October may not be the best time for a 1st visit to Amsterdam but not even the cool, rainy weather could dull the beauty of this city for my husband Ron and me.

Many thanks to all who answered my questions in preparation for this trip, especially the very helpful Hetismij. It was a pleasure to meet her at a GTG along with Artstuff (Robyn), her husband BJ and their friend, Roger.

Our USAir flight from PHL was on a weary looking 757, every seat in economy class was occupied and the use of my recently purchased inflatible "First Class Sleeper, my Bed in the Clouds" did not live up to my expectations!! Upon our arrival at the Schiphol airport I purchased the Amsterdam map and strippenkaarts for the tram system at the Amsterdam Tourist Information Center. Taking the train from Schiphol airport to Amsterdam center was easy, especially on a Sunday morning.


ACCOMMODATIONS

Our stay in Amsterdam was at the beginning and the end of a trip that included two weeks in France and Belgium. On the front end we rented an apartment for 5 nights that was located on Molsteeg, just off Dam Square. Kevin is the owner of the apartment that I found through Avvie Bed & Breakfast referral, which includes apartments, hotels as well as B&B's. The two room apartment called Dam Square was very easy on our budget at 85 euros a night and sleeps 3 people. The large bed completely fills the bedroom but it was very comfortable, quiet at night and my husband Ron loved the walk in rain style shower located off the main room. Inquires about this apartment can be sent to Kevin at [email protected]

I used a Priceline hotel for our return to Amsterdam. My bid of $85 a night had us staying at the Nh Amsterdam Centre for 2 nights. We were given a very nice room on the top floor (6th) so all my concerns about receiving poor service as a Priceline customer didn't happen.

I would describe myself as a Times Square, 5th Arrondissement kind of traveler so although the Nh hotel was nicer, I preferred the location of the Dam Square apartment.


DINING

Having an apartment allowed us to save money by eating in for breakfast and because of the rainy weather often in the evening as well. There was something very comfy about being warm and dry while we could watch people below our windows sloshing through the puddles.

There was a large Albert Heijn near the apartment where we purchased our breakfast foods as well as baguettes, pate, cheese, salads, wine and beer. Foods any well stocked apartment should have!! Unlike grocery stores in France and the US, the Albert Heijn stores do not accept credit cards.

Ron and I like to find small places that serve typical foods of the country we are visiting. We had delicious pannenkoekens at the Eetcafe Next Door, Nieuwzijds Voorburgwal 119 and De Oude Wester on the corner of Rozengracht and Prinsengracht.. Our lunches with pannenkoekens with coffee at the Wester was 20.50 euros and with beer at the Eetcafe was 22 euros.

At the Dutch restaruant De Prins on Prinsengracht 124 we each had one of the daily specials, veltliner karaf, pilsner and one decaf coffee. Dinner at this brown-style canal house was a very reasonable 46 euros.

Thanks to information gathered on this forum I knew I wanted to have a meal of the Indonesian Rijsttafel. The thought of eating 25 to 30 small dishes at one meal seemed like more food than I could ever consume. Armed with a list of several places from my research I outsmarted myself and chose not the highly regarded Tempo Doeloe but the smaller Indonesian restaurant next door, Tuijuh Maret. Ron and I chose one of their nasi rames, fearing being overwhelmed by the full rijsttafel. Our meal did not impress us at all, there were only a few tables with diners while we were there but I thought that might be because it was a rainy Wednesday evening. I kept that thought until we went out of the restaurant and saw that the tables at Tempo Doeloe next door were packed with more people waiting. Our meal at Tuijuh Maret cost us $83, per our credit card.

On our return to Amsterdam, on yet another rainy evening, we decided to stay close to our hotel and made a better choice for another try at Indonesian food. This time we had a 15 dish rijsttafel at the Srikandi Restaurant on the same street as our hotel. Our meal was delicious and at the cost of about $90 for the two of us, a much better value.

