Commuting

Today I rode my bike to work for the first time.  I've practiced riding on the weekends and at night, but this is the first time in peak hour, and it's quite a different experience.  The bike paths chock full, but I feel safe enough amongst the pack as long as I stay straight and consistent.
I also got my personal OV-chipkaart today, a bright pink tram card with my face printed on it.  Now I feel more like a local when I swipe it on the tram, rather than using the blue anonymous ones that the tourists use.  WHat's even better is that work pays for any travel I do using the card within zones 1 & 2, so I can go anywhere between Zuid and Centraal for free- score!

Bikes!

We're getting more and more Dutch each day- this weekend we bought bikes! And being second hand, we don't stick out like the tourists who ride the brand new bright red or yellow rental bikes around town.  We bought them from a little bike shop around the corner from our house called Ciclo Rijwielhandel.  Given the massive market for bicycles in Amsterdam, one would think that prices might be low but they are in fact the opposite- we bought second hand ones on the cheaper end of the scale and paid 150 euro each (including sturdy new locks). You do get what you pay for with Dutch bikes though- they are ridiculously well made compared to the bikes I have owned in Australia.

My bike is like my first car- it's around 30 years old but was previously owned by an old lady who had it in the shed for years so it hasn't seen much use.  It's in very good nick, no rust or anything like that.

Our first ride in Amsterdam was a baptism of fire- we went to pay for the bikes and he only accepted cash, of which we didn't have enough, so he said we could ride to the ATM to get cash out.  So with no time to practice in a quiet area, it was straight out onto the main street to find a bank.  It was quite nerve racking, but probably a good thing that we didn't have time to be nervous about it before we started.
We went for a ride to the park to practice, and also to my work to figure out which way to go.  It's a quick and fun way to get around, and very easy given the complete lack of hills.  Hopefully over the coming months we'll get better and more confident on our new bikes.

Our bikes! Sam's on the left, mine on the right

Parking lot at the fron of our house

Serious bike lock

Spring has sprung!

As mentioned in a previous post, the beginning of spring has been a real privilege to see.  It is pretty amazing to see sights like Dam Square, the parks and the canals with sun and blue sky, as opposed to the stark whiteness of the snow which covered them just a few weeks ago.

One of the coolest things which we've seen is the abundance of wildflowers.  They seem to be growing in just about every spare patch of grass.  Can't wait to get out to the tulip fields- if these photos are anything to go by, it will be amazing!

A different colour

Sometimes, after days and days on end of constantly grey, overcast weather, one begins to forget that the sky could be any other colour.  The dullness is so uniform that it does not appear to be cloudy, it is as though the sky is actually just grey.  But when the sun does come out, it rewards us for our patience. The pure deep blue of the sky on a clear morning is unlike any other colour I have ever seen before.  In a way, I think it is even more spectacular than any blue sky I have experienced back home- and being from Australia, Queensland, Brisbane, this is not something I say lightly.  Maybe I will eventually become complacent with my weekday morning walk to the tram stop, looking through the bicycles and bare branches into a beautiful blue sky- but then again, maybe not.

On the way to the morning commute 

View from our front window- no photoshop required

Vondelpark

This last week has marks the beginning of spring (which does not start on the 1st of the month as one would expect, but rather on the 20-something of March each year.  It is been an unbelievable start to the season- it's been 5 or 6 consecutive days of sunshine now, getting up to almost 20 degrees during the day.
Along with seemed like the entire population of Amsterdam, we spent some time on the weekend at the Vondelpark, soaking up the sun.  It was such a great way to spend the afternoon- picnic lunch and home-made cookies enjoyed out in the fresh air on a sunny blue day.

We have some friends at church (who have been amazingly friendly and welcoming to us) that invited us around to their place for a competition dinner party.  The 6 couples are invited to bring a food and drink combination to impress the other attendees, and amongst good wine and good conversation, we score each others' culinary creations and the couple with the highest scoring dish is declared the winner.

My amazing wife (who due to temporary unemployment has time on her hands) made this incredible chocolate brownie with raspberry coolie and cream- complete with chocolate, raspberries and fresh mint leaves sourced from the local markets.  It proved to be everyone's favourite on the night- how could it not be?

Lost in De Jordaan

Today we folowed the Lonely Plant Amsterdam book on a walking tour through the Jordaan, in the west of Amsterdam Centruum.  It was about 15 minutes on the tram from near our place at Roelof Hartplein to the Willemsstraat station.  From there we zig-zagged our way through the Jordaan district, finishing near Dam Square.  The shopping areas were a highlight of the district with markets such as the Noordermarkt out the front of the Noorderkerk which had a variety of breads, cheeses, flowers and antiques, and the Lindengracht markets which is a 1km stretch of farmer's market stalls.  We also wandered through the Negenstraatjes (Nine Streets) area which hosts upmarket accessory stores and art galleries.

