Dutch Treat, Part 1
Memphis To Amsterdam and Flower Market
By Lewis Nolan
Return To Nolan
Travels Home Page
We had wanted to spend Betty’s spring break in
Dingle, Ireland, which has become our favorite vacation spot after four trips
there in
recent years. However, St. Patrick’s Day fell during her week
off; it was impossible to get Aer Lingus flights to and from Shannon Airport
that harmonized with our travel window. Plus, I found that getting any good
deals on accommodations in Ireland the week of March 17, 2005 was out of the
question.
Our travel agent of many years, Joye (pronounced
Joey) Allen of A&I Travel in our hometown of Memphis, Tenn., suggested that
we consider Amsterdam as an alternate destination, where March is off-season and
prices are reasonable. It was a good idea that proved to be a terrific choice.
What made our decision to “go Dutch” easier was the fact that Northwest Airlines
and its partner, Dutch-owned KLM, flies direct, non-stop flights between Memphis
and Amsterdam on a schedule that works well for us. There were more than 150,000
passengers who took advantage of the service in 2004.
We purchased a weeklong, Northwest package that
featured a four-star hotel with complimentary breakfast buffets every day. We
were delighted to discover that the Jolly Carlton Hotel we selected was quite
nice; it has the best possible location for our interests, right in the heart of
the city and adjacent to the fabulous Floating Flower Market.
We’d been through the Amsterdam Airport on
previous trips, but never had the time to venture out into the city. A
magnificent city it is – very scenic, very old, very European, very
cosmopolitan, very compact, and a breeze to navigate on foot and by tram. It is
also very expensive, especially this year with the U.S. dollar so weak. Three
days before our departure, I converted $650 into Euros at First Tennessee’s
currency translation rate of the day of $1.40 per €1. Just a few years ago, the
rate was $0.92 per €. With the Memphis bank’s $5 transaction fee, that amounted
to a decrease in American purchasing power of nearly 50 per cent.
On the positive side, the beating the dollar has
taken since the Bush Administration took office more than four years ago –
combined with the excessive hassles caused by clumsy security measures - means
fewer Americans are traveling to Europe. Consequently the crowds aren’t as heavy
as they once were. On the flip side, transcontinental airline traffic is still
way down from where it was in the 1990s. That has meant a significant cutback in
the number of airline employees and flights, making for crowded planes and a
reduction in amenities. Fuel prices are sky-high, causing the airlines to bleed
copious amounts of red ink. The cost of gasoline has rocketed upwards since Bush
took office and is expected to hit all-time highs during this summer’s driving
season back home.
The weather in Amsterdam wasn’t all that
different from the damp, blustery conditions we’d been experiencing in Memphis
during early March.
During our seven days in Amsterdam, we had only one really
good day of sunshine and temperatures climbing to near 60. Most days the high
was near 50 and the low near 40, with intermittent patches of light rain. We had been warned that Amsterdam’s
proximity to the North Sea means that the weather is quite changeable. We saw in
the space of two, fifteen-minute periods on one day the weather switch from sun
to rain, then to sleet and snow before going back to sun. Moreover, such
meteorology can occur at any time of the year.
We heeded the warnings and dressed accordingly.
During the day we wore jeans, sturdy walking shoes, sweaters, warm coat (in my
case a heavy, wool herringbone sports coat along with an Irish tweed cap) and
sometimes Gore-tex rain slickers. The Dutch don’t seem to pay much attention to
the rain – not even when the tens of thousands of Amsterdam commuters are
pedaling their bicycles. They typically wear heavy coats that are water
repellent or at least water resistant.
Baby carriages and strollers are often covered with see-through plastic.
Footwear for the street comes off and footwear for the office goes on once the
commuters arrive at their destinations.
It was especially
interesting for us to see an approach to life embraced by the residents of
Amsterdam that is profoundly different from the lifestyle Betty and I enjoy in
our Southern city of roughly the same size. It can be a shock for many Americans
to see so many residents and visitors to Amsterdam smoking marijuana (the acrid
fumes boil out of open doors of the licensed “coffee houses,” where pot is
sold). Even more startling is the acceptance of the “in-your-face” displays of
sexual apparatus in storefronts on busy streets. But over the top are the
government-sanctioned brothels, where scantily-clad prostitutes show off their
mostly naked bodies to potential customers inspecting them through large,
picture windows.
Life is different in Amsterdam, to be sure. But
as Americans are frequently reminded by their hosts in Holland, the Dutch enjoy
significantly longer life spans, better health, less violent crime and an
overall prosperity that leaves very few people destitute.
Amsterdam is a crowded city of 700,000. Indeed,
The Netherlands is the most densely populated country in Europe. From
Amsterdam’s Central Train Station adjacent to the harbor, Amsterdam proper is
perhaps 3 miles across. In comparison,
Memphis – with a population of 650,000 in the city itself and 1 million
in the SMSA – is nearly 50 miles across at its widest and has not one but a
half-dozen or more “centers.” Modern Memphis is among the American cities that
grew up centuries after Europe’s medieval capitals took form. Most of the city
was built in the 20th Century when developers sent out networks of
roads to serve the desires of automobile-owning residents for single-family
homes. In Memphis, we have no public transport of consequence; bike lanes and
paths are woefully short in number and length.
