Lewis and I had fun adventuring in Amsterdam.
This is the national coat of arms, which is the coat of arms of the monarchy...
Our jet soared over the Atlantic Ocean and landed below sea level in the Netherlands. 33 nations have land "below sea level", but we were in the most famous place.
For Pride Week, the airport created hospitable commercials.
Schiphol offers a meditation center, chaplaincy, lounge with massage chairs,
food markets, organic eateries,
temporary luggage storage, baby-care, hair stylist, showers, 24-hour medical clinic, free Wi-Fi (the Dutch invented Wi-Fi), public-use computer centers...
... and a “seal and go” center for any carry-on items at the Departures Terminals. All of this is done in an airport that is 4 meters below sea level on land reclaimed from the sea.
It is also a safe airport. Koninklijke Marechaussee—the Royal Netherlands Military Police—patrols the airport and its Customs Checkpoints.
Tasked with a praetorian guardianship of palaces, the Marechaussee also act as the gendarmerie for all branches of the military. The royal gendarmes are responsible for the defense of the realm by guarding national borders.
In some ways, they are like Royal Life Guards.
(I like the spiffy blue berets!)
Next, we had to travel to the city-center.
Brainwashed from their "car culture", Americans may want to drive themselves everywhere... but cars are not needed. It is better to use the marvelous public transit and your own two feet.
Lewis and I purchased City Cards named "I Amsterdam". The program collaborates with 1,050 organizations to give free or discounted entry, and it provides free transit. In 2020, it will include 24 hours of free bike rentals. The website and blog give a plethora of tips! The store at the airport was easy to use.
The Netherlands uses the Euro as its currency, yet most of our transactions were paperless.
Communication in Amsterdam is easy. The Dutch speak English fluently. In 2019, the EF English Proficiency Index gave the Netherlands the highest score out of 100 countries! Nonetheless, Lewis and I believed that was respectful to speak some of the Netherlandish (Dutch) language. "Please" and "Thank You" is Alstublieft and Dank Je.
The I Amsterdam "City Cards" come in time-allowances from 24 to 120 hours, giving unlimited rides on public transportation and a free admittance to 70+ of the region's museums/attractions. (Amsterdam has the highest concentration of museums per-square-meter in the world, so it is a great deal). The cards activate upon usage, so if you buy a 120-hour card and use it at 1pm, it expires at 1pm, 5 days later. That is much better than NYC's MTA cards, where if you use it at 10pm, it still counts that as an entire day! Before leaving home, Lewis and I went online and bought our 120-hour cards: €115 each. It was a bargain! We also bought two 48-hour cards: €80 each. Without City Cards, unlimited 7-day chipcards for the city's trams, buses, ferries, and Metro cost €37. (In NYC, ferries are not included in Metro Cards for subways and buses. Greedily, they cost an entire additional fare).
*Here’s a fascinating comparison of infrastructure:
The distance between Schiphol and Amsterdam’s Central Train Station is 15.5 miles. It takes 30-minutes by car ($39 flat-rate), and only 14-minutes by Sprinter train ($5).
The distance between JFK Airport and midtown Manhattan is also 15 miles. Yet, it takes 60-minutes by car ($50 flat-rate), and there are no trains from the airports to the city. To go by train takes over 1.5 HOURS, involving the AirTrain shuttle ($5) to the filthy Long Island Railroad ($20)—which only comes every 30-minutes (so add that to the calculation). The closest subway to JFK Airport is 3 miles away! The closest subway to La Guardia Airport is 4 miles away, and a car ($13) or bus would be needed to take you to it. Since the MTA subway ($2.75) is often-delayed (and diverted on weekends), riding it into Manhattan has the probability of an extra 20-minutes for delays.
As is typical in America, visitors and citizens pay extra for inconvenience and crappy infrastructure.
Thanks to Tap-and-Go kiosks, boarding trains is effortless. You can use your mobile device or a chip-card. We want to NYC to finally have that!
Trains depart every 6 minutes, which is great.
The train is bike-friendly with specially-marked doors.
