Checking in for a promising gest...

Godentag. Me Too!

Looking forward to reading about your avonturen.

I'm definitely checking back on this TR.

Nukesafe - what language is that???

Hoi Daniel, ik ben ook benieuwd. Vertel! Vertel!

**Using my Dutch Throughout Holland: What Actually Happened…**

What I’m going to write here is going to go against the grain of conventional wisdom regarding this subject. About 80% of the time when I would speak to people throughout the country in Dutch, locals would speak back to me in Dutch! Many that I met were remarkably ENcouraging, not DIScouraging of my efforts. I was also incredibly lucky in that my Haarlem B&B hostess knew I wanted to practice and consequently would only lapse into her excellent English when I couldn’t understand what she was saying after a few tries.

Ultimately, however, I *do* think the conventional wisdom does hold true in that one needs to reach a certain linguistic threshold for the Dutch to not immediately switch to English upon being spoken to. Where that threshold is, I can’t exactly say, but a week or two of learning some expressions in a Berlitz book prior to a trip I do believe is most insufficient.

Pronunciation of words I think was a major key, knowing how and when to say the long vs. short vowels and knowing the sometimes-quite-different-from-English sounds of consonants, consonant clusters and vowel clusters. If you don’t learn to pronounce words correctly, people simply can’t begin to understand you. For example, for my first two museums in Holland, saying only “een volwassene alsjeblieft” (one adult (ticket) please), I couldn’t understand why the cashiers would immediately switch to English or would look at me perplexed. And then I realized that I’d used the LONG vowel for the A (like the A in Attic) in the word “volwassene” when the A required the SHORT vowel A (which is a bit like the O in Off). Every time after I’d discovered my long vowel error and would state those simple three words in a museum, I was spoken back to in Dutch.

Certainly, grappling with present, past, future and conditional tenses enriched my conversational ability. (Past is particularly challenging by the way, lots of exasperating irregular verb forms. In defence of the Dutch, we really *are* as bad in English though… think thought catch caught seek sought go went see saw etc etc…) I found knowing how to pluralize and what is meant by “declining” adjectives (and knowing when you “decline”) also quite valuable. I think my relative success is a testament to the quality & approach of the Living Language series.

**Proud Moments**

While I was in a charming pub “de Blaffende Vis” (the Barking Fish) in the Jordaan, some 20-something guys asked in Dutch something relating to whether the table next to me was available or not. I somehow managed to spit out “er..ze zijn vertrokken” (“they left”) and they said “ahhh ze zijn vertrokken!”. Now, while saying “they left” might seem like a pretty pathetic victory to you, it was an enormous victory for me (LOL); I must have been happy for a good half-hour over that one. The verb “to leave” is “vertrekken” in Dutch. In a common past tense form, one very commonly uses the form “hebben + ge+root+t (or d)”; this means if I’d been bad and used the common form I would have said “ze hebben gevertrekt” which probably sounds like “they been leaved” or worse. But instead I remembered every single irregular thing about the verb “to leave” in the past tense and was understood! Hooray! I’m even happy just remembering that moment!

I also was proud how my confidence generally improved as the trip progressed. While I was too shy to request my meals and drinks in Dutch on the KLM flight to Amsterdam, it was only after a few days in Haarlem before I ordered in Dutch without worrying in restaurants. First time renting a bike, I did it all in English as I thought I wouldn’t be able to handle the sorts of things they might ask. The second time I went to rent a bike (of course this time I knew the routine, which helps), I did the interaction exclusively in Dutch “ik zou ‘n fiets met handremmen willen verhuren, alsjeblieft” (“I want to rent a bike with handbrakes, please”) and the teenager told me at the end of our exchange that he thought I spoke Dutch well! He may have just been polite, but it felt rewarding.

Equally proud moment when I perfectly followed the directions given by the hotel clerk to his favorite Indonesian restaurant (multiple steps too!: left by the police station, over a bridge, past two stoplights and a left on Bilderdijkstraat!) .

**Not-So-Proud Moments**

I tended to do reasonably well placing my order in a restaurant or café and understanding prices spoken back to me. What would throw me off sometimes is the barrage of questions one periodically gets asked in this day & age. I tried to foresee these, but sometimes I just wouldn’t understand anything that had been said. And my first several days, what would I do? Would I say “kan je het langzamer zeggen?” (can you say it more slowly?) or “ik heb je niet begrepen” (I didn’t understand ) or even “kan je het in engels zeggen?” (can you say it in English?) as a quick thinking person would do? No, no, no. What I did instead was just stand there for several painfully awkward seconds as if rendered dumb, mouth slightly contorted grasping as if scrambling to find some ilk of meaning, eyes wide, blink blink blink and the servers would just look at me. English thankfully would usually ensue in these apoplectic moments .

