Oct 25 2008
Getting Ready For Amsterdam
At the end of January, my wife and I are heading to Amsterdam for two weeks. Now I’m sure some of you are saying “what are you nuts?” I know Holland isn’t exactly a winter time destination but there are two reasons why we are going. One is that off-season travel is cheaper, you meet more locals, and it is much easier to find a room. The other reason is that my wife is going to fulfill her 12 year old dream and meet the New Kids On The Block - rest assured I will be doing something else during that.
Those who know me will find Amsterdam as not a big surprise - this will be my 5th time visiting. But it’s not all about the Coffeeshops - although I’d be lying if that wasn’t part of the equation. I’ve always had a thing for the Netherlands - windmills, canals, rich maritime history and a little thing they call “Gezellig”. As a 12 year old I was interviewed by Radio Netherlands so I already liked the place before I ever heard the word “Coffeeshop”. Up until recently Danielle and I thought about moving there someday. However Dutch society is changing to a more hard-line stance on many issues and so we may just have to be content with visiting once in a while.
With the worldwide economy crashing around us, we figured this may be the last visit to A-Dam for some time. And we couldn’t have picked a better time, since my all-time favorite Coffeeshop, Homegrown Fantasy will be closing this March. So in a way this trip is a final pilgrimage to the place that introduced me to Dutch cannabis.
The last time I was in Amsterdam in winter it looked like this:
The canals were frozen and kids were playing hockey and the town was full of locals instead of stoner tourists or soccer hooligans. And now that I’m in my thirties I do want to experience more of the city and surrounding area. I plan on finally trying an Indonesian Rijsttafel, exploring a few more Brown Bars, and seeing the Van Gogh museum. Sadly the impressive Maritime museum is closed for renovations. But I do plan on visiting their replica ship called Amsterdam.
In my future posts I will keep you all updated on our planning progress. We’ve already got our air and we are renting an apartment in the Jordaan. Now it’s time to gather lists of things to do, plan daytrips and find some new Coffeeshops and restaurants.