If you arrive at the platform and the train doors are closed—to keep noise/dust out—you merely tap the button (seen below) for them to open. Notice how spotless the train is! Consider that those trains are the busiest—carrying people from the airport nonstop—and yet they are clean.
*To compare Amsterdam's trains to the hideous commuter trains in NYC, please click this link:
*Here’s a fascinating comparison of infrastructure:
The distance between Schiphol and Amsterdam’s Central Train Station is 15.5 miles. It takes 30-minutes by car ($39 flat-rate), and only 14-minutes by Sprinter train ($5).
The distance between JFK Airport and midtown Manhattan is also 15 miles. Yet, it takes 60-minutes by car ($50 flat-rate), and there are no trains from the airports to the city. To go by train takes over 1.5 HOURS, involving the AirTrain shuttle ($5) to the filthy Long Island Railroad ($20)—which only comes every 30-minutes (so add that to the calculation). The closest subway to JFK Airport is 3 miles away! The closest subway to La Guardia Airport is 4 miles away, and a car ($13) or bus would be needed to take you to it. Since the MTA subway ($2.75) is often-delayed (and diverted on weekends), riding it into Manhattan has the probability of an extra 20-minutes for delays.
As is typical in America, visitors and citizens pay extra for inconvenience and crappy infrastructure.
Thanks to Tap-and-Go kiosks, boarding trains is effortless. You can use your mobile device or a chip-card. We want to NYC to finally have that!
Trains depart every 6 minutes, which is great.
The train is bike-friendly with specially-marked doors.
If you arrive at the platform and the train doors are closed—to keep noise/dust out—you merely tap the button (seen below) for them to open. Notice how spotless the train is! Consider that those trains are the busiest—carrying people from the airport nonstop—and yet they are clean.
We respected how passengers kept their feet off the (clean) seats because that's often a rude problem with slovenly Americans.
Just like Japan and England, trains have First Class sections ($6 more), yet the regular seats were perfect... with covered trash bins under the tables.
Railroads began in 1839, going from Amsterdam to Haarlem. They were immediately endorsed by King Willem I, who understood his realm’s commercial potency. Known as the Merchant Monarch, he issued a royal decree to create The Netherlands Trading Society, an international financing network. (In 1825, it opened a branch in Shanghai, followed by Singapore in 1858, and Hong Kong in 1906. In 1926, it became the central bank for Saudi Arabia, overseeing its first oil transactions).
Lewis and I were astounded to learn that all electric trains are powered by wind energy! That's amazing. In 2007, the nation was one of the first to build offshore wind turbine farms.
Our train crossed a railway drawbridge...
and quietly arrived at Amsterdam Centraal Station.
It is the hub for the city's Metro, trams, buses, ferries, Sprinter trains, InterCity trains, and high-speed international trains. It is an immaculate way to enter the metropolis.
The kingdom got its first electrified railway in 1908, and all routes quickly adapted via smoke abatement to avoid noxious coal/diesel fuel. (Compare that to how NYC's greedy railroads resisted until the 1923 Kaufman Act and 1924 Death Avenue Bill, but then they sued to prove that the laws were unconstitutional against their profits).
When it was a port-city, visitors historically entered from that area of the water. Putting the train station on the waterfront continued that tradition.
Due to its history and hydraulic ingenuity, the whole area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is part of the Centrum District.
The 1882 Gothic Renaissance Revival station was designed by Pierre Cuypers, a Dutch graduate of Belgium's Royal Academy of Fine Arts. (It was after the Kingdom of Belgium won independence from the Netherlands in 1830). Behind the station's richly-decorated façade, glass enclosures cover 15 tracks. The front faces Prins Hendrikkade (Prince Hendrik Street). It was named in honor of King Willem II's son: the mercantile-enthused prince, nicknamed Henry the Navigator.
Outdoor escalators take you to the underground Metro. NYC doesn't have many outdoor escalators, but we wish it did.