My B&B hostess was remarkably patient when I would muck up the grammar (I’d smile at the end of these sentences, because I *knew* I’d mucked it up) or when I would wend my way through a sentence sometimes in an excruciating, belaboured fashion. For example, my poor B&B hostess quite graciously suffered through my stammering when I realized mid-sentence that I’d forgotten to place the verb at the end of a sentence when I should have. Despite this, she & I had some delightful discussions but I was not proud of some of my sentence structures.

**Next: Was It Worth It to Learn Dutch?**

Dutch is not “required” for a visit to Holland. In the restaurants of the Leidseplein Amsterdam, I almost felt it could have been West End London, so much did English seem to predominate there; it surprised me that service staff would interact with customers in English *first* in these locations. When I arrived at Schiphol airport, I was amazed how many store/instructional signs were in English only, which was a fascinating contrast with the French-English dynamic in Montreal. So, ultimately, many can & do have a terrific visit without a word of Dutch, taking in the terrific museums, enjoying the Indonesian rijstafel and meandering the often picturesque streets. But a part of me, having dabbled in this historic tongue, wonders if visitors aren’t missing out on a fascinating aspect of their chosen destination by not learning even an iota of the language. Most people I noticed visiting Holland (Amsterdam particularly), regardless of their language of origin, did not seem to have learned a single word of Dutch. Not “good morning”, not “thank you”, nothing.

Do I think Dutch people were appreciative of my efforts? I don’t know truthfully if anyone felt one way or another, although as I mentioned quite a number were encouraging. I think a few found it interesting and in some cases surprising that I’d chosen to learn the language.

Did I think trying out my Dutch improved social interchanges there? In some ways, yes, in some ways, no. I think when I was muddling through grammatical structures or too shy to speak, my attempts in Dutch were not especially helpful. On the other hand, sometimes when a few sentences flowed out well in the right context, my learning Dutch was a conversation starter.

In the end, I was glad to have learned Dutch as I felt it gave me some insight into the countrymen that I would not have gotten otherwise. Into their daily expressions, the sometimes creative back & forth. As an example, I think about the breakfast server at my hotel in Amsterdam, who spoke English with all the guests in a polite and formal fashion. However, when he spoke Dutch with me, I found a playful humor appeared that I never would have imagined or observed otherwise.

One final thing: despite the year or so of intense study, more than anything what left me overwhelmed is how immensely rich the vocabulary is in the Dutch language. The Living Language book completed was indeed the tip of the iceberg... while I got better at reading signs on the streets as the days progressed, looking at the Volkskrant newspaper that my B&B hostess left out each morning, so many sentences had words I didn’t know.

**Coming Up: Haarlem Was My Base For 7 Out of 10 Days. Was I Glad to Have Chosen It?**

You seem to have done very well. Now you have to keep speaking it or you will forget it. Try going to another area next time - with completely different accents and dialects just to confuse you further .
When you dream in Dutch you know you have "got" it .

well, kudos to you Daniel for attempting this, and also for your trip report. your approach is refreshing and very readable.

thanks!

bardo, nukesafe, mathieu, tarquin-- Thanks for checking in!

annhig-- thanks for your comments as well as your advice planning this trip!

hetismij-- "benieuwd"... I love it; that was one of the words I learned this trip! It's funny you mention the importance that I "keep speaking" as I felt kind of sad when I wished the KLM stewardess "heb je een fijne dag" when disembarking the plane in Montreal. I thought when am I going to find the opportunity to use my Dutch next?

Actually if you don't leave it too long much of it will come back to you next time you come, especially if you keep reading it - www volkskrant.nl for instance.

My brother learnt Dutch just for the sake of learning (yet) another language, long before we moved here, and he copes quite well even though he'd never actually used it before we came here.

Hetismij2, that was meant to be "Good Day" in Dutch. It has been so many years since the winter I lived in Amsterdam, I turned to Google to be sure, and that is what came up. Actually, I only remember saying, "Tag" as a greeting when meeting friends.

actually Daniel, we were in Holland just before you i think, and it is one of the few places [in Europe] where i don't experience a strong desire to learn the language, because virtually everybody you meet as a tourist speaks some english, and most speak almost perfectly. for example there was a lad on reception in our hotel in Maastricht who i could have sworn WAS english, until i used a colloquial expression he didn't understand, and he was by no means the only one.

so even though I will take absolutely any opportunity to practice my German/French/Italian, I feel that there is simply no point trying to speak more than the odd word of dutch.

which is why I admire you so much for your determination in learning and practising your dutch.

nukesafe - tag is German - it is dag in Dutch.

Goededag is what you meant to say, though Ducth people tend to specify the time of day rather than using just god day - so they will say goedemorgen - good morning (or more usually just Morgen) same with middag avond and nacht. Goedenavond is also said when you leave in the evening, whereas dag - or daag! is both hello and goodbye. The intonation tends to tell you which it is.
It also tends to become goeiemorgen so the d isn't sounded. They are very good at "swallowing" certain sounds.

