Amsterdam here I come
meanredspider
Posts: 12,337
Fly to Amsterdam today. So looking forward to my life settling down a bit - the last 3 months have been beyond manic. Start my new job tomorrow and collect keys to my new apartment. Stuff arrives at or after the weekend (I hate removals companies right now). Bike shopping for a Granny Bike - need to see if I can find one that is actually heavier than the chain lock I've bought :shock: :roll: 
. The Foil is coming out with me for recreational rides.
Can't wait.
. The Foil is coming out with me for recreational rides.Can't wait.
ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH
0
Comments
-
-
-
Enjoy, fond memories of my two years in Amsterdam...
Couple of things you might find disappointing
1) Food in general and Albert Hein supermarkets... the solution is going Indonesian when you go out and use the market in Albert Kuip straat on saturdays for your groceries (or the cheese shops/ butchers in the centre). Turkish bakeries are excellent value for money... bread in general is good in Holland
2) Beer size... annoyingly small... you spend more time queuing at the bar than drinking... try to ask for a large beer, occasionally they do have big glasses... or go for Belgian abbey beers that drink slowerleft the forum March 20230 -
ugo.santalucia wrote:Enjoy, fond memories of my two years in Amsterdam...
Couple of things you might find disappointing
1) Food in general and Albert Hein supermarkets... the solution is going Indonesian when you go out and use the market in Albert Kuip straat on saturdays for your groceries (or the cheese shops/ butchers in the centre). Turkish bakeries are excellent value for money... bread in general is good in Holland
2) Beer size... annoyingly small... you spend more time queuing at the bar than drinking... try to ask for a large beer, occasionally they do have big glasses... or go to Belgium and drink abbey beers or any beer
FTFY.
Have fun MRS and dont you forget about us....
"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got."
PX Kaffenback 2 = Work Horse
B-Twin Alur 700 = Sundays and Hills0 -
Thanks folksRick Chasey wrote:Where in Amsterdam?
At Philips Amstelplein and I have a place near Vondel Park.ugo.santalucia wrote:2) Beer size... annoyingly small... you spend more time queuing at the bar than drinking... try to ask for a large beer, occasionally they do have big glasses... or go for Belgian abbey beers that drink slower
Yes - I remember that from the very first trip I did there when I was about 16: squirting beer into a small water glass then skimming the head off with a stick. Fortunately I'm fond of Belgian abbey beers from the 3 years I spent in Brussels. I even stayed a week at Corsendonk.ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH0 -
Who queues at the bar in Netherlands? Don't think I've ever done that. Just stick your arm up and catch the eye of the waiter.
And an outstanding location meanred. Well played.0 -
You might need to go 'window shopping' as the windows in Amsterdam appartments are drafty I hear :oops:I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.0
-
redvee wrote:You might need to go 'window shopping' as the windows in Amsterdam appartments are drafty I hear :oops:
Can't be that drafty - otherwise the women working behind them would catch their death....
So when would be a good time for me to visit MRS?
Good Luck BTWNobody told me we had a communication problem0 -
I have fond memories of "window shopping" with the wife early on a Sunday morning in Amsterdam, when all the windows are cheaper to rent so there are some interesting sights to be seen. Needless to say we were not buying.--
Chris
Genesis Equilibrium - FCN 3/4/50 -
Ha - so I set out to buy a Granny Bike and ended up with
A Kona SS with bull bars
A secondhand Brompton
PMSL - I guess I'm just resisting the Granny Bike thing. The Brompton is turning out to be great - I have to travel to the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven at least once a week: tried a hire car last week and it was a nightmare getting out of Amsterdam in the morning so this week I'll bike to the station and get the train then bike at the other end. There's secure underground parking at work and it's as easy to fold the Brompton as it is to find somewhere to lock it back at the apartment. And I scalp literally hundreds of granny bikes every day.
The LBS is great - it's about 100m from my apartment and I already have lots of recreational routes for the Foil. All I need to do now is to figure out the showering arrangements at work so I can do some pre-work recreational rides.
A few frustrations - no internet yet. No coffee machine or TV thanks to TNT trying to deliver twice to the wrong address. Other than that, all is great.ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH0 -
-
Also other culinary recommendations:
Boterkoek (buttercake)
Vla - preferably vanilla & slagroom flavour.
