Au Revior Paris, Thalys Train, Hello Amsterdam

Posted by Andrew on Sep 24, 2010 | 6 comments

We had a great day today despite both fighting colds. We woke up in the morning leisurely packed our things, got breakfast, and headed out. We caught a taxi to the train station and watched people for about 30 minutes until our Thalys train was ready to board. This is the only train ride that I booked first class. For one, it was our longest train ride. And two, they had a deal and it didn’t cost that much extra. Wow, just like flying first class. Meal and drink service was included which we didn’t know so we bought sandwiches ahead of time and never ate them. Oh well. It was a smooth 4-hour ride into Amsterdam with a few stops along the way. When we arrived at Amsterdam Centraal Station, we made sure we had nothing in our pockets (apparently, the station is frequently overrun by pickpocketers). We never saw any though as we headed straight to the taxi line. When we stepped out on the street we saw the most amount of bikes we have ever seen in one place at one time ever. They are everywhere…more on that later. Our taxi driver spoke great English and was very nice to us. He even pointed landmarks out along the way including Anne Frank House and the Red Light District. By the way, the Red Light District is very unimpressive. We saw all of three ladies in windows and in general the street looked seedy and run down. We are pretty much done with that area. As soon as we got out of the taxi we knew we would love it here. It is so beautiful. The canals are amazing. It is definitely a highlight of our trip so far. Just like in Paris, the service at our hotel is just excellent. Everyone here speaks perfect English and the concierge is wonderful. As soon as we arrived, he helped us book dinner reservations for all three nights.

Andrew is really excited because Amsterdam is known for their Indonesian food due to the fact that the Dutch occupied Indonesia for a long time. In fact, the concierge recommended a great Indonesian place within walking distance for tonight’s dinner called Tempo Doeloe. We LOVED it. The restaurant staff was incredibly friendly and the food was delicious. For appetizers we had chicken satay and lemper, which you tried if you attended our bridal shower. It’s minced sweet chicken wrapped in sticky rice. For our main courses we had rendang and prawns with macadamia nut sauce. When Andrew ordered the rendang, the waitress warned him that is was really spicy and that they could make it a little milder if he wanted. He, of course, said no. He insisted on having it the way the chef normally prepares it. Later on we looked at the menu and it was basically the hottest thing you could order. “Hot+++” Yikes! I was confident he could handle it though. The waitstaff wasn’t as confident. As soon as Andrew took the first bite, he said it was really spicy. He kept eating and soon I started to see the sweat start pooling on his neck and cheeks. (Andrew sweats with really spicy food as most of you know) Before long it looked like he had run a marathon and the waitstaff kept coming around asking him if he was okay. They even came by and dropped off some coconut shavings to cut the heat. Andrew stuck it out though and ate the whole plate. I think they were pretty surprised. In the end, he said it was the spiciest dish he ever ate which is saying a lot, but that didn’t stop him from loving every second of it. Andrew kept laughing and saying that his dad would be cracking up if he were here. Next time I guess he will know better than to ignore the recommendation of the waitress at an authentic restaurant. Hee hee! We finished everything off with a cooling pineapple crushed ice dessert and walked back to our hotel.

Now is probably a good time to mention the bikes here. Everyone…and I mean everyone rides bikes. There are hardly any cars. It’s a little weird to cross the street and watch for bikes instead of cars everywhere you go. You also have to watch for the trams which are Amsterdam’s version of public transportation as they will run you over as well. Besides that it is really one of the most beautiful places we have ever been. Everyone is friendly and the canals are just the most beautiful and romantic thing we have seen so far on our trip. My descriptions hardly do them justice so hopefully you can look at the pictures and see how beautiful it is here. Unfortunately tomorrow we have to move hotels as we had trouble finding open rooms here. I hope the next one is as good as this one. Au revior, Chelsie and Andrew