The GTG with Hetismij, Robyn, BJ and Roger was a real treat for us. The beer and food were equally good but the conversation was even better. I know Robyn and I were both looking forward to thanking Hetismij in person for all the information she provides to those of us planning our visit to the Netherlands. Ron and I walked to the train station with her and she helped us purchase our train tickets to Haarlem. The ticket kiosks accepted only European credit cards, not even coins.

BIKES

I had read about biking in Amsterdam, I knew that there would be more bikes than cars but to see Amsterdam in all it's biking glory for the first time is incredible. I fell in love with the bikes in all their varieties. Shiny bikes and beaten up bikes, bikes with trailers behind and bikes with carts in front, bikes that looked like real status symbols and bikes that looked like they had no idea what status was!!!! I loved the bikes but I thought the people on them were rather mean---they kept me from taking what would have been really great pictures because I always seemed to be standing where they wanted to be riding. I hope to visit Amsterdam again and rent a bike for a day. I want to experience what it feels like to be one of them instead of one of ME!!!

DeborahAnn - Great start, can't wait to hear the rest.

tC

You've visited my favorite city and eaten in one of my restaurant finds (De Prins) and shopped in my neighborhood market (Albert H). Amsterdam makes me happy - I hope you'll get to return and ride that bike.

It was great meeting you too DeborahAnn, especially as the gtg ate into your valuable time in Amsterdam.
Amsterdam cyclists, in fact Dutch cyclists, are rather mean. they are well protected by the law and mostly think they are above it
I hope you get to come back, with better weather next time. You were really unlucky with the weather as it has actually been a lovely mild, dry month.

Maybe we can meet up again sometime

Ah, the weary 757. If only the price would go down I would feel better about taking it...

We're hoping to go to Haarlem as well. Looking forward to that and the rest of your report!

lukehead, the De Prins was indeed a good choice for us, the owner of the restaurant was a very charming man, so friendly and had a great sense of humor.

Hetismij, I am sincere when I say that the GTG was indeed one of the highlights of our time in Amsterdam. It was so nice to talk to other travelers and see the different approaches we all have to visiting the same city. I can't wait to read some of artstuff's travel tales. They were visiting some places in France we have been to and others we hope to visit.

You will be able to appreciate my BLUNDER #1

On our return by train to Amsterdam from Haarlem, I must have been a little too inattentive because when I heard the announcement that Amsterdam was the approaching station I hustled Ron and myself right off the train. I was wondering why so few passengers were getting off with us but it wasn't until we were walking along the platform that I realized we were at the wrong station---But the approach to the station looked so familiar and afterall I knew Amsterdam so well after 4 days!!!

We must have gotten off at Sloterdijk and not Central Station. It was just a short wait for the next train and the correct station fortunately.

MORE ON BIKES

How do the residents of Amsterdam learn to ride bikes and do all the multi-tasking they do while bouncing around over the cobblestones???

I saw people texting while biking; I saw more than one child standing on the platform over the rear bike tire holding onto their parent's shoulders, if it was raining one of them might even be holding an umbrella overhead. Seldom was anyone riding a bike, while dodging trams, cars and pedestrians holding on with both hands.

I've seen stunt riders with less visibile skills than many of the cyclists in Amsterdam---AND NO ONE WEARS A HELMET!!!


MUSEUMS

Anne Frank House, thank you to all who recommended buying timed tickets online for the AFH. Even though we were visiting in the off season I had not thought about the number of school groups that might be visiting the museum. Having the timed tickets had us in before the long line of waiting student and my husband suitably impressed with my travel savvy---Thank You Fodors!!!

Because Ron and I were going to be in Amsterdam during two different periods the MUSEUMKAART turned out to be better for us than the IAMSTERDAM card. It also enabled us to visit the Frans Hals museum in Haarlem because the kaart is valid for museums throughout Amsterdam and good for one year

I knew we would be doing more walking that riding trams so buying the 15 strippenkaart worked best for us. We bought one set when we arrived at the airport and the second at the post office near Waterlooplein. We used the trams more than we intended because as Hetismij stated we were rather unlucky with our weather!!!

