Trip to The Netherlands: Part 6

 


April 21-23, 2023


April 21st Friday was our last day together with the full group on the Feniks. That morning the Feniks set out for sail out of Haarlem with all of us on board. About an hour or so later we docked at one place and took out our bikes. Dave decided to stay on the boat that day. The rest of us made our way to see the famed site of Zaanse Schans in Zaandam, north of Amsterdam. This site is visited each year by over 2 million tourists. Several old windmills and wooden houses were relocated to this area with the purpose of preservation. There are museums and dainty gift shops at the location. We spent nearly 2 hours here walking around and seeing the historic windmills, taking photos and later enjoying our lunch sandwiches. No matter how tired we were eating the same sandwiches for the whole week, each time when we were hungry, those sandwiches seemed bliss! 

From Zaandam we biked to a site where we took a ferry that crossed over to the original site in Amsterdam where our trip had begun. It was a short bike ride from the ferry to where the Feniks had docked. That was the last time we climbed in to our bikes!

That evening no one wanted to leave the boat in the evening. Except Bonnie! She went right away searching for museums and shops on her own. The rest of us lounged in the dining area with some fine cheese and wine. Minal even opened a game of scrabble to play with me. Rayne and Pauline however needed the table cleared out for the special dinner that night.

Marius’ wife Loes( pronounced Lo-es) joined us for the dinner. Pauline had made fish for dinner along with a super delicious chocolate dessert topped with her preserved cherries. After dinner we settled bills for use of wine etc and handed a collective envelope of tips for the crew. They had been really nice and felt like family. We had a good discussion about what we liked about the trip and provided some feedback about what could be improved to make the experience better. 

It was time to keep all bags packed as next morning we would leave the boat. The Braids( Connie and Derek) had an early flight the next day so they were to leave early. We hugged them and took leave before going to bed. 

Next morning when we woke up they had already left. The rest of us hung around for breakfast before taking leave of the crew. Four of us ( Risbuds and Barves) took our luggage and walked 2 blocks to the tram station and from there headed to Amsterdam Central Station. Henk had given a brilliant suggestion to keep the luggage in the lockers at the station because our hotel for the night was near Schiphol Airport which was a good 40 minutes drive. Once we stored the luggage we were free to go around the city. 

We bought day passes for the city trams and buses and set out. First destination: Anne Frank Haus. This is perhaps the most visited and known location in the city. The house where this young girl hid during the holocaust and penned her soulful diary today allows visitors a glimpse of the life she lived. There is limited entry to the museum and it gets sold out much earlier, especially during peak season. We weren’t lucky to get tickets. Yet even from outside it was a solemn experience. We spent some time at a cafe adjoining the museum building before walking ahead. 

Next we took the tram to Vermeer Museum. Here too no luck finding tickets. This place is reminiscent of the National Mall in Washington DC. Large central ground with several prominent museums situated around it. At the far end from the Vermeer Museum stands a beautiful Concert Hall. The Van Gogh museum in somewhere between the two. The grounds are highlighted by a pond with large granite containers holding gorgeous assemblies of tulips, a perfect spot for pictures. Since none of the museum tickets were available, we just soaked in the atmosphere outside as well as browsed and shopped for souvenirs in the couple of museum stores on site. The architecture of all these buildings was eye catching. 

After spending a couple of hours in this remarkable place we were hungry and began to search for a place to eat. Everyone agreed upon Indian cuisine. We took a tram tracing our way back to the part of the city where we had earlier seen a few Indian restaurants. Phone apps came handy to locate one in that area. It was owned by a Pakistani family but the owner had several Indian friends present there who had immigrated more recently from India. All these folks were super helpful with everything from ordering food, to helping with suggestions for shopping places nearby etc. The  menu had a large selection and food was reasonably good. They were quite busy with takeout orders. We were perhaps just one of very few people coming in to sit down and eat. 

It had started to rain even before we entered this place. Our rain gear was packed up in our luggage that was left in the lockers that morning. As we finished our lunch and got onto the road the rain picked force. We entered an antiques store to while away time until the rain stopped. The antiques store turned out to be a huge mall with so many vendors putting up their goods in small shops extending into alley after alley. There were ceramic items, jewelry, housewares, chess boards, silverware, artwork, clothing, hats, eye glasses and so much more. As I wandered inside the seemingly endless corridors I found myself lost at one point unable to find my way to the exit . After some going around finally found the way back to the door where we had entered the place. 

