Amsterdam: Tolerant, Carefree, or Challenging?

I observed legalized prostitution, cannabis coffeeshops, and the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.  Those events made me think of conflicting human rights and freedom.  I repeatedly heard the word "tolerance" when the history of the Netherlands and Amsterdam was explained.  However, a relaxed atmosphere of Amsterdam never impressed me as a tolerant city.  To me, the word "tolerance" is related to suffering, pain, and hardship.  I still wonder whether "tolerance" has a meaning of being carefree.  Regardless of good or bad, Amsterdam must be a city that has challenged my values and beliefs. 

My friend and I tried to have famous Amsterdam food listed on Internet travel sites.  For example, we tasted the Dutch own types of fast food, such as kroket and French fries, which were just okay, not exceeding our expectations.  Also, the Dutch-Indonesian food that we tried was just fine, but not beyond our expectations.  However, our mediocre food experience may be partially due to our selections of the restaurants.  We knew what we wanted to have but not where we could have in Amsterdam. 

Despite our unlucky searches of good restaurants, we liked a restaurant near the Leidseplein, called De Blauwe Hollander.  Honestly, I was skeptical about quality of food at the restaurant, because I saw "Dutch Cuisine" in the Japanese and other languages on its wall.  I tend to think that a restaurant with multi-lingual signs is likely to be a tourist trap.  However, we were late for lunch and saw that a desired restaurant was closed.  So, we went to have lunch at De Blauwe Hollander.  Despite its skeptical (sorry) outside look, the inside of restaurant was cozy and neat.  It also offered delicious herring sandwich and meatballs at reasonable prices. 

I also liked the pancake and cheeses.  Hot pancakes were my favorite breakfast in Amsterdam.  I tasted a variety of Dutch cheeses such as Gouda cheese, herb cheese, and goat cheese.  The cheeses that I tasted in Amsterdam were soft and moist to me.  I even bought a cheese knife for myself from a local supermarket so that I could easily slice the Dutch cheeses at home. 

On our first night, we joined the red light district tour which we booked through the tourist information center.  The tour only had five international tourists and one local guide.  The red light district is the oldest part of Amsterdam which includes regular bars, canals, and historic buildings.  We listened to stories related to each landmark in the district.  It was a fun and informative tour, at first.  However, a small group of us finally walked through a cannabis coffeeshop and the window prostitution area.  It was not surprising for me to see the nightlife entertainment spot.  However, it was shocking and sad for me to see that many of the women working there looked really young. 

On the contrary to the neon night life, the daytime Amsterdam seemed very healthy.  Many people used bicycles and enjoyed being under the sun.  There were many beautiful parks and world-class collections of art.  Daytime canals had a different look from the night-time ones.  In fact, Amsterdam definitely had different faces from day to night.

I now think that the red light district tour gave me an opportunity to see the darker side of Amsterdam.  However, I like the daytime Amsterdam better than the night-time Amsterdam, because I felt more relaxed during day than I did at night.  I especially enjoyed the following sites in Amsterdam:

Anne Frank House:

The Anne Frank House is a must-see place in Amsterdam, regardless whether you read the Diary of Anne Frank!  We had to wait for a while to enter the house, because a group of school children took precedence in the house, in addition to many people waiting in a line.  However, it was worth waiting.  My friend and I could not believe what a difficult life Anne Frank and her family had to go through during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.  I thought that a hiding place of the house was small for eight people living together.  In addition, I was shocked to learn that they tried not to use the toilet and sink during the day because someone may hear the toilet flushing or running water sound and report to the Nazi.  I do not know how I could live in such a small shelter without making a noise.  Also, a teary video of Anne's father, only a survivor from the hiding place of the house, was being shown in this museum.  If you are not rushed, please spend some time in an interactive exhibition called Free2choose in the house.  It was interesting to learn others' opinions regarding conflicting human rights and reflect upon myself. 