If you don't buy the Amsterdam city map for 2.50 euros pick up the free map of the Guide to Amsterdams 36 museums. It includes a simplified version of the tram system and we found it very helpful.

The price of the museumkaart was 39.95 euros per person and we bought it at the Museum Ons Lieve Heer op Solder shortly after our arrival on Sunday. We visiting the Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum but especially enjoyed our time in the 3 canal house museums and the Jewish Historical Museum and Dutch Resistance Museums.

During our 7 days in Amsterdam we used the museumkaart to visit the oudekerk and 11 museums---a very good investment for our shrinking travel dollar!!!

BLUNDER #2

I'm not quite sure what happened on the trams we used on Sunday, October 25th but when we tried to get the driver to stamp our strippenkaart he said something to us in Dutch which I didn't understand and waved us away. There wasn't a person stamping tickets in the rear of the tram so on two occasions we were riding the tram without paying. I was ready for bells or whistles to go as we left the tram but nothing happened. I enjoyed using the trams but didn't feel like I understood the system very well.

Dutch have such thick heads that no Fietser needs a helmet - and they do indeed take tumbles IME

but a cardinal rule for any tourist in Amsterdam - stay off the bike paths - marked by a sign with a bike picture and stick to the footpaths - marked by a sign of a man walking with a small child

The two are often parallel and naive tourists often walk in bike paths and then they often do get verbally abused IME

There are usually machines you can self stamp your strippenkaart - but maybe yours were still valid. Depending on the number of zones stamped they are valid for a certain length of time, -1-3 zones (2-4 strips are valid for an hour.
Otherwise you were taking part in an age old custom in Amsterdam - zwartrijden . Something which will be less and less common with the OV chipkaart.

Because kids are on bikes from the time they can sit up they quickly learn to ride a bike on their own and are often riding without stabilisers by the time they are 4. It is second nature to them, and multitasking on a bike quickly follows, as do stunts and breaking the law

Palenque, you give very good advice and that brings up my two other blunders which took place in front of our hotel on Stadhouderskade.

BLUNDER #3

Upon our return to Amsterdam on Saturday, October 24th we took the Connexxion Hotel Shuttle from the airport. The per person fare is 14.50 euros one way and 22.50 RT

The shuttle pulled up to the curb and I was the first person out of the van. As I am standing on what appears to be the sidewalk waiting for my luggage, I hear whoops and hollers and bells---well, I'm not on the sidewalk, I'm on the bike path----so my choice is either stand in the street with the traffic or stand on the bike path which I thought was the sidewalk. I didn't have my Amsterdam bike radar turned on yet!!!

BLUNDER #4 was my most serious and could have been so much worse than it was.

Ron and I were leaving the hotel and by now I was aware of the very thin sidewalk and the very wide bike path that was in front of our hotel. I was waiting for the traffic signal to cross busy Stadhouderskade, it was dark and I wasn't being attentive as to where I am standing--Webster Dictionary states a blunder is a stupid mistake and on my part it certainly was.

The next thing I know is that something has slammed into my leg, I scream in fear and pain and this male voice tells me it's OK, he's not hurt!!! I neither saw nor heard this biker and not only does he not have any lights but he is wheeling a second bike alongside the one he is riding plus he has a golf bag across his back!! Once he assured me he was OK, I just asked him why the hell did he have two bikes, I never saw or heard him coming.

I knew to stay out off the bike paths but while dodging trams, cars and bikes sometimes I had to land on the wrong path. I think on my next visit to Amsterdam I should be the one wearing the HELMET and maybe even SHIN GUARDS!!!

