jacobblogs

Tag: Amsterdam

  • Amsterdam, The Netherlands: 4/17

    Second to last day in Amsterdam! Really, my last full day.

    Breakfast today was at a cute little bakery/cafe that Vince recommended. Our mode of transit was (again) ebike, which led to some less blurry (but arguably more embarrassing) photos where the wind made our hair look crazy.

    De Laatste Kruimel, the place we got breakfast.

    Our breakfast spot was the little balcony above the water in the middle of the photo. As we ate, multiple tour boats passed below us, and more people stopped to take a photo from the bridge I took this one at. I felt like a zoo animal a little bit – it was funny to realize I had become part of the tourist attraction.

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    Breakfast this day was really more of a late brunch – I had slept in quite a bit, so I headed back to the hostel and did the boring, not-blog-worthy parts of traveling (checking in to my plane, booking a hostel for Malaysia and and AirBNB for Milan, planning the next few days).

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    Before another interview I had at 7PM, I wanted to get out of the hostel for a bit – so I took my bike along a river path behind the hostel in Noord (an area of Amsterdam). It was here I saw my first up-close windmill!

    As I biked, I listened to an album of piano music by Philip Glass (titled “Piano Works”), which I happen to have downloaded on my phone – it makes great relaxing travel or biking music, especially when there are pretty things to be seen.

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    A neat bridge. There are a lot of drawbridges across the canals here to let riverboats through – something I also saw a lot of!
    The same windmill, from across the river.

    While there, I noticed this bird helping its mate build a nest, and took a short video of it collecting sticks and bringing them back to the nest.

    After returning to the hostel, I prepared for my second interview of the week. This was also for a technician position, which is technically below what I studied for (I should be applying to work as an engineer too, which I am! But so far am only getting interviews for technician positions… Oh well!)

    This interview went really well and I already have a request for a second interview! The company seems interesting too – they’re a spinoff from Rivian working on smaller EVs (like electric bikes).

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    After this I was pretty tired, but wanted to treat myself before heading to bed, so I returned to the streets on my bike and headed to Secret Garden, a fancy restaurant that had been recommended to me.

    Chunks of watermelon with finely creamed avocado, grated feta cheese, and a slice of red onion on top, to be eaten in one bite. You wouldn’t think to combine these ingredients, but the sweet crunchy juice from the watermelon mixed well with the mild creaminess of the avocado, and the feta and small bit of onion added a nice little kick of flavor.
    Grilled duck breast with some type of cabbage and a sweet pumpkin puree. Absolutely delicous. I want to try roasting or sauteing chicken with pumpkin chunks and some type of green vegetable in a honey or maple syrup based glaze, I think it would taste similar.
    Earl Grey ice cream with coconut based (thick!) whipped cream and pineapple chunks. The ice cream was pretty mild but distinctly earl grey, and I really liked the coconut whip.

    The only unfortunate part of the meal was the price – I left just barely satisfied knowing I would be hungry in the morning, and the total cost was $99… Would I do this again? Probably not, but it was worth the experience once!

    The ceiling of the restaurant had these leaf-shaped lights with (fake?) vines dangling down between them. Neat vibe!

    After this, I stopped by the hotel Vince manages to say hi (since he was nearby and on a night shift), before biking back to the hostel across the ferry.

    That’s all for this day!

  • Amsterdam, The Netherlands: 4/16

    Hi again! Finally gonna catch up on blog posts after almost a week MIA. Travels have been going well, but I haven’t had a chance to relax and write for a bit. I’m now in Malaysia and really enjoying it – post to come, of course.

    This (4/16) was my second day in Amsterdam. Amsterdam intimidated me at first, with all the bikes zooming everywhere and just how packed the city was with tourists (despite not being the nicest season, there were a TON of people there). But after a few days (and renting my own bike) I felt much more at home. I’ll want to come back!

    The bike I rented. It cost me only 21 euros for three days! It was really nice to ride, too.