Hetismij-- Thanks for the goeJemorgen explanation! My B&B hostess said it that way when she brought my breakfast; I’d say “goeDemorgen” back typically as I wasn’t sure if it was a speech impediment or a Haarlemmer dialect. Also, I noticed that on the “vous/tu” post you wrote that one should use “U” until invited, but it seemed I was never “alstublieft”ed but always “alsjeblieft”ed; I pretty well exclusively used the “jij/je” with people after listening to my hostess’s advice to use only with older people (she was in her 60s and seemed to want me to “je/jij” her, so I gathered she meant maybe late 70s or more?) or formal situations. This is kind of like in Quebec; rare are the occasions one uses other than “tu” for an individual “you” these days, so I pretty much did as I do here… let’s hope I didn’t offend anyone!

**Haarlem as a Base**

I think Haarlem is as easy as Amsterdam from Schiphol Airport, with the Zuidtangent 300 bus for 4 Euro leaving frequently and making stops in Haarlem Centrum and Haarlem Train Station. I also was incredibly lucky that my B&B in Haarlem by Sint Bavo’s Cathedral was 2 minutes walk from #80 bus stop, whose terminus was 4 minutes walk from my hotel in Amsterdam on the weekend!

Well, Haarlem was a lovely base, with narrow streets, flowerbox-ridden nooks & crannies, appealing architecture and canals. The Grote Markt and the Botermarkt were delightful public squares where I enjoyed sitting, having a coffee or beer and listening to Dutch conversations around me, while admiring the almost story-book-like ambience.

As far as things to do are concerned beyond general exploration, the Grote Kerk was my favorite tourist site. I couldn’t believe how beautiful the painted and sculpture-surrounded organ inside was and even more so, that Mozart and Handel had played on the very instrument my eyes were observing. I equally enjoyed the portraiture at the Frans Hals museum of 17th century Haarlemmers, kicking myself that I rushed through unnecessarily (I’d taken too long a nap and arrived at 4pm; I’d heard a chime go 5 times, so I assumed it was closing…hurried to the exit and saw on a clock after I’d left the building that I actually had another half-hour until closing).

To get exercise on two separate days, I rented a bike nearby the train station in Haarlem. This was a definite highlight of my trip… since from Haarlem with a pleasing amount of exertion one can reach some nearby North Sea beaches. One day I took something known as the “Parnassiaroute”, a surprisingly scenic “fietspad” (bike path) through the Kennemerduinen… with gorgeous, rolling dune land that reminded me more of Cape Cod than what one thinks of as Netherlands scenery. I loved watching the bulls sitting in the water in the distance as I’d cycle. At the end of the path is Parnassia Strand in the National Park, with a self-serve restaurant/café (with surprisingly healthy food options!) that overlooks the beach and sea! The second day, I thought I’d check out the beach at Zandvoort aan Zee for lunch, but this latter spot seemed more honkytonk boardwalky, so I ended up returning to the café at Parnassiastrand that was so peaceful & idyllic to me.

Some friends advised against my staying in Haarlem, stating that I’d be bored staying 7 days there. They were wrong on that account not only because of the cycling & day trip opportunities, but perhaps in part since they underestimated my commitment to improving my Dutch. On evenings I felt a little restless, I would walk around with my “VanDale Woordenboek” & play a game of finding words I didn’t know in Dutch on signs and looking them up, so as to improve my vocabulary. I’m sure more than a few Haarlemmers found it weird that some guy would spend minutes looking at signs like “vergunning houders” (“permit holders”) for parking.

Perhaps my friends were thinking that there’d be nothing going on in the evening since restaurants/cafés on the main streets like the Grote Houtstraat closed up shop early? While certain streets indeed did become remarkably quiet after 6pm, pockets of activity remained alive in the later hours. I always found somewhere good to eat (Indonesian or Surinaams restaurants near the train station tended to be my choice) and a place to have an evening beer. Wilson’s, a Gay bar I went to on the Gedempte Raamstraat, had only 3 customers on the weekday night that I went. However, in some ways, having so few around was better, as the barman and clients and myself shared an enjoyable international conversation (barman Dutch, two customers German, Polish and moi Canadian), exchanging life experiences. I’m certain there was far more conversation and real exchange of thoughts & ideas than if I’d been alone in a jam-packed bar on a Saturday night. There, as at another live music/drinking/eating spot “Storing” on Tempeliersstraat, there was a certain amount of sociable “gezelligheid” (coziness) at the night spots that I appreciated.

