Day 2 - Round and Round She Goes

                       Moi sporting the t-shirt I made to wear in Amsterdam.

                                Amsterdam Central Train Station

I take a five minute bus ride into the city.  The bus stops at Amsterdam Central train station.  Today, my only goal was to buy an I Amsterdam card.  It's a card that gets you into over 70 of the main attractions in A'dam.  It also covers the cost and eliminates having to buy bus or tram tickets.  A five day card was around $170.  If you add up the individual admission prices and bus ticket prices, you'll have saved a lot of money buying the card.

After walking around the city for over an hour looking for the I Amsterdam store, I found it.  Where?  Back at the train station.  Google Maps wasn't my friend.  Always one to find a silver lining, I walked through a pedistrian passage (three flipping times because Google was trying to get me where I wanted to go) that was covered in tile from floor to ceiling.  A sea ship was painted on the Delft blue looking tiles to look like it was sailing on the seas.  I wouldn't ever have found it had it not been for being lost.

Once I got the I Amsterdam card, I headed for a bathroom.  Nothing exciting there until I walked out.  Right across from the bathroom is a restaurant called Wagamama.  I had only been to one of these restaurants years back when I was in London, England.  I never forgot how good the food was.  So today there was no way I wasn't having dinner there.  It was 4:30 so what the heck.  The restaurant serves Asian food inspried by the flavours of Japan.  I was not disappointed.  It taste the same as I remembered.  Get ready for a bit of food porn!

                                                       Chicken Gyoza

Chicken Katsu (breaded) and rice.  The bowl you see was the curry sauce that is usually on the chicken.  I got it on the side.  Good thing too.  It was not to my taste.

With din din out of the way and it being 5 pm, I decided to walk around the main part of A'dam (looking at me talking like a local).  Most tourist attractions close at 5 so why not roam and get the lay of the land?

I always look for ways to get off the beaten track.  Less people.  Today was no different.  Every time I saw a small alley, I took it.  I was so pleased I did.  The first alley was called Mandenmakersteeg (Basket Weavers' Alley).  Starting in the 17th century it was called this due to the large number of basket weavers who lived here.  Wicker baskets were sold at the market on the Damrak (main street of Amsterdam).  The baskets were made from willow withies, reed and rushes and were used for various purposes from baskets with handles for transporting purchases to baskets containing tin holders for glowing coals that were used for providing heat.  Basket weavers were very versatile artisans.

                                           Mandenmakersteeg (today)

Marretje Arents (1708-1748) lived here in Mandenmakersteeg with her four children.  She had to fend for herself as her husband had left for Asia on the ship, De Geregtigheijt, in 1746.  Marretje supported herself and her four children by selling limes, plaice (a North Atlantic flatfish) and herring which is why she was known as the "limoenwijf" (lime woman).  She became famous and, indeed, infamous for her participation in the Pachtersporoer, the tax rebellion of 1748 during which the homes of various tax collectors were plundered.  Marretje was one of the instigators and leaders.  She was arrested and sentenced to death by hanging.  On Friday June 28, 1748 the sentence was carried out.  Riots broke out on the main square but it was too late to help Marretje.  Her children were admitted to the orphanage that very same day.

Just think about how many times you may have gone down an alley and don't realize the history that may have taken place.

Alley number two did not have me guessing what I would find there.  It wasn't anything to do with long ago.  I took one breath in and had the answer.  The only decision one had to make in this alley was which one of the many Coffee Shops to go into.  Here you can order different blends of cannabis, roll it or buy it in cigarette form and light up.  In 1970s,  Amsterdam cannabis was actually bought in coffee shops or living rooms where you could also drink coffee.  In everyday language these places were called coffee shops.  Because of the policy of tolerance, they were able to go public with their "menu".  It's just like the word cafe. 

So off I go to join the crowd of people again.  No idea where I'm going but I hear music so decide to follow and find out who is playing it.  I walk out into the open and find myself in Dam square which is the town square in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands.  Here you find the Royal Palace and Nieuwe Kerk (church) as well as Madam Tussauds Wax Museum.  Amsterdam is famous for kiosks that sell hotdogs.  I will try one before I leave.  Oh and during the thirteenth century, this spot is where the first dam on the Amstel River was built, thus its name.  I wanted to post a video of the square and the music playing in the background but Blogspot doesn't have the ability to do it using their app.  So pictures will have to do.