The waterside station has excellent views of the IJ, where the manmade North Sea Canal joins the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal. The city's northern district is reached by ferries, Metro, and a vehicular tunnel. Seen below, the IJ Tunnel is an engineering masterpiece, going under the NEMO Science Museum.
Ingeniously, the tunnel entrance creates stylish views that can be appreciated from all angles!
None of the 6 tunnels in NYC allow lovely vistas like that.
In the station, signage is easy to notice, as are the red caps worn by train staff.
The city supports a plethora of canal boats and river cruises. Examples are seen below. City Cards include a free 75-minute River Tour boat ride! They normally cost €33.50. They're much better than in New York or Chicago.
You can also buy tickets for dinner cruises.
You can reserve boats for all types of occasions.
That is on our "To Do" list!
Inside the train station, Lewis and I were mesmerized by its beautiful ceilings.
Orderliness and cleanliness abound.
Even in the bustling train station, eateries have candle votives and fresh flowers. We value such thoughtfulness.
Look at how clean the stairs are! Not even a scrap of gum!
We admired the fanciful Ticket Counter, in proximity to the Currency Exchange that we used.
A piano is provided for people to "share their talents".
It connects to a drive-through pavilion on the street, for the monarch’s car, whenever the Royals travel by rail.
For everyone else, the Main Hall is quite impressive, too.
The station has 17 eateries, including a candlelit restaurant...
coffeeshop...
authentic Japanese restaurant with tatami seating...
and an affordable/convenient "grab & go" Automat—something that is extinct in America where it was invented.
It has an excellent affordable supermarket: Albert Heijn.
It also has a police station.
Some commuters leave their bicycles at the station and then get aboard trains, while others commute to the station and then ride their bikes to their jobs in Amsterdam.
Initially, they were bamboozled by American industries and an American planner named David Jokinen. In the 1960s, he proposed wrecking things to look like typical American cities: filling the canals to make 6-lane highways, demolishing historic neighborhoods to make parking lots, erecting skyscrapers, and building elevated monorails (like Disneyland). American automakers were greedily ready to inundate the Dutch capital with oversized gas-guzzling monstrosities. (They could never fit in its cozy streets).
Public protests in the 1970s stopped those ideas... and the government listened—which was the most significant part. Clearly, the Dutch were smarter, and their cities outclass North America's. They made policies that emphasized a bicycle culture and "green" state-of-the-art mass transit. The results were quick and beautiful. Compared to the image above, here is that same scene, now.
This year, Amsterdam won the best rating of 114 cities for Commuting & Commuter Wellbeing: low commuter stress, short wait-times in traffic, low pollution, low costs for public transportation, and plentiful cycle paths. Commuting cyclists also get a tax credit of €0.19 per kilometer.
Trams, buses, and taxis gather at the station's outdoor plaza. Figure-eight routes keep traffic moving seamlessly.
We took the Metro. It wasn't steaming-hot like NYC's. It was actually relaxing.
Amsterdam recently dug tunnels for a new line! Route #52 runs north/south. How did a city that is below sea level build an entire new subway route faster than wealth-guzzling Manhattan dug a small tunnel between two stations on the Upper East Side—which took 50 years? Also better than NYC, nearly all stations have elevators and are handicap accessible.
The signs are in Dutch and English. Notice all of the digital screens in the wall—all along the platform—to easily display the arrival times of upcoming trains. It demonstrates wonderful planning and respect for passengers.
Compare that helpful technology to the lack of it in NYC. There, overpaying passengers are only given one sign, and they must trek to the middle of the station to read it. Stupid and uncaring.
Metro trains arrive every six minutes, which is wonderful. We never had to run down the stairs when we saw/heard a train because we knew another one was coming soon. It was a relief from commuting in NYC, where you never know when the next train will arrive, or if the one you are on will proceed without delay. Like Copenhagen's Metro, the newest route is run by automated systems.
Train doors have buttons that can be pressed to open them from inside and outside. This quick videos show you how.
The interiors are gorgeous: well-lit, immaculate, and armrests prohibit laying on seats. The trains are interconnected, so you can pass through cars (which NYC doesn't allow, even though its trains get overcrowded).