**To come: Amsterdam: I was very undecided as to whether I liked the international city or not the first few days. I did come to a decision. What was it?**

I've never been to The Netherlands, but your report is very enjoyable, it's so nice to read someone who's actually keen to learn and practice a language instead of going "what's the point?"

I can absolutely relate to the gaping fish moments, well put! One of the proud language moments that still sticks with me 5 years later is being asked for directions in Prague in Czech AND being able to provide them, really made me feel like a local (even though it was only "where is x street", "over there"). It's the little things!

I too am recently back from Amsterdam and have realised with embarrassment that I did not say even thank you or good day in Dutch. At one point long ago I embarked on learning Dutch but found the language tapes beyond my resolve, but next time I will at least use the polite minimum!

Before I get to my impressions of Amsterdam, I thought I’d mention the two non-cycling day trips I did out of Haarlem, Den Haag and Delft. From Haarlem station, nothing was easier than getting a round trip ticket “een dagretour naar Den Haag alsjeblieft!” to Den Haag Centraal or Delft. Direct trains were at least every half hour to both towns.

**Den Haag**

Den Haag (The Hague) feels tall and utilitarian compared to Haarlem as you first walk out of Den Haag Centraal train station. On first sight I was thinking, ok, this is not the most charming-looking place, but that’s fine because I’m going to see the Mauritshuis, with the work of the Dutch Masters! *Caveat Emptor* You can imagine my disappointment when I discovered that the MAURITSHUIS was CLOSED due to renovations!

As it turned out though, while the area near the train station was modern and not particularly captivating, the central square (Plein) near the Mauritshuis had some charming outdoor seating. Ultimately however, it was when I saw the Binnenhof, home of legislative activity in the Netherlands and the Queen’s yearly speech at the impressive turreted Ridderzaal, that my gladness to have visited Den Haag was cemented as the Binnenhof was one of the most regal, awe-inspiring public squares that I’ve ever seen. It was here that my perception of the country was nuanced… or better stated, I was reminded of something that I knew on some level but seeing buildings first-hand jolted ideas to the forefront of my mind. While I have this tendency to think of the Netherlands as this peaceful, charming northern European nation, the grandeur of the Binnenhof reminded me that the Netherlands has been a power, with extensive colonies and winning decisive battles against the English and Spanish.

Given that the Mauritshuis was closed, I opted to go to the Museum Escher in Het Paleis instead. I’d seen Escher prints before, so it was lower down on my priority list… and after going, I can say I should have prioritized it higher! Well, not only was it fantastic to see an extensive collection of Maurits Cornelis Escher’s unique artistic, mathematics-inspired genius first-hand with accompanying explanations describing the method behind his technique, but interesting from another unrelated historic vantage point, as each room of the museum was also a room in the former home of Koningin Moeder (“Queen Mother” ) Emma! In fact, I wondered how the Koningin Moeder (d. 1934) would have felt about my snarfing down a Ham-Kaas sandwich in the café downstairs in HER home .

Leaving the Escher Museum, the paths in an adjacent park had some fantastic modern sculptures (bus built out of wire, man made from soil/clay). It was a long walk to the Vredespaleis (I’m embarrassed to say that not knowing what I was looking for and getting a little lost, I for about 15 minutes thought the “Peace Palace” was a handsomely built high school several blocks away), the grand turreted building with stately, flower-filled grounds where the trials of Slobodan Milosevic took place.

All-in-all, the Binnenhof and the Escher Museum combined with the joy of discovering generally made me glad that I had chosen to spend a day in The Hague.

**Delft: Over-rated?**

gwan-- I'm impressed that you were able to give directions in Czech! One reason I thought tackling Dutch would be possible/worthwhile is I felt there was a lot I could latch my brain on to; words similar to English, French and (my one semester's worth of) German. Slavic languages intimidate me as I feel I'd be starting from scratch.
tarquin-- "Dank je wel" ("Thank you") for reading!

Daniel - we stayed in Delft for 3 nights on our recent trip so I'm interested to read what you thought of it from a day-trippers point of view; from the point of view of someone who wants somewhere to stay in that area, it was very good, with plenty of cafes, shops and restaurants, as well as some interesting buildings and museums.

I actually think that Haarlem would have been more convenient for where we wanted to go, but as we couldn't find any suitable accommodation, Delft made a reasonable 2nd choice.

Daniel - I already had a couple of years of Russian before going to Prague, so that helped. Slavic languages were an uphill battle for me compared with French, but the good thing is, with a little extra effort, I've made a reasonable stab at basic Czech, Polish and Ukrainian while travelling in those countries. Reading Cyrillic seems tricky but is actually quite straightforward with a bit of practice and it never fails to impress people if you're able to read the label on a bottle of imported vodka or whatever I'm particularly impressed that you did so well from CDs and so forth and that you didn't give up on your dream!

