Orange you glad you Visited Amsterdam? (Netherlands, 2023)

Spoiler alert: this was my favorite trip from my semester abroad, so read for the juicy details!

I flew from Basel to Amsterdam on April 25th, which happened to be the day before King’s Day. The flight featured a bachelorette party, complete with the bride wearing a sash and tiara, drunk bridesmaids, and German/French songs being belted out. It was fun to be part of that atmosphere. Upon my arrival, I made my way to Ben’s house (a friend from Penn who was also abroad). Note: MAKE SURE you scan your card at the airport when getting on the train. The trains will only let you scan out if you had scanned in earlier; otherwise, back to the airport to scan back in.

After dropping off my stuff at Ben’s place and obtaining an air mattress from his friend, we hit the town. Ben’s first mission was to find an orange shirt for the King’s Day festivities, which we succeeded at. The next stop was to grab dinner, and Ben showed me FEBO, a restaurant with these vertical rows of lockers, where each column was a different food: you scan your card at the designated column, and a locker will pop open containing your food. It was super innovative and brought a whole new definition to the phrase “fast food.” It was next door to a bunch of canals, and I preferred these canals to Venice because they broke up the city into organized blocks and weren’t overly crowded (even on King’s Day!) We were just speed-running the touristy stuff in the city, and so we took a quick stroll down the Red Light District. The lighting reminded me heavily of Grand Theft Auto, but it was very tourist-ified, which made most of it feel like it was designed to just attract tourist money (I can’t be complaining; I am a tourist after all). I guess that’s what all popular travel destinations have become, especially during peak travel season.

My FEBO chicken sandwich wasn’t enough to satisfy me through all the walking, so we stopped by a random street stall to grab some fries. I made the rookie mistake of getting ketchup instead of the other rare and interesting sauces, but you live and you learn. We wanted to stop by a coffee shop to truly get the Amsterdam experience but ran into a huge block party on the main streets of the city. There were DJs, lots of drinks, dancing, and bright orange costumes everywhere. We moshed our way through the crowd and got to the shop. I found it hilarious that this “coffee” shop had a coffee menu consisting of 2 options and a marijuana menu that was 3 pages long with 200 options. It had gotten late after all this exploring, so we took the tram back and slept early to get ready for a fun-filled King’s Day the next day.

We woke up early the next morning and headed into the city center of Amsterdam. The canals today were packed with boats of drunk Dutch people in bright orange shirts and hats. The bars were all popping, and the convenience store, Albert Heijn, had to limit alcohol purchases to 1 beer can per person. Clearly, everyone was out to have a good time. Ben and I checked out Cafe Old Sailor, a very famous bar on the edge of the Red Light District. They were overflowing and even set up an outdoor bar on the sidewalk. As we wandered around the city, we found Mike Tyson’s coffee shop. It was exactly the same structure as the previous coffee shop, so I have to say that if you want coffee in this city, be careful where you end up! It was cool to see the interior design and Tyson’s merchandise plastered all over the walls.

It was finally time to eat breakfast, and I helped myself to the Breakfast of Champions: fries from the famous Mannekan Pis, complete with truffle mayo and samurai sauce. It was some of the best fries I’d had in my life! I still think about it sometimes (doesn’t help that I’m writing this post right before lunch). We needed a quick breather, so we headed back to Ben’s place where he had some quick chores and I just relaxed in his room for a bit. Soon enough, we headed to Oranje Bloesem, which was a huge festival at the nearby Olympic Stadium. The outside of the stadium was lined with food/drink/merchandise stalls, which you could buy with special tickets that you buy up-front (a pretty genius business model). The inside, though, was where it was at. There was a techno DJ surrounded by thousands of people wearing bright orange. Ben and I stayed inside for a while, took a break to grab bananas (1 ticket for a banana!), and explored the outside. The directions were pretty confusing because you could only enter the stadium’s interior from one entrance and leave from a different one. This led to Ben and I getting separated, so he headed home earlier than I did. We soon reunited, though, and met some of his friends at his student housing.

To be honest, I was about ready to go to bed, but the evening was just getting started. We all headed to Melkweg, a famous music venue/club, for an Erasmus party (Erasmus is the student organization for European colleges). It was a lot of fun, complete with techno DJs, huge mosh pits, and overpriced drinks. In all the excitement, I lost track of my group but luckily found them when it was time to go around 3AM (note: we had gotten up at 8AM). Ben and I grabbed some more FEBO as well as some pizza and finally headed home.