Trains arrive "on time" and frequently, so they are less crowded (unlike NYC's often-late-thus-crammed subway, as seen below).
It was such a relief to experience a QUIET ride. The NYC subway trains are disgustingly loud to be in. Turn the sound on for this quick video of a typical ride.
An automated voice uses Dutch and then English.
Lewis observed that the display screens changed at each station, describing any possible transfers... and also giving an image of the area. Very helpful.
We emerged at Waterlooplein, a station named for the Battle of Waterloo... just like London has. (The Dutch deserve more credit for that battle than British historians offer). The station is sleek and clean, and it has a desk agent to assist with inquiries.
"Wall art" reminds riders that the station was built in the 1960s at the cost of demolishing historic buildings—which caused a riotous protest.
Created in 1882 when two canals were filled in, the public square at Waterlooplein hosts a flea market—the oldest in the Netherlands—with 300 stalls. It is located beside Stopera: the modern-looking National Opera & Ballet House, which adjoins the City Hall.
Crossing the bicycle lane, we stood on a platform for a tram to our hotel. Unlike many cities, Amsterdam smartly kept its tram system—since 1875—and expanded it. The city's first route went through our hotel's neighborhood, and the route is still used.
With digital timetables at all platforms, trams arrive several minutes apart. Sometimes, you can see them coming in succession. They are clean, which would be a miracle for a city in America.
National Geographic named Amsterdam’s tram system as one of world’s best and most beautiful!
Trams use "Tap-and-Go". Nearly all public transportation is cashless.
Trams have drivers and Customer Service Desk agents. The desk agents sell tickets, answer questions, give directions, and give advice. That type of service is immeasurably useful!
Equally helpful were the numerous screens, showing each upcoming station (halte) and possible transfers.
Seats have small tables, built into the walls. So thoughtful.
Rolling along their own lanes, trams avoid traffic delays.
Unimpeded, we always got to places swiftly on trams. Buses and trams have built-in sensors that alert traffic lights to give them priority over cars. Tram tracks seamlessly cut through traffic roundabouts.
Lewis and I think that roundabouts are cleverly wonderful, and America needs them.
It was fun to watch our tram pause at Hortusbrug Drawbridge (bridge #239). Drawbridges exist throughout the city.
We exited smoothly. The tram platforms might look narrow, but they actually provide plenty of space.
*The only city with a better tramway is Prague. To see our amazing trip to Prague, please use this link:
Plantage occupies its own island that includes Wertheim Park (the oldest in the city), the Artis Royal Zoo, and the Hortus Botanical Gardens (one of the oldest in the world from 1682). The zoo and garden were free with our City Cards.
This year, Amsterdam won the best rating of 114 cities for Commuting & Commuter Wellbeing: low commuter stress, short wait-times in traffic, low pollution, low costs for public transportation, and plentiful cycle paths. Commuting cyclists also get a tax credit of €0.19 per kilometer.
Trams, buses, and taxis gather at the station's outdoor plaza. Figure-eight routes keep traffic moving seamlessly.
We took the Metro. It wasn't steaming-hot like NYC's. It was actually relaxing.
Overpaid NYC claims that it can't keep water, trash, or rats off of its subway tracks, as seen here...
yet Amsterdam is already 13-feet below sea-level—making their Metro even deeper—and supports 90 million riders per year, yet it keeps its tracks dry, trash-free, and tidy!
yet Amsterdam is already 13-feet below sea-level—making their Metro even deeper—and supports 90 million riders per year, yet it keeps its tracks dry, trash-free, and tidy!
Watch this video to compare that to the "reoccurring flooding" in the subways of NYC: America's wealthiest and most-expensive-to-live-in city...
Amsterdam recently dug tunnels for a new line! Route #52 runs north/south. How did a city that is below sea level build an entire new subway route faster than wealth-guzzling Manhattan dug a small tunnel between two stations on the Upper East Side—which took 50 years? Also better than NYC, nearly all stations have elevators and are handicap accessible.