**Day Trip to Delft**

Well, no, I didn’t feel Delft was “over-rated”. I’m not even sure what “over-rated” actually means (“over-rated” to whom? Compared to what?). That “over-rated” business in the last post was just a teaser to get you to keep reading.

The construction around the unprepossessing train station is deceiving; once in it, Delft does look like something out of a fairy tale. The leaning Oude Kerk clock tower, the small bridges crossing canals with buildings abutting the canals, the picturesque central square…to me, it seemed that some character out of the Brothers Grimm stories (Rumpelstiltskin?) should be walking down the street rather than the girl I saw blabbing away on her I-phone while cycling.

Museum Prinsenhof/Sint-Agathaklooster was my favourite spot in the city. This “favourite” status came not only from the charm of how to access it (through a narrow arched red-brick passageway in the shadow of the grand steeples of the Oude Kerk) and its architectural beauty, but also from its being highly well-done museum, outlining to me better than any other how and why the Netherlands acceded to nationhood after many years of Spanish rule. Once I realized the magnitude of where I was exactly, I couldn’t believe that I was standing in the home and in fact the exact stairwell/chamber where William van Oranje, a “founding father” of the Netherlands in a way, was shot by his supposed friend but actually double-agent Balthasar Gerards! In addition to having terrific portraits of major players in the years of accession and beginning of nationhood (that Hertog van Alva (Duke of Alba) aka “the Butcher of Flanders” looked like a villain right out of a Hollywood movie), the museum also has a sizeable collection of artwork by Delft Masters from the Golden Age (17th century) of Dutch Art.

Other than that, I enjoyed whiling away ¾ of an hour having my lunch/sipping my beer in the picturesque main square immediately adjacent the Nieuwe Kerk, whose chime is really quite something. Tours of the Oude & Nieuwe Kerk ensued, spacious with handsome organs but quite minimalist churches compared to others I’ve seen. Johannes Vermeer has a humble headstone with nary a few words in the former and William van Oranje has a handsome statuary-surrounded mausoleum in the other. I must say, I do find it grossly unfair to think that Vermeer died a pauper, while plenty seemed to have obtained dough profiting *after* off his name & works. Speaking of which, the Vermeercentrum was my last stop in Delft, where I spent an hour-and-a-half admiring reproductions of his works & explanations of his style and was carried away by his genius to a glimmer of how life was in the Gouden Eeuw (Golden Age).

**Amsterdam: Yay or Nay?**

Daniel -your excellent trip report and description of the treasures of Delft drags a confession out of me - of all the places you mention, the only one we visited was the Nieuwe Kerk [thanks for the spelling] which we popped into on our first evening there, and again on the day we were leaving because they had the only shop where we could buy proper delft blue cereal bowls.

we walked round it quite a lot in the evenings, dodging the bikes, but never had/made the tome to see what you did.

we liked it a lot, though!

Daniel, i wrote on your toronto thread not realizing you were in nederlands! when i was on a post grad fellowship, years ago i had a dutch penpal. his written english was better than mine. i was living in the usa then and i joked that if the dutch hadn't "sold' nieuw amsterdam to the english, americans would be speaking dutch. ( at the time my frind jos spoke dutch, french german and italian in addition to english)

i stayed w/ him and his then partner twice on that trip and on the second occasion he and i bicycled from amsterdam to maastrict where he was from so i could meet his father and see the harpsichord he ( jos) was building in his father's attic.

i am sorry i didn't know you were travelling to nederlands; i would have offered to give you a contact info. jos and his current partner live mainly on a 17th C farm near amersfoort and keep an apartment in amsterdam. jos is a professor of human resource management @leiden and his partner is a celebrated contemporary painter.

the Mauritshuis is worth returning to see the wonderful works contained within.

kudos to you for learning some dutch. somewhat sadly are gone the days when learning a language was not only a courtesy, but a necessity of survival( if i hadn't learned some french on my bicycle ride from avignon to paris in the '70's i would have starved!)

i hope you and your parents enjoy your time in toronto. yes the ago is wonderful. it was closed for the gehry addition during my first visit to toronto a few years back.

cheers
AndrewDavid

**Amsterdam**

OK, so Amsterdam. From Haarlem for only 2 euro 90, I caught the #80 bus to Marnixstraat, which dropped me off about three blocks from the Freeland Hotel in the Leidseplein where I was staying.

For the first two days, as I explored the Leidseplein, Museumplein and the Old Centrum, I truly wasn’t sure what to think of Amsterdam. On the one hand, I was blown away or enormously moved by the museums: the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh, Rembrandthuis, Anne Frankhuis. I certainly appreciated the historic churches, canals and buildings, as well seeing people out enjoying themselves in Vondel Park. On the other hand, at times, the honky-tonk and the crowds of seemingly generic tourist throngs in these areas exploring the same chain stores as everywhere left me a bit cold. I also felt like I could have been in London or New York such was the predominance of English as I was exploring. Sure, the buildings by the canals, the bicyclists and trams made it clear one was not in the aforementioned cities, but I suppose I was disappointed since I wanted Amsterdam to “feel” more “different” somehow than it did from certain other cities I’ve been to and I just wasn’t getting that.

**Rijkmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Anne Frank House, Rembrandthuis, Oude/Nieuwe Kerk**

Wow, the Gouden Eeuw, the Golden Age of Dutch painters; what brilliance emerged in the years following independence from Spanish rule. I’ve discovered that I love museums that make me feel woefully ignorant… and the Rijksmuseum was one of these places. Sure, I’d heard of Rembrandt and Vermeer, but did I know much beyond the most famous like “the Girl with the Pearl Earring”? And how many less celebrated artists had I never heard of before, like Pieter de Hooch, Hendrick Avercamp, Adriaen de Verstade, Jan Steen, Gerard Ter Borch, Jan Both, Pieter Saenredam, Bartholomeus van der Helst, etc… who equally captivated me with their portrayals of 17th century life! Loved it…so lost track of time there, before I knew it, it was closing time.

I wasn’t sure that I was going to like the Van Gogh Museum as much as the Rijksmuseum, with the focus being on one particular artist. But no, here I found myself holding back tears after admiring & learning about his oeuvre, upon reading that Vincent declared (when leaving the Saint-Rémy asylum where he felt much boredom & sorrow) in 1889 that his life was a failure. And to think that some 120-odd years later, on a random Sunday that hundreds of people would wait hours huddled under umbrellas in the pouring rain for the opportunity to enter a museum with his name and glimpse his original work if only for a moment (with others crowding in front, behind, left, right). Like with Vermeer, I question the fairness of life, wondering if the “Van Gogh Museum” makes more in a day than Vincent Van Gogh earned in a year… And unbelievable to think that such a prolific artist for whom the bulk of his paintings were done during the ten-year period between 1880 and 1890, could imagine himself a failure! Makes me think, what have *I* done in the last 10 years!

On the same day as the Van Gogh Museum, I almost thought I’d run out of time to go to the Anne Frank House my final day in Amsterdam, but one useful thing to know about this locale, is that unlike many museums in Holland that close at 5pm, the Anne Frank House is sometimes open until 9 or 10 pm in the summer. Here, I was especially glad of my Dutch-learning efforts, as I was able to read the words of the pages from the original diary in the language in which Anne Frank wrote, rather than a translated version. I was moved to tears upon reading that she would even pray a little in German, just to be polite.

Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn stands in marked contrast to some of his Golden Age painter counterparts in that he seemed to earn a decent living through his talents, at times (although…it seems he went into debt or bankruptcy and had to sell the house/studio). The Rembrandthuis was indicative of this, as he had numerous students training under him at his studio here and his collector’s items from around the world (African shield, exotic shells) were indicative of a fair amount of capital. Do be aware though that a lot of paintings here while in many cases excellent, are those of his students… the engravings upstairs were by Rembrandt apparently. Apparently, it’s a bit of challenge in some cases to know if something actually was by Rembrandt, as his pupils would sometimes sign their work “Rembrandt”. I was glad I stopped in this interesting museum.

The theme in many churches in Holland seems to be tall ceilings creating a sense of open space, a handsome organ, but quite minimalist. I think some that are used to the opulence of some churches (e.g., Catedral Metropolitana in Mexico City) might find the minimalism disappointing or surprising. I however was glad to have entered the Oude Kerk and Nieuwe Kerk, if only for their insights into the history of Amsterdam.

**Coming up: So, that’s fine. You appreciated the museums and history of Amsterdam, Daniel Williams. But did you decide that you liked Amsterdam or not?**

**Final thoughts on Amsterdam**
Well, after visiting the Van Gogh Museum and taking a nap on my third & last full day in Amsterdam, I decided I would check out the Jordaan neighbourhood, clicking photos of the Westerkerk and the poignant Homomonument. Arriving in the vicinity of the Westerkerk around 6pm, I thought I’d be too late to see the Anne Frankhuis, but as mentioned in the previous post, it was still open.

Well, walking around the Jordaan, I ended up in the pub “De Blaffende Vis”. Unlike in the restaurants of the Leidseplein or the cafes of the Centrum, the main language of communication seemed to be Dutch. I noticed as I passed a number of spots in the Jordaan, that there was a cheery neighbourliness in interactions. Here, I felt charmed by what seemed to be kind of joyous camaraderie as people watched the EK (European Championship soccer). Sitting by myself, drinking my beer, eating my biefstuk met groentjes while perusing my Anne Frank guidebook, I’d noticed that a perfectly pleasant-seeming fellow who passed me had eyed me in a friendly way. I was a bit taken aback when as I was leaving the pub that he invited me to join him for a drink at his table! I can’t think that this has *ever* happened to me in North America. I declined stating I was sleepy, but honestly I think it was a mix of not wanting a *third* beer, perhaps a bit of malaise on my part not being accustomed to such a thing. A part of me regretted and wished I’d stayed for a drink; it might have been a nice conversation!