    After picking the bike up, I went to a bakery recommended by Sam (who I met earlier on my way to Lyon), called Bakhuys Amsterdam. Here I got a late breakfast/lunch of a couple of pastries (plus some bread for later), and did the last batch of blog posts.

    A rhubarb soda! It was tasty, and did taste like rhubarb!

    After the bakery, I went to the Rijksmuseum, which is what I’d intended to go to the day before – a museum with ancient to old art and works by masters like Vermeer and Rembrandt.

    On my way, I noticed the hooks / pulleys mounted above most of the old townhouses. I actually saw one being used to raise furniture up to a higher level! It’s neat that these are still in use.

    The Rijksmuseum was sold out – but luckily Vince, a friend I’d met the day before, was able to get me a ticket through the hotel he works for! I guess they get extra spots for guests or something 🙂

    A very regal duck-thing.

    I did accidentally get to the museum only an hour and a half before they closed, so I saw a lot less than I wanted to. But I did manage to see some of the Vermeers!

    Johannes Vermeer’s works hold a special place to me because I read a book called Chasing Vermeer as a younger teen that I really liked. In the book, one of the main characters was the painting Girl with a Pearl Earring (by Vermeer) – which had been stolen. The three actual main characters, kids who became unlikely friends, solved the mystery of where the painting was. It also involved the Robie house, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright – so in part, this is where my love of Wright’s designs comes from too. The book had such a way of describing the art (both the house and the painting) that made them seem alive (in fact, in the story, they kind of were). Anyway, it was cool to see some of Vermeer’s work in person.

    Vermeer is known to have had a mastery of light – his paintings often play with it to highlight and contrast their subjects in a very realistic and striking way
    He’s more well-known for his paintings of people, but this one (especially from this distance) looks like a photo, and is of a real place in Amsterdam.
    A sad dog lying at the foot of his deceased friend. This was (of course) made to commemorate the man who died, who was some important person. However, it was the dog who stood out to me.
    An ancient chess set!
    Sometimes I see people like this in paintings and think “Did they really look like that?” This guy looks comically evil, but in a lazy way…
    A scene from (1500s?) Europe. It’s neat to think things used to look like this!
    The windmill is how you know it’s Dutch.
    This one is a scene of Brazil!
    A self portrait by Rembrandt.
    A landscape by Rembrandt. I think the plaque said he didn’t do a lot of these.
    Apparently even the great artists did sketching sheets to practice. There was one of nothing but hands, too.
    I really liked this nighttime scene. Not by Rembrandt or Vermeer, I forgot to note the artist.
    A (very small!) harpsichord! They didn’t seem likely to let me play it 😦

    After the museum, I headed to a nearby Ramen place that had been recommended to me.

    I tried the chicken ramen, but it didn’t seem quite as flavorful as pork based ramen. But it was still delicious!

    After this, I had to go back to the hostel and do an interview, for an Engineering Manufacturing Technician position. The interview went well and it seems likely to progress forward, but afterwards I was a bit frazzled!

    Once I’d calmed down a bit, I took my bike back out via a ferry to get a drink with Vince (and pizza, which we picked up on his ebike). I know this isn’t quite a moped picture, but it might be the closest you get for now, Katerina & Felix!

    0.6x lens at 20km/h on the back of an ebike on cobbled roads while holding two pizza boxes in my other hand in low light lends to an . . . interesting photo!

    All for this day!

  • Amsterdam, The Netherlands: 4/15

    I was tired this morning! I didn’t manage to roll out of bed (and shower and everything) until about 1:30 PM local time. Oh well – again, I’d rather explore well rested than try to cram every last second full of activities and not be able to enjoy it.

    Breakfast was at a little cafe inside an art school that is in the same building as my Hostel. It was a simple chicken panini and a plain latte sweetened with honey – but the panini was delicious, especially the sauce to dip it in.