The signs are in Dutch and English. Notice all of the digital screens in the wall—all along the platform—to easily display the arrival times of upcoming trains. It demonstrates wonderful planning and respect for passengers.
Compare that helpful technology to the lack of it in NYC. There, overpaying passengers are only given one sign, and they must trek to the middle of the station to read it. Stupid and uncaring.
See this video for how to "Tap-and-Go" into the Metro stations. Instead of turnstiles, they use electric gates. You also "Tap-and-Go" when you get off.
Train doors have buttons that can be pressed to open them from inside and outside. This quick videos show you how.
Trains arrive "on time" and frequently, so they are less crowded (unlike NYC's often-late-thus-crammed subway, as seen below).
It was such a relief to experience a QUIET ride. The NYC subway trains are disgustingly loud to be in. Turn the sound on for this quick video of a typical ride.
An automated voice uses Dutch and then English.
Lewis observed that the display screens changed at each station, describing any possible transfers... and also giving an image of the area. Very helpful.
"Wall art" reminds riders that the station was built in the 1960s at the cost of demolishing historic buildings—which caused a riotous protest.
Crossing the bicycle lane, we stood on a platform for a tram to our hotel. Unlike many cities, Amsterdam smartly kept its tram system—since 1875—and expanded it. The city's first route went through our hotel's neighborhood, and the route is still used.
With digital timetables at all platforms, trams arrive several minutes apart. Sometimes, you can see them coming in succession. They are clean, which would be a miracle for a city in America.
National Geographic named Amsterdam’s tram system as one of world’s best and most beautiful!
To exit, press the green button, which releases the green gates, and then you tap-and-go before you step off.
Trams have drivers and Customer Service Desk agents. The desk agents sell tickets, answer questions, give directions, and give advice. That type of service is immeasurably useful!
Equally helpful were the numerous screens, showing each upcoming station (halte) and possible transfers.
Seats have small tables, built into the walls. So thoughtful.
Unimpeded, we always got to places swiftly on trams. Buses and trams have built-in sensors that alert traffic lights to give them priority over cars. Tram tracks seamlessly cut through traffic roundabouts.
Lewis and I think that roundabouts are cleverly wonderful, and America needs them.
It was fun to watch our tram pause at Hortusbrug Drawbridge (bridge #239). Drawbridges exist throughout the city.
*The only city with a better tramway is Prague. To see our amazing trip to Prague, please use this link:
We stayed at The Lancaster Hotel, in the Plantage (Plantation) neighborhood.
Plantage occupies its own island that includes Wertheim Park (the oldest in the city), the Artis Royal Zoo, and the Hortus Botanical Gardens (one of the oldest in the world from 1682). The zoo and garden were free with our City Cards.
Next year, the kingdom celebrates 75 years of freedom, since its Nazi invasion/occupation during World War II.
In 1945, Canadian troops drove tanks through Plantage, liberating the Netherlands from Nazi overlords.
In fact, marvelous acts of wartime humanity occurred near our hotel—across from the tram stop that we used daily. Walter Süskind worked at a theatre called Hollandsche Schouwburg, seen below.
Plantage is a gorgeous tree-lined neighborhood: quaint, historic, colorful, active with people, and quiet at night. We loved it.
Across the street is the Royal Zoo's Library, and next to the hotel is a park. The hotel loans yoga mats to use in the park.
Our 4-star hotel has a restaurant named The Birdhouse. It produces its own rooftop honey for cocktails and teatimes.
Every last Sunday of the month features live jazz.
They serve Bird beer from an organic Amsterdam brewery. Every purchase of a liter prompts Bird to plant a tree! That makes them unique amongst the dozens of brewers in the city.
The Lancaster's 24-hour reception desk was always staffed with multi-lingual employees. In the Netherlandish language, Lewis' name is "Lodewijk". My named doesn't translate, so it remained as "Kenneth"; it originated with ancient Gaels to mean "handsome lord born of fire". "Lewis" has Frankish origins to mean "loot-carrying warrior".