Herring Hot Dog

Noorderkerk

Noordermarkt

Mushroom Stall at the Noordermarkt

Cafe Chris, in the backstreets of de Jordaan

The other significant attractions of the area are the churches.  These include the cross-shaped Noorderkerk (with the markets out the front) and the Westerkerk, which is a an early1600's building topped with an intricately decorated blue and gold crown.  The melodic chiming of the bells was a highlight, and adds the the sense of history when reading how Anne Frank mentions this same chiming in her diaries (the Anne Frank house is nearby the church).

Westerkerk

The blue crown atop the tallest spire of the Westerkerk

Canal over the Prinsengracht next to the Westerkerk

After seeing the house where the bankrupt Rembrandt died (it now houses a Japanese souvenir shop...) we made our way up to Centraal Station so I could put some more credit on my OV-chipkaart, and we decided to go via the Oude Kerk.  The 'old church' is the oldest landmark in Amsterdam, dating back to 1306.  The magnificent pipe organ watches over the tomb-stone covered floor, under which thousands of Amsterdammers were buried up until the 1800's.  The renovation which the inside of the church is undergoing does detract a bit from immersion in the experience, but it is still pretty spectacular to be in such an old building.

Rembrandt's house

Oude Kerk

One of many several metre high stained glass windows in the Oude kerk

Oude kerk's pipe orgen

One of the many tombstones which tile the floor of the church

The area outside the church is basically the red light district and although there was not much to be seen from the main street we walked along, there was a definite feeling of seediness in the area.  It seems that this is the type of area from which Amsterdam gets much of its reputation, and it was full of tourists who looked as though they came here only to experience that reputation for themselves.  Having been here for almost 5 weeks now, I can definitely say that this type of area is the exception, not the rule when it comes to this beautiful city.

Centraal Station

Margere Brug

The bridge near our Nieuwe Kerkstraat apartment is called the Margere Brug.  It's a foot traffic only drawbridge and has pretty spectacular views up and down the Amstel, especially at night.  Here's a few of my favourites from the area.

Our New Home

Our new apartment is on Cornelis Anthoniszstraat.  It's in the Oud Zuid (Old South) and it is a beautiful area of Amsterdam.  It is full of cafes, restaurants and nice bars, and we're only a few minutes walk from amazing Amsterdam features like the Albert Cuypmarkt, the Concertgebouw, the Stadelijk museum and the Vondelpark.  It's also only 2.5km in one direction to my work, and 2.5km in the other direction to the Centre (Dam Square etc.).  It's pretty much the perfect location.

The spaces between the upmarket main streets are criss-crossed with quiet, bicycle-filled laneways that are lined by rows of well maintained early 1900's red brick buildings.  These buildings are typically 4 or 5 levels high and quite narrow, but on the inside much refurbishment has taken place and often multiple adjacent rooms, either horizontally or vertically, have been joined together to make family sized homes.  The space we can call our own for the next while is just a single floor in a single building, but should be plenty for the two of us.

Our place comes fully furnished which reduces the stress of going furniture and appliance shopping, and the greater problem of furniture and appliance selling that we will encounter when the time comes to move home to Australia.  A large storage room on the 4th level has a full set of built-ins for keeping our things as well as the washing machine, and is large enough for it to double as a spare bedroom for when we have guests over.

The only real compromise we've had to make (other than the price) is small bathroom. Put it this way- if you've got long legs, I hope you're happy to use the toilet with the door open, because it's not gonna close while you're sitting in there...

Wet and cold, but home

This weekend, we stayed at my work apartment on Saturday night because it was easier to get to church on Sunday morning, then on Sunday after church we would carry the last few things from the work apartment to our new place, and that would be our move completed.  At least, that was the plan.

The train (metro) we catch to church goes past the Ikea, so on the way home on Sunday afternoon we decided to stop off at Ikea for coffee and cake, and pick up some bits and pieces we needed for the new house.  As always, we forgot to account for the Ikea Multiplier.  It seems that whenever one goes to Ikea to buy a few things, they always end up buying many times more times than planned- a number which in my experience is somewhere between 3 and 5.

IKEA- an international constant

This meant that our simple walk from my work apartment to our new place was not the relaxed stroll it should have been, due to the ridiculous amount of stuff we were trying to balance on our shoulders.  To make matters worse, it started raining.  We decided to catch the tram, but still had a kilometer walk through the rain.

Late on Sunday night we arrived at our new place, this time for good.  We're wet, cold and sore from the walk but very excited to spend the first night at our new house in Amsterdam.

Apartment search completed!

Everything has been finalised with our new apartment! The payments have all been completed, the contract signed and the keys handed over.  After a glass of wine to celebrate in our new living room, it was back to the old apartment though.  We'll stay there as we gradually transfer our things and get utilities set up over the next few days.