Like everyone who watched Kumaari song in Anniyan a decade ago, I was mesmerised by the tulip fields in Netherlands. Unlike my passionate desire to visit Rome, the home of Angels and Demons, the wish to visit the tulip field was a shallow day dream. Not something I ever thought I'd be able to do. But..
Having woken up before 4am, we were in for a long day with almost all modes of transport being used in the same day. We drove to Gatwick and parked in long stay car park. Then we took a shuttle bus to North Terminal to catch an easyjet flight to Schipol Airport in Amsterdam. Though we were mildly tempted by the hot British breakfast at Wetherspoon, the long queue made us glad that I'd packed vegetable wraps from home for breakfast.
I slept through most of the flight and woke up to see far away windmills at work in the outskirts of Amsterdam. The immigration officers asked no questions about our destination or length of stay and let us straight through. The smooth immigration experience was offset by the hassle we went through to get to the rental car shuttle. We walked so much around the airport that vivofit congratulated me on completing my daily goal for steps before 11am. After calling the rental car company thrice, we finally managed to find the meeting point. I was parched, sleep deprived, tired from carrying the backpack around and a little annoyed at the lack of useful directions in the booking email and it was apparently visible on my face. The elderly gentleman who met us shook both our hands and assured us that everything will be fine now, no need to worry and we'll be in the rented car in a few minutes.
Indeed, the staff of the Goldcar rental company were very warm. They offered us free coffee and it did wonders to relieve me from headache. The staff at the desk gave us great ideas for the day and we mostly did what he had suggested for the rest of the day. It was almost noon when we left in the car but we still had several hours to cover what we wanted to see that day.
This whole rented car thing was planned just the week before the trip when I realised after my research that the Keukenof garden was almost a scam. It was not too different from Greenwich park in spring except hosting tulips in the potted areas rather than other plants. I understood that the best way to view tulip fields is by entering random fields in outskirts of Lisse. Our plan changed from taking the Keukenof express bus from airport to hiring a car for the day instead. The cost was the same or lower and we could stop where we wanted. On nearing Keukenof gardens, I was convinced that my decision had been right for us because there were about thousand vehicles in the parking and most of them buses! Staying well away from the crowds, we drove on to Noordwijk, the place suggested by the Goldcar staff.
We passed by a few fields but nowhere easy to stop. After stopping for a quick lunch at a small town shop, we found a farm with tulip fields. Delighted, we walked to the fields and it was just like I imagined. The yellow flowers were the most accessible and the pink ones far away. Still, it was a glorious day and the scene was so photogenic.
On our way back, we noticed gorgeous horses in the farm and the white one stood out because of its braided “ponytail”.
We ran into a couple working at the farm and we were afraid that we may be told off because clearly we were trespassing on private land. But they just wanted to see the pictures Lakshman took of the horses in his SLR and were overcome with aaawww’s. After that they went into the enclosure and started hugging the horses, such warm people!
I noticed this table at the start of the slip road into the farm, fresh chicken eggs on a table with prices written on the boxes and a collection tin placed next to it. There were no CCTV cameras. The farm owners simply trusted that they will get the quoted money. This level of trust was a novelty to a city dweller and I admired them for it. The whole property was surrounded by bird song, it must be a haven to live in.
Throughout the day we noticed people of all ages cycling around. It reminded me of the walkers in Lake District, everyone just did it. On the roads, cyclists got right of passage. There were plenty of people cycling off road near the fields as well. After the first field, we walked on a nature trail again surrounded by birdsong. Lakshman was convinced one of the birds must be a nightingale because of its sweet music.
After that, we stopped by another tulip field which had shades of pink blossom. It was absolutely gorgeous and perfect.
We then drove to our final attraction for the day - Zaanse Schans. On our way, we noticed a few fields with orange and rich purple tulips but settled on admiring from a distance. We had to use a ferry on the car to cross a big canal to get to Zaanse Schans. Once we got there, it was so cold due to breeze from the canal that we spent more time finding parking than walking around the attraction. After enjoying the views, we quickly returned to the warmth of the car. It was nowhere as cold as Scotland but only a problem because we weren't wearing enough layers.
We finally drove back to return the car and thanked the staff profusely for his suggestion about Noordwijk, took the shuttle van back to the airport, took a train to Amsterdam Centraal and then boarded the free ferry to NSDM. There were so many cyclists in the city, we were amazed. Amsterdam has a reputation for its hedonism but not enough for being eco-friendly. We had delicious take away pizza from a shop in Centraal for dinner while waiting for the ferry that would take us to the hotel. While waiting and eating, I noticed a tall building across from the Centraal on top of which some crazy people were on a swing off the edge of the building!
We reached our hotel by 9.30pm. The hotel was in fact a stationary boat and called Botel. It had been an incredibly long day and we'd used every form of transport.
Car-shuttle bus-flight-shuttle van-car-car on ferry-shuttle van-train-ferry. All in one day!!!
Unfortunately things took a turn for the worse at 3.45am. Our neighbours in the hotel returned to their room drunk or high and played rock music in the TV and sang along. I'm a light sleeper and this woke me up. I tolerated this for an hour then went down to the reception to complain, bleary eyed. The staff at the reception came up with me to request them to keep it down, the music stopped for a few minutes but once the staff went back down to the reception, the karaoke continued for another hour. I was extremely annoyed. Finally they slept at about 6am and I followed suit shortly thereafter. We woke up at 8.30, unusually late for our normal holiday standards.