Ben was leaving to travel elsewhere the next morning, so he left early and gave me his keys. I was absolutely spent from the previous day, so I stayed in bed for a couple more hours. Around mid-morning, I got myself to the RAI Conference Center and on a bus to Keukenhof. Once we reached the world-famous tulip gardens, I grabbed breakfast at the café, consisting of an apple pie and fresh mint tea. It really was fresh; the tea was just a bunch of mint leaves in hot water! Then, I strolled around the gardens and saw the different arrangements of beautiful tulips. The hours passed by like minutes as I wandered around and took way too many pictures. There were even indoor arrangements, which combined arts and crafts with flowers to create multi-colored combinations. Some of the buildings housing these arrangements had little cafés, so I helped myself to some ice cream as I took in the sights. On one end of the park, there was a windmill that overlooked the tulip fields. They were bands of yellow, blue, orange, and purple that stretched into the horizon. That was by far my favorite sight and I wish I explored the fields themselves more. I took a 10$ boat tour around the fields and that provided some stunning views, but the boat was packed with Indian tourists and they were being a bit too loud for me to fully appreciate the serene view. After the boat ride, I found these comically large clogs and took pictures of me wearing them (really embracing the Dutch stereotypes here). Soon enough, it was closing time (which actually was the most empty time and the best to take pictures), and I headed back to RAI via bus.

Next, I headed into the city to try some Indonesian food: a popular cuisine in the country! I got a reservation at Kantjil & De Tijger but had to wait an hour for a table. So, I took a stroll around the city and walked to the Rijksmuseum and back to explore the city in a non-King’s Day context. The food was pretty solid, but I wouldn’t say it was life-changing by any means. Even with a late start to the day, all that walking had me exhausted and so I returned home (to Ben’s home) and fell fast asleep.

Back into a routine, I woke up the next morning at a reasonable time and headed into the city to tour the Royal Palace Amsterdam. The other main museums (Van Gogh, Anne Frank) were booked out for months, but the Palace was available a week in advance. Make sure you plan your Amsterdam trip in advance! I don’t mean to diss the Palace, though; it had a gorgeous interior with tons of statues and ornate rooms. They had a space theme, with 2 of the Roman planet gods on each corner and a gigantic Atlas holding up the globe in the center. My favorite part was exploring the world map painted on the ground and seeing how they saw the world so differently 400 years ago.

As always, I had to try the McDonald’s and grabbed a Greek wrap (not that great) and a McKroket (super delicious and cheesy) before heading to the Amsterdam Centraal to catch a bus to Zaanse Schans. Tulips? Check. Windmills? Up next! As soon I got off the bus, I could see the windmills that were just a short walk away. The village of Zaandam was like taking a time machine back 300 years in the Dutch countryside: complete with sheep, cheese tasting, and beautiful architecture. I also met some of the nicest people ever; I asked a busy storeowner for directions and he walked me to the intersection and pointed out each of the turns I had to make. I decided to bike around and hunted for a bike rental place, which took several tries and trips to the ATM. On the way, I got some souvenirs from some really nice people who gave me stroopwafel samples while I shopped (they worked on me because I bought a pack) Finally, I got a 90 minutes rental for 5€. I happily biked around the countryside, around the windmills, and through several villages. It was some of the most fun I ever had. My route went to the town of Wormer, and a return route through the Zaanse Schans and up to Koog aan de Zaan before heading back. I happily ate my stroopwafels at the train station and headed to Haarlem. Again, make sure to scan in! I forgot and had to sneak out of the gate at Haarlem.

I walked through the suburb to Windmill De Adriaan, a huge black windmill that is the defining point of the city. This scene was much more quiet and I got to enjoy the windmill all to myself, except for some Dutch kids playing soccer behind it. It made me think that all these tourist sites were just part of normal life for the locals, like the back of the windmill acting like a soccer goal. After getting my fair share of windmill views, it was almost sunset, so I decided to do a quick tour of the city square next to the St.-Bavokerk Church. It was at this exact point I realized I was starving and craving chicken wings, and as fate would have it, Hotel Carillon had a bustling outdoor patio facing the church. Being a hotel, I was unsure of the food quality but decided their huge dinner rush is a good sign. I asked for beer recommendations and they gave me an inconspicuous-looking of Belgian beer, a Duvel golden ale. Little did I know that those 330 milliliters would change my life. Maybe it was the exhaustion of the day speaking, but it was the best drink I’d ever had and paired with the Korean wings fantastically. After I finished up, the street was still incredibly lively, so I stopped by the Mexican place next door for some more refreshments. Before long, it was nightfall and I head back home to do a bit of work and fell asleep soon after. Best. Day. Ever.