DeborahAnn -

I SO empathize about you thinking pedestrians are the ones who need the helmets! We just spent a year living in Amsterdam and it took me a couple of months to get used to the bikes zooming in all directions. But then I became one of them! I got a bike and rode it everywhere - I do recommend it, you will fall in love even more with Amsterdam and its surroundings. I left my bike with a friend there, as we plan to be back this coming May till September for DH's work and I just couldn't bear to part with my trusty steed.

I will say as I was first learning to ride my bike around Amsterdam there were a few times I was glad I didn't speak Dutch as my performance was commented upon rather unfavorably by a fellow bicyclist or two when I held up bike traffic. Then I realized that bike riding to them is just like car-driving to us - we would be sort of annoyed if some Sunday driver just lolly-gagged along in the fast lane. And ALL the bicycle lanes are fast lanes. ;->

One of my husband's colleagues there is a Scottish guy who's lived there for 10 years now. He says he was hit by bicyclists three times his first year there! Then just once each year the next two years and then finally got his bike radar working.

The Dutch bicycle- riding prowess used to be a topic of conversation among the expats as we'd compare stories about the most proficient multi-tasking we witnessed. My favorite was the time I saw a woman with a baby on the front of the bike, a toddler on the back, saddlebags filled with groceries, "walking" a dog with the leash in one hand and a cell phone in the other! Although I did really worry about the tiny children with no helmets.

I'm enjoying your trip report.

BTW, I forgot to say that we ate at the Tujuh Maret once too when we first got to Amsterdam and I heartily agree with your lack of enthusiasm. In fact, I would go so far as to say the food was pretty bad. A place I would definitely not recommend.

Norcalif, thanks for your comments about the bicycles. I enjoyed Amsterdam so much that I didn't want to sound like I was whining about the bikes. All the blunders I made were my fault. There is so very much for a first time visitor to take in that it's so easy to forget your surroundings--something that is very dangerous as pedestrians

You are so very fortunate to have been able to take up temporary residence in such a beautiful city.

Something that I couldn't understand were the motorcycles using the bike paths. Some of them had pretty large motors and we wondered why they could be on the bike paths. Are motorcycles allowed on Amsterdam bike paths?

At times I felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of OZ but instead of lions and tigers and bears, I was chanting trams and bikes and cycles and cars, oh my!!!

Amsterdam is the first city I've ever visited in which I would never want to drive a car. We saw one motorcycle crunched under a tram and hoped there were no serious injuries. Deborah

They aren't motorcycles, they are brommers, and have small engines. Some look like motorcycles but they aren't. There are two sorts - snorfietsen with a maximum of a 50cc motor and top speed of 25kmph, fo rwhich no helmet is required, and brommers, again with a 50cc motor but a top speed of 50kmph. A helmet is compulsory on those, and they shouldn't be on the bike track in the city, but often they are because they think it is safer.
You have to pass a test to ride either and be at least 16. Since you can't drive a car until you are 18 they are popular with kids, but also with lots of people as a quick effortless way to get around. A lost faster than car in Amsterdam!

My goodness Hetismij, you are a wealth of information.

As the brommers were scooting past me they certainly appeared very large and powerful and the riders were wearing helmets, good idea. I hope the person who's cycle was mangled under the tram was wearing one!!! thanks, Deborah

Good report, Deborah Ann. I hope that you continue! Interesting discussion about bicycles--wish we had better bike paths in our downtowns!

I too am looking forward to more. Sorry about some of your more painful blunders!

after I went to Amsterdam and got run down by the dutch cyclists, i went to Berlin where it's just as bad!

LOL. Having spent a number of years in Haarlem and Amsterdam your stories are amusing.

I wonder why the fietsers did not use their bells to let you folks know thay are coming. That was my experience. Get out of their way because it is their fietspad. Dutch are not mean. They just follow the rules and expect everyone else to do the same.

This cobblestones in Amsterdam thing keeps coming up. Can someone say where they are? I've been all over the city and never saw one. If you want cobblestones go to eastern Europe.

