I’m gonna write you a letter, I’m gonna write you a book, the Amsterdam Experience

Here are my thoughts and musings on my first trip to the Netherlands! Quick summery: the dam is an interesting place.

AESTHETICS: It is stunning – reminded me of Hampstead Village (where I live here) combined with Georgetown but with more canals. It is SO old – there is history everywhere, on the small roads, the bridges, and the buildings. It is odd – the red light district was absurd and more than a little depressing. Scent – Im sure you can imagine what it smelt like. In all, it was gorgeous – I loved the neighborhood called Jordaan (your-dahn).

EATS: I ate wonderful foods – a lot of chocolate (Puccini, Albert Hijn brand and Galler were favorites), French fries, stroupwaffles (!!!), pancakes (my favorite was a savory – mushroom, spinach, onion, tomato and pine nut).

ART: Vermeer, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Dutch painters in general…do I need to say more? Basically, I spent a LOT longer in the museums than either Kesley or Katherine (Hollis, you were missed).

XXX Bikes: My favorite part of Amsterdam, however, was the prevalence of biking. As one astute study abroad student put it “the dutch were born better bikers, we can never be as good as them.” And lets be honest. It’s true. The dutch people riding on bikes could ride in and out of traffic with no problems, with two children positioned in seats on the bikes or in wagons, with so much ease that it made me embarrassed to try. Even when I felt confident, I still felt clutzy in comparison with their deft skills. I saw a parent biking with their YOUNG (under 3) child standing on the back of the bike, holding onto the parents shoulders. And no one was worried about this? No one even wears helmets!

In the interim, while I loved biking around Amsterdam, clearly the roads weren’t so pleased with my presence and I absolutely wiped out after day one of biking. (Slipped on a tram track to the amusement of drunk Dutch people – I hope their guilt complex freaks out.) With my own deft skills, I managed to bang up my knee and scrape my hand, but biking after that was a little too adventurous. While I love biking, and I love that Amsterdam loves biking, I would love Amsterdam and biking a lot more if they could get some bike safety laws. Helmets for instance, and maybe seatbelts for children under the age of 5? And maybe the coordination-challenged?

CASE AND POINT: Amsterdam is amazing. Everyone should go. Everyone should rent bikes. Everyone should deftly avoid sliding on tram tracks. Eat chocolate. Eat pancakes. Look at beautiful things. Trust me.

In love,

Lauren

Random MISadventure: Almost didn't get let back into the UK because I forgot my documentation. WHOOPS. Luckily I found forms that worked. Oh visas.