Small portion of bitteballen with your beer. Obvious, but lovely.
And you must go out for a rijstafel with work.
Avoid: Karnemelk.......0 -
Oh and it's the back end of the season but if there's any herring on the go. Absolutely lovely. Don't wimp out and get it with bread. Get it straight up with some diced onion.0
-
Must resist joke, must resist joke.....Rick Chasey wrote:Get it straight up with some diced onion. None of the above should be taken seriously, and certainly not personally.0 -
meanredspider wrote:No coffee machine or TV thanks to TNT trying to deliver twice to the wrong address. Other than that, all is great.
Plenty of coffee shops if you need a fix...... :shock:I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.0 -
Rick Chasey wrote:Also other culinary recommendations:
Boterkoek (buttercake)
Vla - preferably vanilla & slagroom flavour.
Small portion of bitteballen with your beer. Obvious, but lovely.
And you must go out for a rijstafel with work.
Avoid: Karnemelk.......
Slagroom flavour :shock: that's not what I thinking is it?--
Chris
Genesis Equilibrium - FCN 3/4/50 -
meanredspider wrote:Ha - so I set out to buy a Granny Bike and ended up with
A Kona SS with bull bars
A secondhand Brompton
PMSL - I guess I'm just resisting the Granny Bike thing.
Ohhhh, big mistake. Dutch bikes are great. Keep the Brompton and sling the horrid Kona into a canal where it belongs and get a decent Dutch bike. You are missing out Faster than a tent.......0 -
Rolf F wrote:meanredspider wrote:Ha - so I set out to buy a Granny Bike and ended up with
A Kona SS with bull bars
A secondhand Brompton
PMSL - I guess I'm just resisting the Granny Bike thing.
Ohhhh, big mistake. Dutch bikes are great. Keep the Brompton and sling the horrid Kona into a canal where it belongs and get a decent Dutch bike. You are missing out
Nah - tried the Dutch bike thing and got bored. Besides - I can't imagine when, faced with the choice of the Brompton or the Dutch bike, I'd take the Dutch bike.ROAD < Scott Foil HMX Di2, Volagi Liscio Di2, Jamis Renegade Elite Di2, Cube Reaction Race > ROUGH0 -
TNT/PostNL Are totally useless, a serious warning to the UK about privatising Royal Mail.
Herring is the work of the devil, avoid at all costs!
After a night out, make sure you try a Kapsalon too, Fondant Cakes are also good and +1 on the Biterballen with some mustard, a few blocks of cheese too
om nom nom!We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
- @ddraver0 -
ddraver wrote:Herring is the work of the devil, avoid at all costs!
I miss some good Sil."Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
Parktools :?:SheldonBrown0 -
meanredspider wrote:Rolf F wrote:Ohhhh, big mistake. Dutch bikes are great. Keep the Brompton and sling the horrid Kona into a canal where it belongs and get a decent Dutch bike. You are missing out
Nah - tried the Dutch bike thing and got bored. Besides - I can't imagine when, faced with the choice of the Brompton or the Dutch bike, I'd take the Dutch bike.
I can see where you are coming from there. But I like the big lardy Dutch bikes - I'm never sure if they are like that because the landscape is flat or the landscape is flat because the bikes flattened it! Ideally I prefer them with step through frames - there's not much point in a bike like that having a horizontal top tube.
And what the hell is wrong with these people that don't like herring?!Faster than a tent.......0 -
But RollMops are just not quite right.Rolf F wrote:And what the hell is wrong with these people that don't like herring?!"Do not follow where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path, and Leave a Trail."
Parktools :?:SheldonBrown0 -
nicklouse wrote:
But RollMops are just not quite right.Rolf F wrote:And what the hell is wrong with these people that don't like herring?!
What? WHAT? WHHHAAAATTTTTTTTT?!
Oh nicklouse - I am disappointed with you. Stand in the corner facing the wall and stay there until you're told you can come out.ddraver wrote:Rolf F wrote:And what the hell is wrong with these people that don't like herring?!
Our Taste buds still work properly? :P
But you never had any.....
Faster than a tent.......0