There was only 1 more thing left on my Amsterdam bucket list: fresh stroopwafels! So, first thing Sunday morning, fresh caramel and biscotti stroopwafels a the Instagram-famous Van Wonderen. They were delicious but REALLY sweet, so getting 2 was a little overkill and gave me a slight headache. To balance everything out, I got a döner box at Döner Company in Centraal station before hopping on a quick train to Den Haag, or The Hague. This day was my speedrunning non-Amsterdam Netherlands. As soon as I got off the train, I walked to the Binnenhof, the house of the Dutch Parliament. It was next to a lake with lots of blossoming tulips, complete with skyscrapers in the background. It was a gorgeous day and I spent some time just sitting by the lake and taking in the vibes. This city was so much more than just the Binnenhof, so I then walked to the Peace Palace. You can’t actually go inside the palace, but they had a pretty informative visitor’s center. The most ironic part was that 1 year after the International Court of Justice opened, World War I broke out and there was nothing that the courts could do. After asking a bunch of tourists to snag pictures of me, I hopped on a bus to the beach!

Even though it was sunny, it wasn’t exactly beach weather because it was pretty cold and I kept my sweater on the whole time. Regardless, the beach was popping! Every single beachside restaurant was packed and there were so many people on the sand. I took a long walk along the boardwalk, stopped by one of those beachside restaurants for a quick refreshment, and even went on the pier jutting out onto the water. From the pier, I saw a Ferris wheel up close and even some wind turbines in the distance. It was such a nice experience seeing the North Sea and people just being people and having fun. After dipping my feet in the sea, I grabbed a bus to the International Criminal Court. The buildings looked so futuristic and there was no one there, so I got to take tons of pictures with the sign and pretend I was a wanted criminal. I had done everything I wanted to do in Den Haag, so I decided to make a quick 20-minute train ride over to the other major city, Rotterdam.

Rotterdam felt like an American city, complete with lofty skyscrapers but as a result, a lack of walkability and a slight feeling of soullessness. I decided to do a quick 2-hour walk around the main highlights of the city: walking over the Erasmus bridge, seeing the famous Cube Houses (cubical houses that look like they were built upside down), and ending in Markthal (a gigantic 10-story mall that served as a food hall). The Market Hall was closed, but there was an artsy Japanese restaurant called Sumo Markthal. Their spring rolls and sushi were pretty cheap and tasted great, but they didn’t let me charge my phone so they get points off for that.

With a low phone and no easy way to get back, it was an adventure returning home. From talking to police officers and praying they didn’t check for tickets, I made it back just as my phone died. My journey was from Rotterdam Blaak to Rotterdam Centraal to Schiphol Airport to Lelylaan to Hank Sneevlietweg to a Bolt that took me home for the last step. I was eternally grateful for the incredibly nice Dutch people and safe transit system and was happy to get home and finish packing. The next morning, I got up SUPER early, gave Ben’s key to his friend, and Uber’d to the airport (my Bolt got rejected for some weird reason). I grabbed a cheese croissant and banana bread at Stach before boarding on a plane back to Basel.

Overview

• Amsterdam and its surrounding areas are incredibly beautiful and an absolute must-visit during the tulip season
• King’s Day is a huge party and one of those experiences akin to Mardi Gras in New Orleans or Carnival in Rio
• Take advantage of the stroopwafels and beer. That diet can wait another week
• The Hague is a beautiful day trip from Amsterdam that I would rate as a must-do. Rotterdam, not so much (respectfully)
• After biking around the Dutch countryside, I can see why Dutch people are so obsessed with cycling. I’d be too if my country looked like that

Rose-Bud-Thorn

Rose (what went well): From the beautiful countryside to the Amsterdam nightlife, this country was so much fun on so many different levels. If I had to choose one rose, I would say biking around the Zaanse Schans and the countryside was the peak of this life-changing trip.
Bud (what was good but could be improved on): Seeing the Royal Palace was a great experience, but I wish some of the other historical exhibits and museums weren’t booked out so far in advance. I’ll need to come back to see the Anne Frank House and the Van Gogh Museum, this time planned well in advance.
Thorn (what did not go well): One of my miscalculations was not spending time in the actual tulip fields. I could have explored the area around Keukenhof, Bolt’d somewhere, or ideally drive around with friends. Definitely would have been a good replacement for my trip to Rotterdam too, but no regrets. Add it to the next itinerary!