Amsterdam is a vertical city, akin to Manhattan,
San Francisco and downtown Chicago. It has very few single story buildings and
some of the most expensive real estate prices in the world.
This makes it a pedestrian’s dream as well as a
cyclist’s paradise. Amsterdam’s narrow streets and paucity of parking discourage
private
auto traffic. Most residents walk or ride bikes. Sidewalks
are wide and well lighted. Bike paths and lanes are everywhere and well used.
Slow-moving canal taxies are available, but they are pretty much the preserve of
the tourists.
Amsterdam has 52 museums, ranging from several
great repositories of masterpieces (the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum), to
the historic (the Anne Frank House and the Historical Museum) to the repellent
(the Torture Museum and the Erotic Museum). There are lots of neat things to do
and see and we’re on our way.
March 11, 2005, Friday – Memphis to
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
We took up the kind offer of a friend and dear
lady in Betty’s Sunday school class, Rue Van Middlesworth, to drive us to the
airport. We left our home about 5 p.m. and, predictably found the lines to
Northwest’s International flights check-in counter to be long and slow moving.
Many schools begin their spring break today and quite a few school groups are
traveling.
Luckily, I had obtained our boarding passes the
previous evening on Northwest’s Internet website. It was quick and easy to scan
in the documents, show our passports to a clerk and hand-off our two, checked
bags at the special Internet check-in counter – no lines, no waiting.
The airlines and the Travel Security Administration are
trying hard to make travel as easy as possible, despite the security hassles.
Employees (at least those who have survived deep layoffs) seem to be friendlier
and more accommodating than ever.
Our non-stop flight on a Northwest DC-10 was
scheduled to begin boarding about 6:30 p.m. for a 7:25 p.m. departure. That gave
us plenty of time to eat some grilled chicken sandwiches in a waiting lounge
near the gate. The flight was oversold (aren’t they all these days?). There must
have been enough takers of $750 in cash plus a hotel room and meals in exchange
for rebooking on tomorrow’s flight since our plane took off on
time.
It was a long night for me. With a full plane,
it seemed the cramped economy-class seats were even tighter. The luggage bin
over our seats was full by the time we boarded, so we had to put our bags in a
forward compartment. We were glad Northwest flight attendants were aboard. They
were accommodating, chatty and quite nice – a stark contrast to the rigid
rudeness we had encountered several years ago aboard a KLM flight to Amsterdam.
We passed on the meal (choice of chicken or pasta) but took advantage of the
complimentary gin and wine. I was surprised Northwest didn’t charge for the
alcohol as they do on domestic flights.
Skimpy blankets and small pillows were provided
– an amenity beng discontinued on domestic flights beginning in April in yet
another cost-shaving move.
Betty nodded off for a while. I fidgeted and squirmed all
night, making for some very sore thigh muscles the next morning. The flight was
thankfully uneventful and fast. We arrived in Schipol Airport a little early
after 8 hours and 15 minutes in the air. We were told strong tailwinds took
about 45 minutes off the usual trip. One flight attendant said the
Memphis-Amsterdam flight often takes 11 hours and has taken as much as 13 and
even 14 hours coming back when headwinds are strong.
It took a maybe 15 minutes to taxi to the
terminal through the busy Schipol ground traffic. Somewhat confused by
sleeplessness and jet leg, it took us a while to fumble around and make our way
through Customs. The Dutch Customs agent was friendly and welcoming, as were
other airport employees. Nobody asked to inspect our luggage.
We didn’t tarry at Schipol, which is one of the
great airports of the world. It has 24 gateways to North America, including the
non-stop flight to Memphis. It serves 200 cities worldwide. It is 4 feet, 6
inches below sea level and a marvel of modern engineering. It was built on land
reclaimed from the North Sea and surrounded by dikes to keep the water out. The
airport offers an “old masters” branch of the national art museum, a casino,
massage services, showers, medical center and a huge selection of shopping,
eating and drinking facilities. Schipol is efficient, modern and amazingly
clean.
We
paid €7.40 (about $10) for two tickets to ride a modern, commuter train from the
airport to Amsterdam’s Central Station. We could have taken the KLM Hotel
Connection for €10 each, a van shuttle service that stops at major hotels. But
then we’d not have experienced the adventure of an elevated train, navigating
the cavernous Central Station and taking a short ride on a neat tram (cost of
€1.40 each to a stop near our hotel.)
If I had it to do over, I’d probably take the
shuttle or pay €30 for a taxi for the two of us. Dragging and carrying heavy
bags up stairs and over boarding platforms wasn’t easy – especially after a
long, sleepless night.
Checking into the Jolly Carlton (Jolly is the
name of an Italian chain of quality hotels across Europe) early was easy. The
four-star
hotel has 219, well equipped and air-conditioned rooms as
well as desk clerks who are professional, well-trained and English speaking. We
soon learned that most of the customer-contact personnel are either Italian,
Dutch or from Eastern European countries (Bosnia, Chechnya, Poland). The maids
are African.