The hotel staff was very pleasant. On the third day, our maid from Romania insisted on freshening our towels (even though we wanted to reuse them for environmental reasons), saying, "I want everything to be perfect for you!" She represented Balkan hospitality. The hotel's toothpaste, shampoo, vegetable-based soap, and aromatic body lotion were all delightful. So were the sleek bathrooms.
Incidentally, Amsterdam is within the Province of North Holland.
Despite a popular misconception, Holland is not the name of the Netherlands. The provinces of North Holland and South Holland are merely parts of the Netherlands. If you have any questions, you can contact the King’s Commissioner for the provinces. (Commissioners are not elected by the residents; they are appointed by the Crown for 6 years).
In 1945, Canadian troops drove tanks through Plantage, liberating the Netherlands from Nazi overlords.
In fact, marvelous acts of wartime humanity occurred near our hotel—across from the tram stop that we used daily. Walter Süskind worked at a theatre called Hollandsche Schouwburg, seen below.
It was where Nazis forced Jews to gather before deportation, while their children were corralled into a nearby Daycare Center. To save children’s lives, Süskind removed their names from the records. Henriëtte Pimentel, who operated the Daycare, arranged for non-Jewish families to take care of those children. To hide them, she snuck them out the back door and pushed them over a hedge into a Teacher’s College. The college’s director, Johan van Hulst, protected them until designated times. Hidden in laundry bags, they were smuggled away by tram and train. Süskind and Pimentel were discovered, arrested, and died at Nazi hands. Van Hulst was not suspected and got the last of his “saved children” to safety! 600 children were rescued!!! Later, he began a long parliamentary career in the Senate. It is an amazing tale of bravery and unity!
Seen above, the National Holocaust Museum is diagonally across the street from there.
Seen above, the National Holocaust Museum is diagonally across the street from there.
Amsterdam's pavement is dotted with 655 stumbling stones to "stumble upon" while strolling. They are square brass plaques in the pavement that memorialize victims of Nazi oppression. In 1992, they were first installed in Cologne, Germany, and the notion spread across Europe.
*To see when we encountered more of them during our trip to Germany, please use this link:
*To see real photographs from WWII that show people's strength, please use this link: https://halfwindsorfullthrottle.blogspot.com/2019/02/captivating-world-war-two-photographs.html
Plantage is a gorgeous tree-lined neighborhood: quaint, historic, colorful, active with people, and quiet at night. We loved it.
Across the street is the Royal Zoo's Library, and next to the hotel is a park. The hotel loans yoga mats to use in the park.
Our 4-star hotel has a restaurant named The Birdhouse. It produces its own rooftop honey for cocktails and teatimes.
They serve Bird beer from an organic Amsterdam brewery. Every purchase of a liter prompts Bird to plant a tree! That makes them unique amongst the dozens of brewers in the city.
Some of the city's older buildings have curvy steep staircases. Here are examples...
We got accustomed to the ones in our hotel (seen below), yet the hotel has an elevator, if you prefer.
Despite a popular misconception, Holland is not the name of the Netherlands. The provinces of North Holland and South Holland are merely parts of the Netherlands. If you have any questions, you can contact the King’s Commissioner for the provinces. (Commissioners are not elected by the residents; they are appointed by the Crown for 6 years).
*Political Trivia: U.S. President Martin Van Buren of 1837 grew up only speaking Dutch and was America’s only president who did not speak English as a first language.
Turn the sound on for this video of the belfry at Oude Kerk (Old Church). Begun in 1213 in the Oudezijde (Old Silk) area, it is the city's oldest building. To mark the passage of time, it has a carillon of 47 bells, made by François Hemony in 1658. They provide concerts every Tuesday and Saturday at 4PM.
Being a musical city, Amsterdam has 10 carillons!
Please join us in the next part. Onwards to our first day of exploration!
Please join us in the next part. Onwards to our first day of exploration!
I love that the airport has a library and that the trains have a button to push if you’d like to enter. Definitely keeps the AC in and saves them electricity. I also couldn’t believe how clean the tracks were!
ReplyDeleteThe neighborhood streets look beautiful!