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February 5

Amsterdam

I slept rather well, awaking shortly before breakfast - a variety of pastries with fruit and yogurt. I saw Ireland, England and the Isle of Man (home of a great grandfather) as we flew over. We landed in Amsterdam around 11:15 AM. I changed $100, checked my bag, and took a train to the ornate Central Station.

I started walking down the wide Dam St., which has a rather festive atmosphere and lots of fast food. Then I explored some side streets that were closed to cars. The smell of cannabis was notable on some of the side streets - it is smoked rather openly, especially in the coffee shops that specialize in this. I saw a mime and bagpipe player at the otherwise rather desolate Dam Square. I was getting hungry, and thought of getting some French fries, which my brother said I must try in Amsterdam. But I hadn't seen any since Dam St, so I went into one of the ubiquitous bakeries and got a tasty tomato-onion-cheese bread.

I continued on to Rembrandsplein, another square, and then walked along Herengracht a few blocks to the west. Eventually I ended up at the Riksmuseum, and followed the road under it toward the Van Gogh museum. There were more squares beyond the Riksmuseum, all rather desolate, depressing places, similar to Dam Square and the others I'd seen.

The Van Gogh museum was the main thing I wanted to see in Amsterdam, aside from just walking around. Actually, only the second floor was completely devoted to Van Gogh paintings. It had some of his dark early works such as "The Potato Eaters", and lots of the more colorful paintings he became known for. There was also a painting of a stuffed bat, and upstairs, one of a skull smoking a cigarette, which I found amusing. A huge bus load tried to jam into the museum as I left. I was glad I got there when I did.

Next, I went to the Riksmuseum, a huge building with lots of old Dutch paintings, and an even larger collection of "practical arts and crafts". Rembrandt's "The Night Watchman" is their big attraction.

Around 4:00, I started looking for some of the Indonesian restaurants listed in the Rough Guide, and found four of them. Amsterdam is supposed to be a good city for Indonesian food. Only one was open so early. I wandered around some more, and ended up choosing Tempo Doeloe on Utrechtsestraat, south of Rembrandsplein. It wasn't open yet, so I got a milkshake nearby, and walked toward the red light district, which is also something of a tourist attraction here. Now that the sun was setting, it should be starting to come alive.

I headed east from Rokin St., south of the red light district, planning to walk north to it, but overshot it by a couple of blocks on the east and ended up in Niewmarkt, another big empty square with a cursing bum. Apparently the Dutch don't like grass or trees, because you never see any in their squares. There was a huge stone building at the far end of the square, which turned out to be a candle-lit restaurant.

Amsterdam Red Light District

The red light district was just west of here. It was impossible to miss it, because it was dusk now, and red fluorescent lights were everywhere, marking windowed booths displaying scantily clad women. There is a big church right in the middle of the district. The open tolerance of sex reminded me of Bourbon St. in New Orleans, but this was more subdued, without the street-hawkers, and more like walking through a woman-zoo. I took a picture from across the canal, not wanting to look like I was photographing the women (a good way to get your camera stomped, according to the Rough Guide). I also discovered what the odd cylindrical shelters I had been seeing around Amsterdam's canals were for. They are urination stations - no plumbing, just pee on the sidewalk.

I walked back up to Tempo Doeloe, which was now open, since it was just after 6:00, but you still had to ring a bell to get in. I had their combination platter for 42 guilders - not cheap, but you get ten little samples, and it is filling. There was a range of hotness from mild to "very hot", which actually turned out to be a bit disappointing after what Rough Guide had written. The satay was excellent, and had plenty of sauce, which I scooped onto fried wafers. There was also pickled cabbage, beef (goat?) with mild coconut sauce, tomato sauce, and medium pepper sauce, two kinds of chicken, shrimp, and some vegetables, including green beans, and a piece of eggplant and tempeh. Actually, most of the samples weren't too memorable, with salty and chile flavors dominating. I had a beer with it, served in a tiny glass. I also had a frozen orange-coconut drink for desert. I spent 58 guilders in all, a good part of my Dutch money.

I finished dinner at 7:30 and started back to the train station. All the stores were closed and many streets practically deserted. Some care was required, because all the bicycles (very popular here) were practically invisible after dark. Some fast food stores were still open on Dam St., but I was too full to be tempted by the French fries now, even if they were the best on earth, as my brother seemed to suggest. I quickly found a train to the airport, though I came close to boarding the wrong one. No one ever looked at my ticket, in either direction.

Back at the Schiphol airport, I changed my remaining guilders for $30, except a few I could spend on a drink, since the salty Indonesian meal left me thirsty. It turned out that there was not place to spend them. All the shops, bars, and restaurants had closed, even the casino. I shaved, and put some drops in my eye, which had become red and irritated in the city. I had a couple hours to wait.

At 10:30, they started letting people through security. I waited for the crowd to clear before approaching with my 50 rolls of film. Foreign airports often try to insist that their X-rays are safe, but I don't believe it, so I was prepared for an argument, and got one. But I had some 1600 speed film this time, and they knew that it was not safe, so they agreed to a hand inspection without further argument, though they opened every canister and checked to see that I actually had some 1600 speed film. In the future, I think I will always bring some 1600 speed film along on foreign flights, since it could avoid a lengthy and unpleasant argument.

The flight to Nairobi turned out to be rather full, so there would be no stretching out to sleep this time. I had a window seat in the first coach row. We took off at 11:45.

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