Transatlantic flight is never anything of much excitement - sort of a neccessary annoyance. I don't even bother attempting to get comfortable anymore, because when you're over 6 feet, it's just not going to happen. Period. OK, unless you feel like paying for first class, which I don't (and can't afford anyhow). But Schiphol... Schiphol is one of my "favorite" airports, at least as much as an airport can be. Always a breeze to arrive at or depart from, despite the fact that it's so spread out. It just always seems to be a simple, if not even pleasurable experience. The polar opposite of JFK, which, as airports go, is a seething pit of HELL. How a European airport can make tighter security seem like less of a hassle is something US airports should be taking notes on. But enough about that.
Hopped off my plane, grabbed my gear from baggage claim, and waltzed through customs to meet my friend Tyn in the airport lobby proper, and it was out front to unpack things, meet up with the Canuckian contingent, who had arrived just earlier, out front. Why I i always run into the Toronto contingent in Amsterdam is beyond me... HMMMMMM... Bags went into the handy van that was there to pick our gear up, and we were on our merry way into town... It'd been 4 years since my last trip here, and I was eager to roam around Amsterdam again.
Amsterdam has a place in my heart as one of my favorite cities in Europe - It's just a beautiful place, and i can't always entirely place what it is that draws me to it. (Bikes? You think?) It's a pleasure to ride in, despite the chaos of the core - traffic laws seem to be optional in the center, but everyone just takes it in stride. Even the non-messengers seem to have the skills as far as bike craziness is concerned. Mothers riding with 3 children and groceries on their bikes, careening at high speed through the Vondelpark, missing pedestrians by a matter of millimenters, and no one even so much as flinches. In the states, they'd probably be booked for felony child endangerment and have CPS crawling up their ass, but here, it's just the way of things. Beyond that, it's just a beautiful city - it didn;t get smashed all the hell by bombs like Rotterdam did, and there's a strong movement to preserve historic buildings. It's an incredibly photogenic city, yet I never seem to take enough pictures...
Beyond being a cheap and convenient place to fly into when going to Europe, Amsterdam this weekend was playing host to Mokumpoloco, a big messenger event before the European Cycle Messenger Championships in Rotterdam, which we'd be riding to after the weekend was out. The whole crew had pulled together to put together an event to keep the 50 or so of us who'd shown up entertained for the next couple of days... the requisite parties, plus 3 large alleycats (one HUGE one), and a new idea from fish - messenger keirin! despite my complete laziness when it came to alleycats over the course of the weekend, they were great - i may have gotten distracted and started randomly wandering around town on all of them, but the manifest tell it all - jur et al really put some thought into these races, and there were some really creative checkpoints. The messenger keirin was a blast - just imagine groups of 4 messengers being paced around a moped racetrack and then sprints at the last 100m or so... totally nuts, and really exciting for spectators.
Outside of racing, everyone got completely addicted to Holland's equivalent of crack - STROOPWAFELS! No one went to the store without bringing back at least a pack or two, and those usually lasted about 5 minutes. I usually put at least 2 packs back a day... YUM. If you're ever in Amsterdam on a Saturday, and need groceries, don't miss the farmer's market at Noordermarkt - an excellent selection of cheese, bread, vegetables, fruits, meats - and some food booths as well - and quite a bit of it is organic. I'm a sucker for farmer's markets, so it's one of my favorite Saturday morning things to do while there. As is my habit when visiting Amsterdam, I stopped in for dinner at De Zotte, an excellent little Belgian bar/restaurant off Leidseplein, which serves well over 100 Belgian beers, and has quite a good little menu. This time its was a delicious salmon in a cream sauce. I've never gone wrong with the special of the day there.
On to the next stage, Amsterdam > Rotterdam