Ultimately, walking around the Jordaan, I realized that I very much liked the energy of this part of town. I felt like I’d discovered a real neighbourhood, rather than a mass of buildings with no soul. There, and only there of what I saw in Amsterdam, I felt like I’d discovered a part of the city I might actually want to live in. It made me think, maybe Amsterdam would be kind of like Montreal, a city I love but yet don’t love all the neighbourhoods (in Montreal, I love the Plateau, but Crescent Street/Downtown not so much). Thanks to that last night in the Jordaan, I felt a desire to go back to Amsterdam, something I had not felt my first two days in the city.

Happy travels! Daniel

Daniel, I concur about the Jordaan. It is not only almost all beautiful, but has a real neighbourhood feeling with street games, people having drinks on their front steps and the general bustle of local life. I wouldn't stay anywhere else.

We had a pleasant dinner at De Reiger, where the people on the next table started an animated conversation with us. As you say, not something that happens often when travelling.

We stayed at Studio Bloemgracht at Bloemgacht 75, a 2-person apartment, very well designed and equipped, kind host, and the bonus of a tiny patio/garden with a pond full of fish and frogs. Really an enchanting spot.

AndrewDavid & other cycling fans-- What blew me away about the Netherlands was the quality of cycling. I've not seen better cycling infrastructure in North America than what we have here in Montreal & surrounds. But I felt Holland took things many levels more.

It seemed there was almost no street where cyclists were not treated on equal footing as motorists, with very often separated designated lanes. The train stations blew me away how packed they were with bike parking or "fietsstalling" even in smaller communities seen from the train. (Delft blew me away, a town of 90,000 with its own tram system! Let me think of somewhere in North America of a similar size with its own tram...no can't think of one!)

tarquin-- I'm glad you had a similar impression of the Jordaan, a second opinion that I wasn't just imagining things...

Didn't find this thread until now. Seems you had a good time here! How's your reading the language going? I'll give ya something to chew on:

Nederlands is niet echt moeilijk, maar het loont eigenlijk altijd om iets van de taal van het land te leren voordat je er naar toe gaat.

Haha! No, you prolly did not offend anyone by using "je" instead of the more formal "u". Au contraire, I think the effort you put into learning the language will greatly have contributed to the way people treated you.

I remember being in Paris one day where a (sorry) typical American tried to get tickets to the subway - in some horrible Texan accent no less. When the ticket-clerk refused to understand him, he tried again, but just louder. He never got the tickets. I was next in line and my French certainly is far from perfect. So I asked "Bonjour madam, parlez vous Anglais?". And got answered in near perfect English . That's what the effort one puts in learning a foreign language does I guess - it certainly lowers if not destroys the Babylonic barriers between peoples.

The_lonely_traveler-- Thanks for giving the trip report a read! My reading is improving; I feel like I've learned *so many* words but I feel I still have a ton of vocabulary to learn. I'm usually able to piece sentences together (in some cases after looking up a vocabulary word or three) but I haven't quite figured out the logic of when to use certain prepositions. Like in your sentence you wrote "voordat je er naar toe gaat"; even though I think I understand the meaning, I'm not quite sure why the "toe" is there. I'd have written "voordat je naar er gaat" which is probably wrong, but don't know why.

It was indeed a great trip, I think made even more fun by getting to practice a language for the first time ever.

In English, you "go _to_ Amsterdam" (New York, the moon or anywhere else), but when referring to a less specific place, you "go there". In Dutch we have a similar construction, but just the other way around: "je gaat naar Amsterdam", or "je gaat er naartoe" ("in that direction"). The key is the reference "there" or "er".

Note: officially, the correct expression would be "er naartoe gaan", thus a single word "naartoe" instead of two individual words "naar toe". In the "groene boekje", you'll find a lengthy discussion about the issue, but most Dutch people will write "naar toe" using two words.

PS: I had to laugh when I read you got "biefstuk met groentjes" - I guessed you meant "groenten". A "groentje" is a eucalyptus & menthol candy whereas "groenten" are vegetables. Groentjes (http://www.hollandsbest.com/licorice/_popup/rb_24009_mentholgroentjes.htm) are very nice when you are suffering from a cold, but not combined with steak .

Oops.. remove the closing parenthesis from the URL above... it must be http://www.hollandsbest.com/licorice/_popup/rb_24009_mentholgroentjes.htm (why is there no "edit" button here?).