By cobblestones they mean the brick paving I think, rather than true cobbles.
My admittedly limited experience of Amsterdam cyclists is that they are mean, don't have bells and will shout at you - even when you have right of way. This is true of many Dutch cyclists, not only in Amsterdam, but in my small town and all the surrounding cities too. Put a Dutch person on a bike and they think they rule the world, all laws are to be broken and they especially hate motorists. Put them behind the wheel of a car and they think they rule the world, all laws are to be broken and they especially hate cyclists. We poor pedestrians just have to suffer the wrath of them all.

Look on the bright side DeborahAnn - at least you didn't get into an argument with a tram, which many tourists do. Trams do not stop for anything - well except at a tram stop (maybe!) or when they hit another tram that is.

As I was watching my feet, trying not to stumble, I thought I was looking at what I would call cobblestones. As I remember, there were many uneven road surfaces, pedestrian only streets and sidewalks that I was walking on and they were not concrete or macadam.

I remember reading and I confirmed online at WiseGeek that as a whole the citizens living in the Netherlands are on average, the tallest people. Even people who have immigrated from other parts of the world are taller than average than their racial groups in their country of origin. The average height is 6 ft 1 in.

I was reminded of these statistics as we walked around Amsterdam, my husband Ron is 6ft 2in and he usually sticks out of most crowds. Amsterdam was a city where he just blended with everyone else walking around.

I think those height measurements must have been taken with the Dutch wearing their boots

BOOTS

Maybe because it was fall weather when we arrived or maybe its a year round fashion but almost ever woman I saw was wearing boots!!

I love people watching and I enjoy critiquing fashions that I see people wearing. The only thing I can say is "Amsterdam I like your STYLE"!!!

I developed a severe case of Boot Envy shortly after arrival. I saw boots on women and little girls alike. There was such a wider variety of boots than I ever imagined existed. Once again I wanted to be Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz and click my heels together and have my comfortable but boring Clark ankle boots change into any one of the fabulous knee high boots I saw being worn in Amsterdam. I know boots are worn in many large city and I have several pairs myself but I don't remember seeing such a variety of colors, materials and styles. I'm not even counting the style of boots I saw on some of the window ladies in the RLD!!!

Each day my Boot Envy got worse, I saw great looking boots everywhere. My eyes never got any rest, looking at the canals, looking at the architecture of the buildings, looking at the painted elephants and looking at the boots.

I started to plot how I was going to bring a pair or three home with me. I wondered if Ron would notice some of his clothes were being discarded to free up some luggage space!!

I was pleased to discover many stores in Amsterdam are open on Sunday so I made sure there was time for shopping as our last day in would be a Sunday. With the euro so strong against the dollar I had to find my boots in the deeply discounted stores, alas, but I did find a pair for me and a pair for my daughter in law. With my next visit to Amsterdam I'm certainly going to budget for a fine pair of boots

Just a couple of end notes;

Rembrantplein is under heavy construction and is not the prettiest or quietest part of Amsterdam currently. It appears to be a major project that will not be completed quickly.

We rented our car through EconomyCarRentals. This is a company we also used in May while in France. Our contract was with Thrifty in Amsterdam. The pick up would have been smoother if I had known that when there is a + in front of a telephone number it means 00. I was sure I had been given an inactive phone number to call for the rental car shuttle at the airport. We were able to flag down the shuttle and it was a quick drive to the off airport office of Thrifty. I like using EconomyCarRentals because it's an all inclusive rental and there is not a 2nd driver charge. Thru Thrifty that would have been 5 euros extra a day, other rental companies charge even more we have discovered. Our rental cost for the 16 day rental was about 420 euros for our VW Polo car.

Our visit to Amsterdam was a delight, thanks in a great part to the information I found here on the Fodors forum. I'm looking forward to a return to this beautiful city and also including travels to other towns in the Netherlands. And next time I'm going to be a FIETSER, but I will always use my bell!!! Thank you, Deborah