Pigeon feeding was almost like a contest for who could get a pigeon to sit on a outstretched arm.  Can you imagine!!!

I leave the square am walking back toward the train station and notice a beautiful passage.  It looked like something out of a museum.  The passage is call De Beurspassage.  It was renovated in 2016 as part of a program to improve the entrance area to the center of Amsterdam.  It certainly did that in spades.

The passageway is a 50 meter long shopping passage with colourful tiled walls, terazzo floors and a vaulted ceiling inlaid with mosaics and artworks by Arno Coenen, Iris Roskam and Han Bentem.  The hundreds of thousands of mosaic tiles depict what the artist believe the underwater world of Amsterdam's canals look like with rats, fish, bicycles seemingly floating over your head, illuminated by chandeliers.  You know the saying "Curiousity killed the cat."?  One of the pieces of art was a fish with its mouth open.  The inside of the mouth was lit up by a red light.  I wondered what is was so stuck my hand in the mouth to see what would happen.  The light turned blue and water spurted out.  I yanked my hand back.  I later learned that the fish is actually a water fountain.  You can fill your bottle or cup with water.  The water is safe to drink.

I watched people go into a building with one of those doors that go around in a circle.  You jump into the space and walk until you're in the building.  Decided I go check it out.  The building is part of a chain of high end department stores.  The chain is owned by Selfridges (Remember that show on TV?) Group which also owns Britain's Selfridges and Ireland's Brown Thomas and Arnotts.  One didn't have to be genious to figure out all you could do is sniff the smell coming from the Louis Vuitton and Prada stores.  What shocked me the most was the line up of people waiting to go into the Louis Vuitton store.  I was really tempted to interview people in the line up to ask what they did for a living to be able to afford Louis Vuitton.  I wish these next pictures were scratch and sniff so you could experience the smell of money!

                           People waiting to go into the Louis Vitton store.

                                                  Not so busy here.

Now back to reality.  As a kid in Germany, there were rest stops that the American Forces had set up.  You could buy food from vending machines and heat it up in a microwave.  This was back in the 60's.  A microwave was space age.  I came across a store that had food vending machines.  Of course, I went inside to take pictures.  For old times sake, of course!

When I was looking for the I Amsterdam store, I walked past a cheese shop that had a pair of large wooden shoes in front of it.  I actually walked by that store three times.  The third time, however, I had my city card so I decided to ask someone to take a picture of me in the shoes.  I think they match my outfit rather well!

Damrak street is saturated in souvenir shops.  You can find everything that is Netherland themed.  I saw baskets and baskets of pretty wooden tulips in all sizes.  I didn't cave and buy any.  It's too early to start buying souvies.  I did takes pictures.  Aren't they pretty?

There was a line up a mile long well really long all three times (notice a pattern here) I walked by a place that sold french fries.  The last time I walked by I stopped and asked two people who had the fries if they were the best fries they had ever eaten.  They both answered yes.  Two Americans in the line up stopped me.  They said they asked people the same thing and were told yes.  I didn't line up.  Maybe I'll try it before I leave.

The words on the sign translate to Mannekenpis "Fresh Flemish Fries".  Huh?  I get it now.  We call fries French.  In Dutch they are often called Flemish.  Well now we know!

The line up for fries!

Today's discovery of something from North America besides McDonald's - Dunkin Donuts.

With all the walking, I discovered there are a few hundred MILLION bikes in Amsterdam.  They own the road.  Every corner you go around, there is a hundred bicycle racks even under bridges.  They are everywhere in all different shapes and sizes.  You know, I get nervous when I have to drive a car in a strange city.  Riding a bike would be just as bad if not worse.  Too many of those on the bike roads.  Oh and they drive their motorized scooters on the bike paths too!

I bought a pizza from this store tonight.  I said no tomatoes.  Got the pizza home.  All that was on it was cheese and the toppings.  Guess they don't use pizza sauce here.

I think Blogspot is tired from the workout tonight.  For some unknown reason everything I type is being centered.  That's my que to say goodnight.

Today's step count = 18,893