Haha! I like that mmm...biefstuk met groentjes . I love the diminutives in Dutch "zusje" "handje" "neusje" a) because I like how they sound and endear certain words b) because they always take the HET article and c) they're always pluralized in the same way. But I knew I'd misuse them as I remembered some had specific meanings!

**Mauritshuis correction**

I wanted to make a correction to the Den Haag section, based on what a friend just told me. While the Mauritshuis is indeed closed, apparently a number of the works the Mauritshuis is best known for are instead on display at the neighbouring Gemeentemuseum.

Hi Daniel - Living Language is one of other Random House imprints, so we're so glad you have them a spin for this trip! Just wanted to remind everyone that we have a language section on Fodors.com as well with Living Language's picks for essential vocab when you're on the go. You can check it out here: http://www.fodors.com/language/

Daniel I've really enjoyed reading all this. It's great to hear of someone else learning another language and struggling with it. I do it myself all the time! You sound pretty successful.
And your comments on Holland and its cities and artworks are very thoughtful. Thanks for a great trip report.

gertie3751-- I'm glad you enjoyed; I checked out your recent Eastern Europe trip report and I loved how it turned into a guess what city I'm in game... how much fun!

Amy_D-- The Living Languages Dutch was so dense with information with each chapter bombarding with several grammar rules in addition to a considerable number of idioms and vocabulary. I fear many might give up and speak badly of the series, finding it all overwhelming. However, in the end, I found their approach (while challenging) to be systematic and sound from Chapter 1 to Chapter 15, focusing on what seemed to me essential basic building blocks (that I did hear and read!). I would heartily recommend the book and that the learner persevere even if it seems tough. Hopefully, the learner will recognize after that while the book may seem hard, that acquiring a language *is* hard (even as close as Dutch is to English). Even after the book's done, dense as it is, there's so much still to learn!

Not to toot my own horn (I would never do that!) but for the fun of it I took an online Dutch test and got an 87%. Felt great! Not bad for self-study and speaks pretty well for the Living Languages Dutch book & CDs. I'm presuming this exam is for after one semester or one year of Dutch. Here's the test if you want to try it.

http://www.directdutch.com/test-your-dutch/

Daniel - congrats!

I will definitely look at the living languages italian site.

annhig--Thanks! If you try it, let us know if the Italian book works out well for you. I'm jealous that continental Europe is such a quick & easy jump for all that language practice!

It sounded that Delft was a terrific base for you BTW. If you do use Delft as a base again, know that your ticket into the Nieuwe Kerk gets you into the Oude Kerk for free!

Speaking of Delft, it's funny that you mentioned a hotel reception employee that you could have sworn WAS English. My waitress for lunch in Delft I could have sworn was American. When I asked her, it turned out she had never even been to North America!

Daniel - we knew about the free entry into the Oude Kerk, we just ran out of time to get there!

The Maastricht lad with the brilliant english turned out to have been educated at Ampleforth, an english public school [ie a very posh privately paid school, not a free state one, for those of you who are not au fait with the UK school system ]; we never did find out how this had happened as he didn't appear again in the time we were there.

Delft was a lovely place to stay, but I think that Haarlem would have been a better base for the things that we ended up doing. I underestimated the amount of time that it would take to get to places, not because of distances, but mainly because of the enormous amount of traffic on the motorways round Amsterdam.

Glad you liked The Hague! I think this city is a little bit overlooked by tourists visiting The Netherlands.

Btw: in the Dutch (Flemish) speaking part of Belgium they do say 'groentjes' where'we would say 'groenten'

And one more thing: the tramsystem in Delf is an extension of the tramsystem of The Hague, operated by the HTM (Haagse Tramweg Maatschappij). But it still is very convenient for a city of that size!

Wonderful TR, Daniel and so many congrats for your language endeavors. You used the word "nuance" in conjunction with your trip. In language, those nuances are possible. I believe learning enough of a language to navigate in it, is a gift to the traveler and to the country.

Hub (may he RIP) and I took a 6-week Italian cramming course. Even though he ordered 2 biscuits to Rome at the train station, I do believe our visits were much more nuanced and enriched.

In the meantime, for those who can only go once, we must adjust to the touristy places, eh?

ven though he ordered 2 biscuits to Rome at the train station, I do believe our visits were much more nuanced and enriched. >>

lol, TD, what did the ticket clerk say?

Context being everything, they knew what he meant. But everyone in the vicinity had a good giggle. DH had the most charming smile--he had everyone at his "beck and call" with it.

nice memory, TD.

"Btw: in the Dutch (Flemish) speaking part of Belgium they do say 'groentjes' where'we would say 'groenten'"

Amai, moar Vlaams, da's nie 'Ollands eh?

In Amsterdam you'll be bound to get some really weird looks if you order 'groentjes' with your steak and fries