Bloemenmarkt on the Singel canal:

Bloemenmarkt is a famous flower market floating on the Singel canal.  It is very touristy, but it is just enjoyable to see many different kinds of beautiful flowers.  In addition to flowers, many souvenirs were being sold along the canal.  We particularly spent some time in the cheese shop there.  We enjoyed sampling a variety of Dutch cheeses.  My friend bought a set of cheeses there while I bought it at the airport.

Magere Brug: 

My friend and I visited Magere Brug because it was listed on the map and guidebook.  I did not expect too much about this bridge, because it was just a bridge, despite its reputation as a picturesque movable bridge.  However, I loved the bridge and its beautiful neighborhood.  The Magere Brug area seemed to have a slower and more relaxed pace of life compared with the busy city center.  Time seemed to stop there.  I found many houses around the bridge were big and beautiful.  The Magere Brug is a good place to have a break and view the river and the traditional architectures.

Van Gogh Museum and Museumplein:

I am not a big fan of Vincent van Gogh's paintings, due to his use of vivid colors and rough brushstrokes.  However, I admit that he is definitely an original, influential, and intriguing figure.  Since I was in Amsterdam, I wanted to visit the Van Gogh Museum which has the largest collection of his works in the world.  The museum showed his collection in a chronological order so that I could see his evolution as an artist.  Moreover, I was surprised to read a candid explanation on how poor his paintings were when he was a beginner artist.  I had never read a criticism of any famous artists.  I just thought that those who achieved their fame after their deaths were just unlucky.  They were misunderstood or neglected when they were alive.  It never occurred to me that Vincent van Gogh received appropriate criticism on some of his paintings when he was alive.  I realized that I was simple-minded to think that famous people were talented.  I had neglected their efforts and hard work that helped them to achieve their fame.  

By the way, the Van Gogh Museum is one of the few museums that surround the Museumplein (Museum Square).  The Museumplein is a large green grass park with a pond, trees, and artistic objects.  My friend and I found a huge sign of I Amsterdam, which was a perfect photo spot.  We saw children were playing there.  We bought some refreshment from a street vendor and enjoyed a bracing moment in the Museumplein.  It is a nice getaway space from busy Amsterdam or from art lessons in a museum.

A friend of mine arranged accommodations for me.  Interestingly, she booked a different place for each night.  On the first night, my friend and I shared a private room at a Christian hostel called the Shelter City.  It was cheap at the central Amsterdam, actually in the middle of the red light district.  One night cost me 26.50 Euro only, including the limited but good breakfast.  Staff there was nice and friendly, but we had to wait for a long time to check in (maybe the longest time record in my trip history).  People have different needs for their accommodations.  Unfortunately, this hostel did not meet my need, mainly because of its location.  Due to the road construction, it was dusty and difficult to walk with the luggage to the hostel from the central station.  Especially at night, I did not feel relaxed walking back to the hostel even with my friend.  In addition, it was too noisy to have a good-night sleep.  We heard screams of drunken men outside.  The room was not clean but not dirty, just okay.  My friend did not have slippers and felt uncomfortable using a shared bathroom.  This hostel really saved our money.  However, I was glad that I had my friend with me at this hostel.  I was also glad to have just a one-night experience.

On the second night, we stayed at the Amstel Botel Hotel.  It was a unique hotel floating in the harbor opposite from the Amsterdam central train station.  It was exciting for the first time to reach the hotel via a free ferry.  Two of us shared a twin room which was basic and compact, but clean and comfortable.  I read that some online reviewers complained about the room smell, but I had to sniff really hard to smell a little bit of water, probably because we had the water-side room.  Honestly, I did not have any odor problems.  Due to a lack of sleep on the first night, I really had a good sleep on the Botel.  In the morning, we found that the hotel breakfast offered a variety of food more than a typical continental breakfast, including sausages, bacons, cheeses, bread rolls, cereals, and hot and cold drink machines.  However, the breakfast area had so many people that we had to wait for some trays to be filled with food.  Overall, it was a good and reasonable hotel.  I recommend that those who want to have a unique experience should try one night.  In my case, one night was good enough for me, because I felt a little cumbersome to go across the harbor via the ferry for sightseeing or dinning out.  What was worst was that we took a wrong ferry for the second time.  We then had to return to the Botel harbor area and take a correct ferry to the central train station.  In the morning, we also felt as though we were still floating even on the ground.  Therefore, I recommend one night at this one-of-a-kind hotel on the water.