Despite all the time spent inside, the rain had not stopped. We walked out cautiously taking shelter where possible until we found a sports goods shop. They had run out of umbrellas but had ponchos. We bought these. Soon Minal found umbrellas at a grocery store. Now we were ready to brave the showers again. Walking past the stores we spotted a really elegant raincoat on a mannequin outside one shop. Minal and I decided to check it out. These were really high quality raincoats made specially to suit when riding a bike. Both of us got one for ourselves much to the disapproval of our husbands. 

From here we headed to see the much talked about red light district of the city. Met some funny glances and comments from people as we asked for directions to the place. One delightfully mischievous shopkeeper teased us ” I’ll show you. It’s my home. How much will you pay me ? “ Finally after the long search we arrived at this rather loud place. It had an entirely different aura about it. There were crowds, bars and loud music. The curtained windows of the brothels had curious visitors trying to gain a peek. Occasional call girls were seen behind the glass doors. We wanted coffee and snacks and I was uncomfortable in that place and insisted on getting out of there. 

We walked to Central Station area again, passing by Madame Tussaud museum on our way. Minal found a cafe that served a cheese platter and wine. I was interested in finding a pastry with pear or peach. Abhay accompanied me to search for a bakery for this while the Barves stopped at the cafe. We walked and walked until there was no bakery in sight. Saw a board that read Coffee Shop in bold letters! Turned out to be a cannabis hub! We returned disappointed and tired to join the Barves for the cheese platter. The cheese unfortunately was disgusting. But my hot chocolate was good. 

Having done our walking for the day we decided to head to our hotel. We bought train tickets, retrieved our luggage from the lockers and took one train and then a connection to Schiphol airport. As we sat in the connection train Minal spotted Bonnie from her window. Bonnie was walking outside on the station. Turns out their flight to Stockholm was cancelled and they were given a direct flight to Newark instead though for the next day. 

Once at Schiphol airport via train we waited for the shuttle to our hotel. It was about a 7 minute drive on the bus. The hotel was nice, clean and convenient. The room accommodated all four of us so we got to spend some good time together. I created one episode of panic when I couldn’t find our passports. I rummaged through all the bags and nowhere were they to be found. Minal texted Henk and he checked on the boat and they weren’t there. For a final recheck I reached deep into my backpack and heaved a sigh of relief when my hands could feel the passport case! 

That night we had dinner in the restaurant downstairs. Pizza, burrata salad and truffle fries were all good. Later back in the room we had some animated chat between four of us about spousal frictions. The rather touchy topic was softened by a sudden burst of laughter when Abhay made a comment that he had traveled to Montreal in March to “chaperone” me !! 

Minal and Atul left early Sunday around 5:30 am because their flight was earlier. The hotel provided them a brown bag breakfast. Abhay and me enjoyed a nice buffet breakfast at the restaurant downstairs before taking the shuttle at 8:30 am. 

The airport was busy and it took us a while to check in our bags at the KLM counter. Met a very pleasant elderly gentleman, 77,  from Petra,Iowa as we waited in line for the check in. He was traveling with a group of 80 other people and had a good 10 days trip in the country. He was a Dutch descendant but this was his first ever trip to the Netherlands. He told me about the tulip festival in Iowa coming up on the second Saturday in May. 

Minal had texted me earlier about a sale on cheese at the airport. I had a good time in the duty free shop picking that plus sone other souvenirs. The flight home was made especially comfortable by the super pleasant crew on board. I have marked KLM as a chosen carrier for the further trips to India or Europe. 

We arrived at LAX passed noon on Sunday April 23rd. The renovation at the airport drives me crazy. The stop for the parking shuttle was a good 2-3 blocks away. Having to haul our bags to there was no fun after the long travel. Fortunately picking up the car at the parking was no hassle. Adwight had kept it there for us when he left for Hawaii. It worked out well.

I got into the driver’s seat from there till we navigated through some significant traffic within the city and over the grapevine to make it home by 6:30 pm. Aai had kept varan bhaat ready. Had a stomach full of that and that bliss carried onto the bed almost naturally. Home sweet home it was ! 

Reflecting back on the past seven days, the Dutch people have charmed me with their manners and hospitality, contentment and cleanliness, modern and practical outlook as well as healthy lifestyle. More than for the beauty of the tulips and the canals and rural landscape, or even for the museums that I missed seeing this time, I will love to return to meet these lovely people again. All thanks to Minal and Atul for convincing me to do this trip even when I seriously doubted my physical fitness for a biking adventure. I feel so proud and happy to have met the challenge, despite a few tumbles from the bike. It has boosted my confidence for more physical activity and challenges. 

























































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