    There are the WEIRDEST little cars here! Bikes here are what Mopeds were in Spain – everywhere, parked on the sidewalks and anywhere else they fit, and by FAR the most common mode of transport. On the roads, bikes always have the right away – even above pedestrians! You need to watch out when crossing bike paths, because they will not stop for you 😛

    But! In addition to bikes, they have a multitude of 1-2 person electric and gas ‘cars’ that are likely limited to about 45km/hr top speed (close to 30 MPH). These require a different license than normal cars if I remember right, and can be driven on most bike paths too.

    This one is electric
    Citroen Ami, I think. Electric!
    A fiat one designed to look like the original 500! But this is larger!
    This one is gas, and looks like it is from the late 90s or early 2000s.

    These little cars existed in Spain and France too, but were far less common. Here, I see one every few minutes. The gas ones make the cutest little put-put sound.

    On my walk, I found a man playing “Can’t help falling in love” by Elvis Presley on a saxophone, and stopped to take another (240P) video of him.

    I also ran across an antique store selling tiles from houses rennovated in the 60’s – but these tiles were from the 1600s and 1800s! Quite old – and each hand-painted! Of course, most of them were pretty expensive, but they were fun to browse.

    Though some tiles shared the same design, small differences between each made it clear that these were hand-painted. How cool!

    After this, I walked to the Stedelijk Museum, which is a contemporary art museum (next to several other museums). Entrance for a student (which I feel like I’m close enough to still ;)) was only 10 euro, so I went in and explored.

    After the museum, I took public transit back to (near) my hostel and grabbed a kebab pita wrap for dinner, before prepping for a remote job interview I had at 7:30 PM local time. I think it went well!

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    Dinner! Fanta, water, and a greek sausage kebab pita wrap thing.

    Finally caught up to today 🙂 The next few days might be busy too, so we will see when the next dump of posts happens! All for now.

  • Lyon -> Lille, Lille -> Amsterdam (4/13, 4/14)

    Lyon -> Amsterdam 4/13:

    This one should be quick – most of the 13th and 14th were travel days by train. I stopped in Lille, a little town in Northern France, for the night – otherwise it would have been about 16 hours by train. I’ve found that the slower travel is worth it for me – less recovery time when I do get to my destination.

    While walking to the train station in Lyon, I stopped at a cafe for breakfast, and snapped a few photos along the way.

    A warning about high voltage inside!
    A view across the river Rhone.
    The gates of the Park of the Golden Head in Lyon

    One neat thing I’ve noticed in Lyon – there are cracks in the sidewalks that have been filled in with little mosaics. According to one local I met, this is all the work of a street artist called Ememem (named for the sound his moped makes). He calls this art “flacking” – turning cracked blemishes in the sidewalks into public works of art that are owned by all.

    The one on the left was the first thing I took a picture of in Lyon!

    After a few hours on the train (during which I technically stopped in Paris, but only to switch trains), I was in Lille!

    The trains here are often quite comfortable! FAR more than airlines in the US.
    The train station in Lille was very pretty.
    This is what a lot of “Old Lille” looked like. Cobbled streets with pedestrians everywhere, old buildings, and beautiful architecture.

    I was pretty tired from travel, so I got myself a (supposedly) nice dinner (I don’t know if it was just not something I liked or if this restaurant wasn’t great) of Flemish (local) cusine, and turned in for the night.

    It did look nice at least, and the salad and fries were delicious! The croquets left something to be desired though.

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    Breakfast was a mocha and a delicious breakfast sandwich at an apparently very popular cafe.

    As I traveled on the train, it became pretty obvious as I drew closer to Amsterdam – windmills began passing by every now and then. I didn’t manage to catch any out the window, but I did snap a photo of this cool old warehouse.

    Amsterdam’s train station was also really cool looking! I didn’t have much time to stop though – my next train left in 5 minutes so I had to run to the next platform!

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    After crossing a large canal with a ton of other people on foot and bike, I was almost to my hostel (the red building in the photo below).

    The room in the hostel is utilitarian, but comfortable and quiet. I don’t spend a lot of time in there anyway!

    That’s all for this day! Still no Mopeds 😉 But, I can rent them here! We will see when it happens. I’m a little scared to have that much power on the roads of Amsterdam 😛