Amsterdam Misc

• First and foremost, GET HEINEKENS OUT OF THE BROWN BOTTLE!

I don’t know if its that they save the good stuff for home, or if something happens to the beer when it travels overseas (or if the green bottle itself distorts the taste), but brown-bottle Heinekens don’t have the after-taste that green-bottle Heinekens have. It was so good that Kadija, who doesn’t have a taste for beer, was feenin’ for another. Matter fact, it was so good that we took a six-pack back to Frankfurt with us. Another piece of trivia: green bottle caps say “Heineken Bier” while brown bottle caps say “Heineken Pilsner.”

• If there are homeless people in Amsterdam, they don’t ask for money on the street. Yeah, there were street performers, but no one came up to us outright and asked for money.
• There are more bikes than cars (oftentimes, bikes even have their own lanes on the street)
  

(the red lane is for bikes only)

• There are ticket booths in the actual tram (sorry, no free rides here).

I can’t speak on the subways though, we never had the need to take one.

• “The Netherlands” and “Holland” are the same country.
• On some streets, trams in opposite directions share the same track and only have their own dedicated track at stops (those on the bridge over a canal).
  

H Street NE could learn a lil’ somethin’ somethin’.

• Stairs everywhere are SUPER steep.
• The ticket area at the Amsterdam Main Train station is like the DMV…100% serious. Going back to Frankfurt, Kadija and I wanted one of those 6-seat booths on the ICE (the high speed trains that run throughout Europe), so we went to the station to reserve one. Upon getting there, they gave us a ticket…our number was like a hundred numbers away. Still, thinking the numbers went super fast or skipped a bunch of numbers, we waited…it wasn’t happening. So we left, walked back to the hotel (all the while taking pictures), got our luggage, and took the tram back to the station…and we were still like 20 numbers away. Mind you, our trip to and from the station took well over an hour. To cap it off, when we finally went to the ticket counter, dude told us we could reserve one of those booths (for a price of course), but it probably wouldn’t be necessary as the train wasn’t that full.
• Everyone spoke legible English and was SUPER amiable. No one had a bad attitude or anything. I’m sure people would try to blame it on the usual suspects (i.e. their “lax” culture), but I really don’t feel that was the case. It was just a positive environment all around. Honestly, if I were to ever “retire” I would seriously consider making this the location.
• Walk-to-Wok – this is one of the “make-your-own-stir-fry” places I mentioned in the Amsterdam New Year’s blog. It was official…that’s all there is to it.
• Finally, they curse on commercials...
  

Matter fact…enjoy!

Cheers.