The standard room that was part of our package
was well equipped but small by American standards. It would have been OK for a
night or two. But since we are here for six nights, we decided to spend another
€50 a day to upgrade to a large suite with a fabulous view. Our three-window,
bump out on the fifth floor is above the Floating Flower Market and a canal. The
clock of the massive Mint Tower is less than 100 feet from our window and at eye
level. Across the way is a busy convergence of several streets and light rail
lines. We can see from the window the historic, five-star Hotel de L’Europa,
another canal and many businesses including a McDonald’s across the
street.
Unlike four-star hotels in America I’ve stayed
at, the Carlton has no fitness center or ice/snack machines or insulated ice
containers. Persons wanting to mix their own drinks must call room service or
ask at the bar for a small bag of ice (provided at no charge). All rooms have
honor bars stocked with expensive drinks and snacks (a beer is €5 and
airline-sized bottle of liquor is €7). The bathroom is lined with marble tile,
has two sinks, a large tub/shower with towel heating coil on the wall, commode
(don’t flush while seated!) and a bidet. Towels are plush and there is a
generous supply of nice amenities. An electric pants presser is tucked away in a
closet.
The canal directly beneath our window is a
finger of the old Amstel River, which Dutch fishermen dammed up in the
13th Century. Their digging and piling up of earth created a pocket
of dry land on which the small village of “Amsteldamme” was built. The dam
divided the waterway, with one side opening to the harbor and the other side
opening to the river and its fingers. Canals were dug to a depth of 10 feet to
drain the land. A system of locks open and close with the tides to cleanse the
old Amstel River and the canals that flow into it and thus into the sea.
Over the centuries, many millions of wooden
pilings were driven into the marshy land on which Amsterdam sits. The Royal
Palace rests on 13,000 pilings – all of them about 350 years old. Following
World War II, concrete replaced wood. Today, foundations are driven down through
the mud and sand as much as 100 feet.
Today, Amsterdam has four main canals, which are
shaped like half circles that fan out around the city and open up to about 100
smaller, tributary canals – which are crossed by about 1,200 bridges. The
innermost
canal is the Sengel. One side of a quarter-mile long section
of the Sengel Canal hosts the Floating Flower Market, or “Bloemenmarkt” in
Dutch. Flowers, seeds and bulbs from around the world have been sold here for
more than 200 years. The glass-covered shops are built on barges and docks. The
festive market is a colorful delight and one of the most popular shopping and
photography sites in Amsterdam for both residents and tourists.
I don’t think there was a day that plant-maven
Betty didn’t poke around the flower shops, which also sell souvenirs. She bought
some tulips to brighten our hotel suite and also some bulbs not generally
available at Memphis garden stores including a pair of grapefruit-sized, white
Amaryllis bulbs from which giant flowers will bloom from forced potting. She
also purchased some Agapanthus (white African lily), Freesia, red Calla Lilly
and yellow and orange Tuberous Begonia bulbs to plant at home. She passed on a
huge variety of tulip bulbs because their season is over back in Memphis.
Special packaging with “certified” stickers are required for persons wanting to
bring tulip and other bulbs back into the U.S.
A cold rain was falling, but soon after checking
into the hotel we walked the length of the Floating Flower Market. I had a
takeout ham-and-cheese sandwich on crusty, brown bread along with a Coca Lite
(Diet Coke) for €7, about $10. We stopped at a grocery store across the street
to buy some soft drinks and cookies and saw attractive sandwiches offered at
half the price.
My left thigh was throbbing with a dull ache
from the long airplane ride in an uncomfortable seat. So I took an
anti-inflammatory and went
to bed for a much needed nap while Betty unpacked. It turned
out that we had over-packed “dressy” clothes. Amsterdam is a sweater, slicker
and jeans place. I only wore slacks
to sit-down restaurants.
We were disappointed in a room service Italian
pizza from the hotel restaurant. There was no red sauce on the thin, bread
crust. Just a dusting of cheese and gross slabs of zucchini and thick strips of
green, yellow and red peppers. I thought I was ordering a “pepperoni” pizza. The
Italian on the other end of the phone was really talking “peppori” pizza,
meaning peppers. We tossed the tasteless, half-eaten thing and walked across the
street to McDonalds. We had carryout Big-n-Tasty burgers, which were nearly
twice the size of the American version and double the price. A different variety
of cheese from that served back home made them quite good.
There are an amazing number – literally hundreds
– of clunky bicycles chained with heavy locks to the railings along the canal
and bridges beneath us. The rain and cold didn’t seem to slow down the cyclists
on their special bike lanes and paths. We saw one plastic-covered, rickshaw
style cycle that an enterprising Dutchman used to pedal around pairs of
tourists. The sleek, blue-and-white trams that moved speedily and quietly up and
down the busy Vijzelstratt (a main drag that goes by our hotel) are most
impressive.
Continue With Next Trip
Segment / Return To Nolan Travels Home
Page