Due to my morning flight, my friend booked my last hotel inside the Amsterdam Schiphol airport.  It was called the Yotel Schiphol, which was another unique hotel.  This airport hotel was inspired by a Japanese capsule hotel, but it was more stylish, comfortable, and spacious than the Japanese capsule hotels.  The room was small but functional enough for a solo female traveler.  I could lie down on a very comfortable bed and watch a flat-screen TV with a remote control.  I did not hear any noise during my sound sleep.  However, it would be too small for me to share it with someone else.  The bathroom was also clean and functional.  However, a strong shower splashed a little bit on the main floor.  This hotel was almost self-service, but the hotel staff was nice and helpful.  I like this hotel, but I have one big question:  Why is this hotel located after the passport control? 

It was difficult to find the appropriate departures gate at night where I could meet an officer who would take me to the Yotel, although I read a given instruction.  The night-time airport looked like a ghost town.  However, the harder challenge came in the morning.  I thought that I had enough time to check in my luggage since I was sleeping at the airport.  After I checked out the Yotel, I saw a huge crowd of people waiting at the immigration.  I immediately thought that I might miss my flight.  I tried to talk to an officer, but he just treated me as if I were not there.  All I could do there was to get a line and wait to exit.  Worst of all, another officer stopped me alone for inspecting my passport.  (I probably looked like a maniac.)  Fortunately, I did not miss my flight and had some time to buy a souvenir at the departure lounge.  However, I did not need such an anxiety attack in the morning.  It was just troublesome to go through the passport control to check my luggage to the airline and go through another passport control to board my flight.  I recommend the Yotel, if you have a transit flight without a check-in bag or a very early flight when few people stand at the immigration.  In my case of the 10:30 AM flight, I might have been better off to stay in a hotel near the airport or the train station in the city.   

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From the airport to the city center:

We took a direct train from the Schiphol international airport to the Amsterdam central station.  We did not have a long wait to get on the train from the airport.  It was fast and easy.  It took us approximately 20 minutes to reach the central station.  A single ticket cost 4.30 Euro, but we did not know that a ticket purchase at the counter was charged extra.  Use a machine to avoid a line and extra charge. 

Within Amsterdam:

In my opinion, a combination of trams and walking is the best way to get around Amsterdam.  Amsterdam is a relatively small and flat.  Therefore, it is easy to walk in the city.  However, I think that it is difficult for a first-time visitor to explore Amsterdam only on foot.  In my case, I saw canal after canal and got confused at my current location a couple times.  Street signs were hard to read and pronounce.  In addition, I did not see many outstanding landmarks, such as a gigantic tower and a hilltop church, which helped me to navigate myself in the unfamiliar city.  I heard that I should look for Dam square, a.k.a. "the Dam", if I ever get lost, because all roads lead to the Dam.  However, the Dam square is not viewable from everywhere. 

Do not worry!  If you master the tram system, it is easy to maneuver around Amsterdam.  In my opinion, the tram is the best transportation option to do sightseeing in Amsterdam.  You can see the town on the tram, unlike metro.  It runs frequently and fast.  Many sights and attractions are located near the tram stations.  In addition, a travel pass would become your friend in your tram trip.  We bought 24-hour travel passes from a hostel.  Each pass cost 7 Euro, which would be estimated to pay off after 4 trips.  You can use the same travel pass on bus and metro for 24 hours from the time you first use.   

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