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| The Brown Bldg is our B&B |
It was a little under a 3-hour ride to Amsterdam and we got in around 5:30. It was chaotic in the train station and the 17-yr old at the tourism desk was, well, not the most useful in assisting us in finding our way to the bed and breakfast, so, with the imminent threat of rain, we elected to use a cab rather than public transport. Not a good sign when your cab driver has no clue about the address you give him. We did eventually make it through the maze of canals to the Amstel Canal Bed and Breakfast, though the accommodations themselves were not clearly marked so I had to get out and look at the addresses in the mailbox slots, and, sure enough, there was Amstel Canal House. We ended up paying twice what we should have for the taxi fare and vowed to try to use public transport next time . . . though with the luggage it can be pretty challenging.
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| Narrow staircase! |
Ken, the Chinese proprietor of Amstel Canal House, ENTHUSIASTICALLY greeted us and galloped down the hall with our luggage and hauled it up this most remarkable narrow,STEEP, spiralling, staircase that is about 24 inches wide. The tourbooks warned us about this. The books also warned us about quaint little bed and breakfasts right on the canals that end up being above or next to bars or clubs. This B&B is certainly quaint and right on the canal, but the gods looked kindly upon us and ensured that we were in a nice quiet residential area, excepting for the occasional drunken group making their way home from the bars. Amsterdam is definitely a City that lives for the night.
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| See the canal outside? |
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| Our lovely room |
Our room is large and spacious with a queen bed (score) that looks right out on the Amstel Canal. Ken, an artist, is very proud of his establishment (as he should be) and showed us our suite of rooms including the bedroom, a sitting room and a bathroom. The bathroom is very small and you could pee, shower, and brush you teeth at the same time, but it is clean, neat and the tile floors are heated. The only slight gliche in the room is that Ken, having only two rooms to let, does not take credit cards. He also expressed a preference for the cash up front (hmmm) but easily conceded that we pay half now and half when we leave.
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| Canal at night |
We settled in and then took off for a stroll in the rain looking for a Indian restaurant, which we found quite easily, and had a very good meal of chicken tikka and curry. As the guidebooks warn, look out for the bicyclists for they really do have the right-of-way here. Usually though they are very polite and ring their bells in warning. Yes these are the bells that we girls had on our bikes when we were seven and even the manliest of men here in Amsterdam have hem and use them.
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| Zuiderkerk Chuch |
We strolled around a little more and then stopped at a local grocery store for a bottle of port and chocolate and then headed off to wind down the evening in our lovely digs. We have a lot planned for our visit here, so there probably won't be anymore posts until we get to Berlin on Saturday and I can use the 6-hour train ride to edit my photos and write the narrative. Cheers!
What a lovely B&B. There appears to be two brown buildings in the photo, a light brown one and a darker which could be black, or dark brown.
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ReplyDeleteOurs is the light-brown building on the left-hand side. It has been lovely staying here. Now we are preparing for our trip to Berlin. Hope to have more posts up soon.
ReplyDeleteYour room is absolutely gorgeous! Wondering about more ample American tourists negotiating those stairs. :-)
ReplyDeleteIn this day and age it seems odd not to accept credit cards. Was this common in Amsterdam (maybe credit card fees?) or was it just a peculiarity of this B&B?
Is there a lot of ethnic variation there? Kind of surprised that your proprietor was Chinese.
@Laurie - As you'll see in a later post, it was more the rule than the exception that CC were not accepted. Do no know why this is the case.
ReplyDeleteIn my postcard to Elena, I think, I remark on the wonderful rich diversity in Amsterdam. Everyone of all races, ethnicity, and creed are represented here and it is hard to figure out if there is a majority of any type. It is a wonderful tolerant feel. Intolerance is directed only at intolerance . . . and idiot tourists on bikes who don't understand the rules of the road. Of all places I've been to, I really see Elena fitting in here. Paris was a close second.