Nederland Part I

Op De Horsten - our B&B near Amsterdam

After finally leaving Chris and Maurice’s place in Belgium we headed on to Holland, Chris had booked us into a B&B in Monnickendam on the north side of Amsterdam.  It was great having her to organise it because she could speak Dutch to them and get it all sorted, their English was a bit limited (better than our Dutch though!).  When I’d looked for accomodation on the internet we were going to stay in Amsterdam itself but I couldn’t find anywhere that had free parking included, and Reece had looked at places but not actually got around to booking anything.  If we stayed somewhere in the city and had to park on the street it was going to cost the equivalent of NZ$40-60 per day!

Delft "Sweetdish" - I love the beautiful designs on these little plates

First we headed to the official Delftware factory (de Porceleyne Fles) which I wanted to tour, but by the time we got there it was too late for a tour so we just looked around the factory shop.  They had heaps of souvenir-type things (eg. clogs and windmills) that didn’t cost too much, but when I went further back into the shop there was the real stuff that cost rather a lot, but the difference in quality was obvious.  They had some amazing stuff with beautiful patterns, I love the classic blue and white floral designs rather than the multi-coloured ones or actual pictures.  I ended up spending a bit more than I originally intended, got a couple of little plates/dishes that were on sale because they were last season’s design.

Then on to our B&B, Bruce and Jill had a room upstairs with an ensuite and Reece and I had a self-contained apartment that was still in the process of being finished so it wasn’t quite self-contained yet – toilet but no shower or handbasin!  But we had a kitchette, sofa and chairs and a coffee table so we all had dinner out there (bread, cheese, dutch sausage, mustard, tomatoes and fruit and Belgian chocolate to finish with) and then played cards.  Next day we headed to Amsterdam on the bus for the day – the bus stop was practically right outside where we were staying.  The bus fares for all of us cost nearly what parking for the day would have cost, but it was a better deal because we didn’t have the stress of driving into town and we had better accomodation than we would have had for the same price in town.  There was a big dyke on the other side of the road from where we stayed with a cycle path along the top, this seemed to be pretty common – there were lots of cycle paths in the country and in the cities the cycle lane systems were fantastic.  The stories are true – there are HEAPS of cyclists in Amsterdam and on more than one occasion we had near misses when crossing the road because we weren’t paying attention and they just come out of nowhere so quickly!  On every corner and every bridge there were hordes of bicycles parked, and cyclists don’t have to wear helmets so they’re all just riding around in their normal casual or business clothes.

Amsterdam

We spent the day just wandering around looking in the shops, no one had anything planned or organised and I hadn’t bothered because I thought Reece’s parents were sorting it out.  Bruce had Dutch friends in NZ and so had learned quite of bit of Dutch language, he had a constant smile on his face being there and having the chance to actually use it in Holland.

There were lots of coffeehouses (hint: they don’t have just coffee on the menu) but we skirted the red light district, although Jill managed to see a couple of ladies sitting in a window that somehow the rest of us all missed.   She was collecting a shot glass from every country or main city we visited so she was busy looking for a shot glass and postcards, the rest of us were just happy wandering around taking photos and trying not to get run over by cyclists.  She eventually bought one and Reece asked which she ended up getting, she said the one he’d pointed out to her and he cracked up… he had been only joking and when she got it out and showed it to him he showed her the marijuana leaves in the middle of the emblem where there should be three crosses…