Onno's Blog

I was back in The Netherlands for the first time in two years. Chance to see family and friends again, and to meander through my favorite city.

The meandering included use of the public transport and that required getting used to and obtaining an OV-chipcard (public transport chip card). Trains, trams, buses now all use the same payment system: a chip card you load with funds and then wave in front of a reader as you enter (check in) and leave (check out) the vehicle. Yvonne sent me an email with instructions beforehand and I also browsed the Dutch Public Transport web site. It seemed reasonably straightforward with the most tricky part being to remember to check out when leaving the train, bus or tram.

I flew into Schiphol (aka Amsterdam Airport) which has a train station: the place to obtain the card. There are several machines where you can buy and load a card. As at least one improvement over earlier visits these machines now accept credit cards in addition to a Dutch bank pass. Using the touch screen I indicated I wanted to buy an anonymous OV-chipcard (a named one can be automatically reloaded via your bank account but for that you need to live in the country), inserted my credit card and out came my very own OV-chipcard! Except, it didn’t yet have any funds on it. Why this is a separate transaction, I don’t know. A card without a balance is pretty much useless. Anyways, added 20 euros to the card which should be sufficient for the travel planned for the week. Proudly holding my card high in the air I descended upon the track where the train to Amsterdam Centraal will be departing from. Found the pole with the card reader to check in, waved the card in front and I got a red light and a short message that check in failed. Hmmm…. No further explanation…

Luckily, several train conductors stood around doing nothing (with this automated system what role/job do they still have?) and asked why my new card wouldn’t work. The lady said I needed to assign to first or second class for train travel. Why didn’t the machine ask this when I bought the card? She shrugged her shoulders. How do I do this, I asked? I have to go to the ticket desk. The machines do not provide this function. Alright, back on the escalator and standing in line for the next agent at the ticket counter. He held my card in front of a reader, tapped on his keyboard and I was all set. Back to the track to wait for the next train.

Friday afternoon I hiked up and down the Nieuwendijk, Kalverstraat, Bloemenmarkt, surrounding streets and canals to collect presents. During the running around I thought of a little photo assignment: taking pictures of what Amsterdammers to do to and with their bicycles. They make phone calls, send and check text messages, haul groceries and small children around, walk the dog and much more. Check the photo gallery for yourself of how to use your bicycle in Amsterdam like an Amsterdammer. This also represented an opportunity to try out the photography workflow using my iPad instead of the MacBook.

Saturday was birthday day for my dad and Wouter, the oldest son of my oldest sister, Marja. Yvonne and I first brunched at the Koffieketel before taking the tram to the Muntplein to obtain the last needed present. It was a hot and humid day. We took a break at Cafe De Jaren to cool off. We were tempted to text the family to come and celebrate here rather than us having to get back out in the hot weather… At the parental home in Amsterdam-Noord my 6 year old nephew politely accepted his present and put it down next to him. After a little while, his grandma asked him: “Aren’t you going to open your present?”
“No,“ he answers, “I’ll do it later. It’s too hot.”
Priceless!

It’s more or less tradition that we go to my dad’s favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner. Since a few months he has a Canta, basically a narrow two-seater with a moped engine for disabled and elderly people. These are allowed to ride on bike paths and park on the pavement. I asked my dad if he was going to drive. He was and I went with him. My first time in a Canta! I recorded the experience. Can you enjoy my Amsterdam accent!

One of the nice things about the restaurant is that they know our dad very well and keep an eye on him. The seating arrangement didn’t work out as intended and I used the excuse of a toilet break to effectuate a little reshuffling of the chairs. We generally had good fun and amusing dinner conversation. Wouter and Marina leave a little earlier because Lennart was getting tired. But for a 9 month old baby he did extremely well! After dinner we said goodbye to my dad and I promised to come by Monday afternoon.

Also tradition is that Yvonne and I end up at Cafe Kale after a parental visit. It was finally cooling down making it even more relaxing to sit on Cafe Kale’s terrace and watch the Amsterdam nightlife flow by.

Monday evening I met with my friends. I hadn’t seen Wouter in about five years and Leon perhaps even longer. Wouter sat already at the bar when I walked in. He recognized me before I recognized him. He’s all gray! And a tad, just a tad, heavier. Eric still looked like the schoolboy of many years ago, Gero and Leon hadn’t changed much either. Cafe Kale delighted me by having mussels on the menu. We chatted about cycling, technology, life, the universe and everything.

The last week of March Marja and Klaas stayed with me in Rochester (yeah, I’m a little slow with this post). For Marja it was the first time on a plane. Klaas had been on various Navy transport flights but not on, ehh, normal commercial flights. The furthest Marja has been was an Italy vacation at the end of high school. Now, Rochester NY and then the Big City itself for another week. An expedition if ever there was one!

Monday afternoon I picked them up from the airport. Everything, 3 adults and luggage, fitted in the Mini Cooper. I was a bit curious about that beforehand. Marja took the backseat. Much the rest of the week Klaas climbed onto the backseat and it became an entertaining recurring feature to watch the Mini shake side to side while Klaas climbed in and out.

So how was the week? It was a blast! I had a great time showing them around, exposing them to a few of the quirks of American culture and to speak the funny language the whole week. Marja and Klaas brought me Speculaas and Stroopwafels and that already made the visit a success!

On Tuesday we swung by The Spot for an afternoon snack and coffee cq tea. First I ran into Andrew there and then Richard (of RBC fame). The parking ticket perhaps countered the cheeriness a bit. Earlier that day we tried to visit Genesee Country Village but it was still closed for the season so from there we paid Charlotte Beach a brief, very cold and windy, visit.

Wednesday was Quilt Day and we visited quilt shops in Victor and Penn Yan. The Mennonite store in Penn Yan was remarkable. First, it was amusing to learn that the belief allows for a web site and internet advertising. Klaas struck up a conversation with the girl managing the store trying to explain the difference between Deutsch, Dutch and High Deutsch (apparently the dialect in which their church performs its services) but it proved a significant challenge to explain that Deutsch means Germany and Dutch means The Netherlands, two different countries. Now, I must admit I don’t know where “Dutch” comes from as an indication of people from The Netherlands and/or the language we speak. We call ourselves Nederlanders and we speak Nederlands. I blame the English for the confusion. Class, next week we discuss the difference between Holland and The Netherlands.

Going out for breakfast is still uncommon in The Netherlands. Charlie’s Frog Pound introduced my visitors to that habit. That evening we watched on tv a rather badly acted (Keanu Reeves…) and confusing Dracula movie. After seeing the Genesee river falls in Rochester on Thursday, on Friday it was the turn of some real big falls: Niagara Falls. We went to the Canadian side which I hadn’t seen yet either. The weather cooperated wonderfully. Very clear, nice temperature but still there was a lot of snow and ice surrounding the falls. We walked through the Canadian Niagara Falls town as well which appears to have a ghost house theme, among others a Dracula Castle!

Saturday Marja and Klaas walked to the Museum of Play which I had explained was “just around corner, a bit further along East Ave past the George Eastman House.” I guess the “just a bit further” meant in reality quite a hike… Hey, Marja had said herself that they walk everywhere. They brought back a Dracula puppet which was very cute.

On Sunday we hiked the nature trial in Mendon Ponds Park and very nicely a deer showed herself in order to be photographed. We had some heavy rain showers that afternoon and so we took refuge at Simply Crepes in Pittsford Village. The wait was a bit long but those pancakes are worth it!

The next morning Marja and Klaas embarked on the second part of their adventure: the train to New York City for a week’s stay there.

Pictures in the gallery.