Talking about flower bulbs to take home - you can most easily buy these inside the departures hall at Schiphol Airport and be sure they are certified for import into the U.S.. And you can buy the exact same Dutch bulbs in stores at home for perhaps even a cheaper price!

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...arly-1980s.cfm

Interesting video posted my Menachem of Amsterdam in the 1980s - a whole different atmosphere from today's spiffed up less sleazy city.

And a bit of advice. This afternoon I cycled around Amsterdam. As ever, groups of visitors congregate on bike paths.

Usually you can recognize bike paths, because they have a reddish surface and are marked with a bicycle icon painted on them.

Please be careful walking on them or standing still on them. When I left Central Station and turned into Prins Hendrik kade, there was a group of 5 very nice Northern American people, blocking the stop lights and the turn to PH Kade. I explained to them they were right in the middle of a bike path. It's not that cyclists are hell bent on slamming into groups such as these, But cycling around, it does take a lot of vigilance to avoid people. I saw two guys on rented bikes cycling along Kleveniersburgwal, on the wrong side of the canal and on the wrong side of the street. A girl turning from Nieuwmarkt did slam into them, through no fault of hers, because the one guy suddenly decided to swerve to the other side of the road and clearly didn't see her and it was too late for her to brake properly. He wasn't hurt, but started yelling at her. This was completely incomprehensible to her. "You can't be serious!" she kept saying. When I cycled past the scene I noticed both guys were smoking pre-rolled joints.

So people, stay safe and stay off the bike path!

Yes Menachem - donk u wel for that first-hand accont of why I and others say leave the biking in Amsterdam to the locals or learn the rules of the road or bike path!

And pedestrians be cognizant of what a walking path is and a biking path - don't stray into the bike path or expect some catcalls, etc.

Biking on a group tour may be fine but just biking around the centrum of Amsterdam - no fun and could be dangerous - watch out for tram tracks as well.

Again thanks to Menachem, who lives in Holland and is Dutch.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...anging-but.cfm

News about the world's biggest flower auction the Aalsmeer Flower Auction, an easy day trip from Amsterdam by bus!

bookmarking - Great information

Thanks you for topping this thread, leaving for Amsterdam today!

bookmarking---again info for a trip we are starting to plan
Thanks

cafegoddess - if going to Amsterdam now thru Jan 10 there is a light and art show in some canals - pictures of it look great - never heard of it before - floating works of art!

some great tips on Chinese-Indonesia restaurants in Amsterdam - be sure to check one out and yes rijsttafels are mainly for tourists I learned from menachem and these places have plenty of other foods:

menachem on Mar 24, 15 at 2:33pm
Yes, so?

I go to Indonesian restaurants a lot and if you check iens.nl, you'll soon find out what the good ones are.

Rijsttafel is an invention for tourists, supposedly derived from the traditional Indonesian selamatan, festive meal, where there are many dishes.

The imo best way to eat Indonesian food is go a la carte and stick to the tried and tested: white rice (or yellow rice if it's your birthday), a sajur, a meat dish, a vegetable dish, a pickle (acar), something crunchy, a sambal you like, doesn't have to be spicy. It's all about a balance of flavours and textures: restaurants that pride themselves on the amount of heat in their food (pedis) drown everything in a sea of chillies. Indonesian cuisine and its Dutch Eurasian cousin are wonderful and complex, but the usual rijsttafel reduces this complexity to an endless array of same-tasting stuff on little dishes. Looks nice on the table though, and you think you're getting a lot.

In Amsterdam, restaurants I'd seek out are:

Blauw Amsterdam on Amstelveenseweg
Sampurna on Singel
Djago on Scheldeplein (to my mind one of the most authentic eurasian restaurants in Randstad)

I know there's Kantjil & De Tijger, it gets a 6.9 on Iens, which is not a good sign. I find there food to be formulaic and oddly bland, but people think they're getting the real deal there, so it's always busy.

And I know lots of people flock to Sama Sebo: it's almost as bad as K&T, but also in a good tourist location, so people go there. And it's in lots of guidebooks.

Thanks, and you're so welcome!

Hi PalenQ,

I saw your comment, the light show was okay, I was expecting more but it was still fun to ride around. I can see why you love Amsterdam. Is is such a unique city. It was cold, windy and rainy
half of the time we were there but still love the city. We are
going back in April to visit some nurseries outside the city.

Thank you for starting this thread, I found it helpful.

menachem - thanks to you - a local always has different perspectives and insights from the traveler who may only have an ephermal grasp of some things garnered from what others or guidebooks say.

cafegoddess - thanks for your nice comments and feel free please to add anything here!

bookmarking. Thanks Pal!

Knowing fairly little about the city's history, I'm reading "Amsterdam: A history of the world's most liberal city" by Russell Shorto:

http://www.amazon.com/Amsterdam-Hist...t+liberal+city

It has been very good read so far!

Does anyone know the location of the floating flower market? I read about it somewhere, but seemed to have lost the info. Also looking for the Apple Pie Place. I am trying to get everything lined up before you need 5/8. We will have 3 days before meeting up with our tour on Monday night.

http://www.amsterdam.info/shopping/flowermarket/

It's on the Singel - the innermost of the ring of canals - technically floating but now appears to be anchored to the ground - someone told me recently it no longer floats - does not seem to anyway but it is a keen flower market.

Thanks for the info, PalenQ. I'll add it to my list of things to see!

Love Amsterdam and do the canal ride everytime I am there.

KING'S DAY AMSTERDAM 2015!!!

Pix say it all - a sea of orange and humanity - something for everyone - wish I had been there!

https://www.google.com/search?q=king...w=1455&bih=977

One of the most fantastic citywide festivals I've ever seen when I saw Queen's Day a few years back!