The breakfast buffet was a decent spread, far better options than our experience in Bavaria but the restaurant was very understaffed as the hotel had 300rooms and this being a long weekend, occupancy was high. There was a small area where the food was kept and guests were acting like hyenas around the food. It was not a pretty sight. With some effort and ingenuity, we managed to get croissants at last, which tasted heavenly. We were missing the elegance, abundance and decency of the English breakfast served in B&B's at our table without this hassle. I used to fantasise about a cruise holiday but considering how people behaved in crowds and on holiday, I was wondering if we will even enjoy it.
Finally we caught the ferry into the city. The ferry service was provided by the government free of charge and people took their cycles, motorbikes and even mini two-seater cars on the ferry. And it looked like there were a million cycles in this city.
Finally we caught the ferry into the city. The ferry service was provided by the government free of charge and people took their cycles, motorbikes and even mini two-seater cars on the ferry. And it looked like there were a million cycles in this city.
There were so many parking areas for cycles, even a multilevel cycle parking right next to the canal.
We decided to go on a glass topped canal cruise to get a lay of the land. It was a pleasant hour and we saw typical Amsterdam sights.
We learnt interesting trivia like there were a thousand bridges over canals, despite the safety railings one car a week fell into a canal, Amsterdam was several feet below sea level and we saw tall narrow dancing buildings that were swaying slightly with the years. Apparently the property tax is based on the width of the buildings so the Dutch tended to build tall and narrow to save on taxes.
After the cruise which weaved through canals, we were no wiser about the lay of the land but we started to walk. We stumbled upon on a couple of sights like the Magna plaza and the National monument but mostly we walked along canals like nomads without any destination in mind.
We stopped for a slice of take away pizza for lunch and continued to walk for atleast two hours. A stop at a cute strawberry bar stood out. This is what Lakshman gets for visiting Amsterdam with a teetotaller, a drink at a place called Strawberry bar.
It had been a while since we'd been on a holiday like this without a long itinerary and when we could just relax. There were several shops that sold weed cigarettes and products made of weed like space cake, weed ice cream and cannabis lollipop. There was even a marijuana museum. Though it was illegal to smoke weed outside the so called “coffee shops”, we did come across the smell several times throughout the city. No, not enough to make us high, but no regrets about that!
Our less than perfect sleep from the previous night caught up with us and we took the ferry back to the room for an early evening nap. After a couple of hours of snoozing, we went back into the city for more walking around the Damrak area and got take away pizza for dinner from New York pizza chain.
More walking led us to the red light district and it was a strange new sight. There were several shops that sold products catering to the sexually active adult market. Women, who were absolutely gorgeous and with fit bodies’ like runway models, stood inside glass windows like items on display. Some of them had a naughty smile but most looked tired with the routine. I was curious at first especially since the women wore minimal clothing and many shone from far away like the clothes were made out of radium. Soon though, I felt very sorry for them and when we saw some tourist men making enquires to some of these women, we left that area soon and moved on to the normal side of the canals.
One thing that I did wonder was, why there were no male prostitutes on display? Why the sexism? Perhaps some muscled and chiselled men with appealing faces like Jon Snow or Damon Salvatore. But no such luck. Okay fine, I wasn't wondering, more like regretting.
We walked some more in twilight, had some gelato to lift our spirits and took the ferry back from Centraal to the Botel.
Once inside the Botel, it was a almost impossible to discern that we were not on land but floating on a boat. The occasional swaying was the only clue. Thankfully there was no drunk neighbour that night and we had a nice long sleep.
The next day after another competitive breakfast, we checked out of Botel, admired a lovely exterior wall painting of Anne Frank and took the ferry to Centraal.
They clicked green screen pictures of us and edited then to look like we were falling off a floating construction beam hanging on the city skyline. Then there was a game of thrones style iron throne only this one was made out of guitars instead of swords.
There were some funny goods on sale too.
Once we were on the skydeck, suddenly we became crazy people too. We went on the “Over the deck” swing of the edge of the building which was exhilarating and scary. It was almost like we were in a theme park.
We then went back to Centraal and once again walked like nomads through Damrak high streets and nearby canals. It was full of street food shops and perfect for people like us who preferred a quick bite over a fancy sit down meal. I had a subway sandwich on the go and Lakshman had pizza slice. We also kept buying random snacks and sweets from the shops. We walked over 20,000 steps every day on this trip but the way we were eating, I don't think we walked enough! It was a welcome change after the gastronomically unsatisfactory Bavarian meals a few weeks ago. Since we had some more time to kill, we took the ferry again just taking on the views of River Amstel. Something we wouldn't have done if the ferry had not been free. Overall we had used the free ferry 11times in 3days, but only once without purpose!
Finally we picked up our bags from Botel, took the ferry back to Centraal and boarded a fast train to Schipol Airport. Our brief trip over a long weekend with only two nights stay seemed a lot longer than it was because of the leisurely pace and lack of itinerary. Perhaps that's how holidays should be, that was definitely not our usual style.
Amsterdam has reputation for its hedonistic lifestyle and having witnessed the casual use of marijuana and the legalised prostitution, I am not surprised by this reputation, but there is more to the city than just that. The multitude of canals and gorgeous bridges, the Damrak fast food shops, historic buildings and museums, the beautiful river Amstel that gave the city its name, the breathtaking tulip fields just a short way from the city and the relaxed farm life in the outskirts surrounded by nature and birdlife was also Amsterdam. I think people find what they are looking for in Amsterdam, be it hedonism or an active life of cycling around in a beautiful European city.
And what words could I use to express my gratitude for a life where not only the fiercely passionate dreams come true but the shallow idle day dreams too!
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