAN and friendly. The room is a bit extra terrestrial with the bathroom and toilet in the middle of the floor, and everything is controlled by a mood pad -the brightness and colour of the lights, the tv, the blinds, the room temperature.  massive and extremely comfortable bed, free movies on demand, including porn...lol. great lobby bar. Pretty cool. I have not had chance to make my way about town yet. That comes tomorrow. Between the running for planes, the heat and pre-vacay exhaustion, I am happy right here at the hotel bar for now. Tomorrow -me, my map and Amsterdam. Tonight - chatting and drinking at the bar.

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