Explore Amsterdam Day

Big building at the head of the Dam Square
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We rose early today in order to make an early train to Amsterdam. The bus arrived right on time just out front of our building, Cambridgelaan--a punctuality that would be reiterated to us throughout the day. After yesterday we were feeling so much comfortable on the bus and even the prospect of going to the Utrecht Centraal station, buying a ticket and hopping on the (correct) train. And we really did so well.

We wasted no time in the station though the whole place smelled so wonderfully like pancakes and cooked sugar. We headed straight for the ticket counter where we both picked up round trip tickets to Amsterdam, discounted on account of the cards we bought at Schiphol. I was able to buy mine in Dutch but probably used the incorrect wort for round trip, instead calling it a 'circular trip'.

Amsterdam has a lot of character and history, but it showed us how truly local Utrecht has remained

Neuwekerk at one corner of the Dam Square
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The station was really use to navigate and we were clearly able to find our platform and were in very good time for our train. It pulled up 5 min. before it was scheduled to leave and left literally 10 seconds after its scheduled 09.45.

This Utrecht-Amsterdam trip was much more enjoyable than our initial Schiphol-Utrecht train trip largely because it was light enough to take in some sights. Plus, we sat on the other side of the train and were able to admire the canal that runs the entire length of the route to Amsterdam, with all its fisherman (commercial or sport?) and HUGE barges.

With my back to the Nieuwekerk
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We chugged into AMS Centraal right on time and immediately made our way outside the very classically European station. Because we had entirely planned our trip the night before, we knew exactly which tram we needed and how much it would cost. Brittany made sure that we were in the right place for the 2 or 5 tram, while I would have had us getting on the wrong one altogether.

The tram was very pleasant because it afforded us a great view of Amsterdam between the Centraal Station and the Raijksmuseum, which is a good distance and a great area to see. It stopped right out front of the Raijksmuseum, though it seemed to be a rather modest size. But clearly, its collection was far from pedestrian. And as a matter of fact, its manageable size made for a more pleasant museum experience. Still, we were a bit confused when we walked around the other side of the building and saw how humongous it truly was. Oh well...Did we miss an entire wing of the museum? Maybe. No matter--we actually got in for free because we bought a Museumkaart for which the EAP Office will reimburse us.

Looking toward a large shopping center from the Dam Square
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From the Raijks- we walked toward the large field which signifies the beginning of Amsterdam's Museum Quarter. And because it wasn't 50 paces away and our Museumkaart meant free admission, we stepped into the van Gogh Museum (you wouldn't imagine how the Dutch pronounce his name). Interesting though overwhelmingly large (perhaps). Again, we didn't have to feel bad about just taking a quick look around.

We finished up at the van Gogh and jumped back on the tram toward the Centraal Station. But instead of riding the whole way there we, as we had planned, got off at the Dam, Amsterdam's central square. But this time it was really raining and couldn't linger too long there. We stepped into the New Church (not sure what the Dutch is; something like Nieuwekerk, like the German Neue Kirche...ahh logical German) and took a quick look around, though we couldn't go far on account of an exhibit inside.

Big field at the head of the Museum Quarter; the Concert Gebauw (Concert Hall) in the distance
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Our next destination was lunch which we had arranged near the square. We made our way all the way across and down what seemed to be an alleyway toward where we thought the restaurant to be located. As we walked away from the square the alleyway became increasingly seedy, including many coffeeshops clearly marketed only to gimicky, overexcited Americans. After walking far past our restaurant we rechecked the address and walked back up the alley, against the rain.

The cafe, De Bakkerswinkel, was certainly worth the walk and the subsequent wait. We waited in what was literally a standing line for a table and grew increasingly hungry watching people eat. Eventually we were sat, and fortunately a-ways from the line so we didn't have to have the experience of being watched. I informed, in Dutch, that we spoke no Dutch and we got English menus--it's always a bit weird to get English menus, but quite helpful.

Skating rink and backside of Raijksmuseum Building
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Brittany got a wonderful pair of bread rolls stuffed with fresh meats and cheese. I got the quiche with a salad. It was genius. Great cafe, really great atmosphere and very fresh, quality ingredients.

After lunch all we wanted to do was get on the train and head home but we decided to head to Albert Heijn for some groceries. We shopped really cheaply and started walking back to the stations with our bags full (in the NL, groceries are B.Y.O.Bag).

We jumped back on the train as easily as we had on the way to AMS and actually made an educated decision about our choice, choosing a train whose destination was not Utrecht but had much fewer stops than a train which did. It worked really well.

We had to take this shot.
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We were very happy to roll back into Utrecht; we felt like we were coming home. Back on the bus from Utrecht Centraal and up to the room for relaxation before our first real day of the DLC.